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A Delemia! Mousebird babies... Input needed.

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srtiels

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Yikes! yesterday BOTH the WB babies fledged, (oldest is 2 weeks) and would not sleep in the nest. It got down to 50 last night (cold for us Floridians) and the adults huddled and hung around them to keep them warm. I just banded and pulled them for hand-feeding. I use tweezers and break off little chunks and feed them. Force feed at first because they will not open their little beaks. One is a growler and growls when I pick him up...so ferocious...:lol:

Then it gets worse. :( The good egg in the BN nest must've hatched, and there is no baby to be found. AND...panic time, the 2 eggs in the incubator look good and one looked like it was getting ready to hatch and (going by tiel hatch experiences) I thought I had til tomorrow at the latest to move it to the nest. My game plan was to pull the current BN baby that is 5 days old, and put these 2 eggs in the nest.

Nope...mother nature has it's way, and I was getting ready to do the switch, :eek: almost screamed when I looked in to find that one egg hatched!!! There is a cockatiel egg in the incubator to show differences in egg sizes.

Now the delemia.:confused: I've talked with mousebird breeders and zoos and from more experienced breedes andr they have found that it has been impossible to handfeed a mousebird baby and get it past 3 days of hatch. ALL attempts with other have failed.

Now I don't know what to do. Should I stuff it back into the half-shell and put the new hatchling in the nest along with the other egg, and pull the 5 day old baby?

In either case the baby can be lost. Either by dying at my hand or some of the adults alarmed with the change and eating the new hatchling. At least I do have hopes for the 2nd egg, which I will put out there.

Thankfully I have a couple hours to decide because the little one can get by on absorbing the yolk sac...
 

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srtiels

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I phoned Kateri to ask her what I should do. What she said she would do is to pull the older baby and place the new hatch and egg in the nest. To include the hatched shell, which I tried to cover the baby with. I used the base of my Octagon incubator to put the 5 day old in. She said this would be a better alternative than trying to handfeed from day one, since the losses by day 3 are almost 100%.

I fed the parents an hour before I did the switch. I made sure there was protein (peas, worms) on the plate. They goobled that down and I already refilled it. I want them full so that they don't munch on the new baby.

Thankfully they went back to the nest. Finger-crossed that all goes well because I think the fertile egg may hatch tomorrow at the earliest. Whew!

And the WB babies are doing fine. They hear the TV and they are chittering, and sounds like they are laughing to it...LOL
 

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J*M*L

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I'm so glad they're doing ok now! I bet it's hard not to laugh at that cute little mousebird trying to be tough and growl at you! :lol:
 

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:omg: that is a dilemma...I sure hop e it all works out well..wish i knew more so I could help you!!
 

srtiels

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Thanks! Finger crossed that all goes well. But I did learn that as new hatchlings they can crawl...fast! While in the incubator, just hours old, it was all over the place. So when I had my lower nests it makes me wonder if any that were mising actually traveled out of the nest and got lost/died in the bottom of the cage. They are so little. And now I know that they can crawl that is why I found Chubs when he was a new hatch haging thru the bottom of the nest.

Kateri asked me to document and keep her updated on what happens. Mousebird breeding is still in it's infancy, and not much detailed info is out there.

Yes...this little WB baby is going to be called Bear or Growler. It tries to sound so feroucious! And they are getting more talkative listening to the TV :)
 

srtiels

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It's been 3.5 hours and I checked awhile ago and the BN chick is still alive---YAY!! :dancing: Chubbs was in the nest begging for food so I shooed him away, and Mommy stepped aside enough to see the litlle one moving and flappings it's wings. So I am getting hopeful. In the AM when I give the morning food I'll check again. Plus during the night I'll check every few hours.

I rigged up a syringe with a nice flexible tip that makes it easy to feed some formula to the 5 day old BN, and the bratty WB babies. Below are pix's... I'm feeding the little BN 1/2 cc of formula every 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, but read that I can space it to every hour. I'm feeding the WB 3/4cc of formula and will be gradually increasing that. And with the tweezers handfeeding them a soaked pellet, 1/2 a pigeon pea dipped in yogurt, and little bits of apple, papaya, and banana.

Look at that little eye peeking thru the wire.:heart: It thinks it is a big mouser because it can hang...:lol:

I'm hoping I dodged the bullet...
 

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waterfaller1

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Oh wow, I missed all the excitement today!:eek: That last pic is great! It sounds like you are busy baby shuffling for sure. Hang in there, and don't forget to feed the queen, she's the most important.:hug8:
I'll give you a shout tomorrow. Congrats and you are doing a fine job.:)
 

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Boy, you have your hands full! I've played the baby, egg switch a roo many times. Sometimes it paid off, other times not so good. I wish you luck with your babies.
 

srtiels

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Thanks Judy...Mousebirds never read the book on how to act with the egg and baby switch-a-roo. So far so good. As they are learning, I'm learning too :)

Thanks Carole, Kirby was great and cooked diner, and did a grocery run. I'll just be glad when this is over.

