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baby mousebird needs help

Roxie

Moving in
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9/28/10
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13
Real Name
Roxanne
Hi Sarel. My name is Roxanne. I live in Durban. I am so pleased to have found another South African on this forum with a love for mousebirds. I found mine in the garden 2 days ago and wow is it alot to learn but sheesh - am I obsessed! I am devestated for you with your loss as I have experienced it before (with another type of bird). Your eagerness to find out what when wrong and to carry on learning is truly inspiring. Everyday that I have with my little one is very magical and I pray I will do him justice by letting him become a handsome adult. I am terrified of making a mistake and him having to pay the price -but as you so rightly said - I am better off with this experience. looking forward to seeing some photos of the wild mousebirds. Kind regards, Roxanne
 

southernbirds

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
11/8/09
Messages
2,777
Location
USA
Hopefully Susanne will see this or you could search for some of her posts to learn about mousebirds. They are indeed, delightful and wonderful.
 

Sarel

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/10/10
Messages
81
Location
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Real Name
Sarel de Wet
Hi Roxie

Fantastic to hear from you! I'm super fired up for having another SA on the forum. Do you have any means to take pics via cellphone of your lucky birdie and post some here? Love to see what you have and share in your delight.

Have absolute fun... and don't forget to give your MB some sun in the mornings and afternoons - indoors or outdoors. (Don't leave it all day in the sun!) MBs love