Thankfully the little BN is easy to handfeed. The 2 WB are little devils, and now they have learned to chitter and hang and stare at me when they want to eat. One is real bold. if you look at the WB pix there is a slight bald patch on it's chest. That is where I pulled feathers after I banded them, to have to later send out for sexing. I'll save them for when the little BN is feathering in so that I can do it too. If a girl, MINE, and if a boy, a possible buddy for Gryphon. This one will probably be a spoiled rotten baby since it was so little when pulled.

The WB babies are actually making giggling sounds as I'm typing this post. I have never heard the WB do that before. It sounds so cute.
 

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how exciting that is....great update and CUTER THAN CUTE
 

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Thanks Carole, Kirby was great and cooked diner, and did a grocery run.
That was so sweet of him.



I'll just be glad when this is over.
It's never over, it just gets easier.:lol:


Thankfully the little BN is easy to handfeed.
Hey, maybe you will be one of the first at success!!:laughing12:
The 2 WB are little devils,
What makes you say that? Look at those little cherubs, they are adorable!!:angel6: :angel6:
If a girl, MINE, and if a boy, a possible buddy for Gryphon. This one will probably be a spoiled rotten baby since it was so little when pulled.
:yah:
:loveshower: Oh Gryphon will be so happy! Come on be a little boy. Better start saving for the big aviary cage...woot! :chickendance:
The WB babies are actually making giggling sounds as I'm typing this post. I have never heard the WB do that before. It sounds so cute.
Time to learn how to handle that video camera...or give it to me...:lol:
 
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srtiels

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Just a quick update... It got down in the low 40's last night, but the parents stayed on the nest. I went out a little bit ago and gave all the mousers some banana, papaya, and apple to start the day. Checked the nest and the little hatching is still alive and moving, Yay! There is a fertile egg that I'm hoping hatches today, which it would be a valentines baby, if it does...

More later :)
 
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waterfaller1

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Checked the nest and the little hatching is still alive and moving, Yay! There is a fertikle egg that I'm hoping hatches today, which it would be a valentines baby, if it does...

More later :)
Yay! Oohh..a Vday baby sounds wonderful! Maybe this will be the girl you have been waiting for.:heart:
 

srtiels

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Carole, that would be nice if the next hatch is a Valentines girl :)

The handfed ones inside are doing fine. I was exhausted and slept thru a feeding this morning. The little BN was ready and looking as soon as I touched the incubator cover.

And this group prefers to be stimulated to poop after they eat. And what big poops :)

I just done up some fresh chopped fruit and soaked pellets for the WB. They each ate their formula just fine a little bit ago. I may give the BN baby just a pinch of papaya the next time around.

I cut a piece of a Swifter to use to lightly cover the baby. The little basket was something I found at Petsmart in the hamster/rabbit area, and thought they would make good mousebird nests. There were alot of cool things in that area that could be used for birds.
 

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srtiels

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I got a shot of the little one. It is now 21 hours old, and looks like it has grown since yesterday. The next egg due to hatch is under Mommys chest, and the infertile one is behind the chick.
 

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srtiels

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Does this look like a hungry chick??? It's beak opening is the size of my thumbnail. I just mixed up a nice batch of formula and fed it, with a whole bunch of goodies in it. (took pix's for later reference) But with how big it is gapping it should have no problem swallowing some small bits of fruit and pellets. I read somewhere that the jaws of mousebirds are hinged like some snakes, and can swallow things almost as big as their heads...whew!

The little one is 6 days old now. They grow so fast :)
 

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Archiesmom

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Ohh, so cute! He definitely looks hungry :) I'm glad to see the other little one is still alive and looks like he is doing well!
 

srtiels

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Natalie,

Yes, all the babies are doing well. In a way there is a plus side to this latest experience. I have always been afraid to remove the chicks when little for handfeeding, and have always waited till they were a couple weeks old. When older they are very difficult to handfeed. So now I know the difference between handfeeding an younger one vesus the older ones. It has been recoomends to pull them around 10 days old for tame handfed pets. I'm finding that the younger chicks have a better feeding responce than the older/feathered chicks.

So the mousebirds are still teaching me :)

And I am so thankful that the parents readily excepted the new hatchling. Daddy bird is calling for fresh food. It has been hatched long enough that they can start feeding some solid foods.
 

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WOW!! They are so tiny! I had to hand feed 2 baby finches and I was a nervous wreck the whole time. My hat goes off to you for doing these tiny babies on a regular basis. The mousebirds are beautiful birds.
 

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Does this look like a hungry chick??? It's beak opening is the size of my thumbnail. I just mixed up a nice batch of formula and fed it, with a whole bunch of goodies in it. (took pix's for later reference) But with how big it is gapping it should have no problem swallowing some small bits of fruit and pellets. I read somewhere that the jaws of mousebirds are hinged like some snakes, and can swallow things almost as big as their heads...whew!

The little one is 6 days old now. They grow so fast :)
:faint: what a big mouth:lol:
 
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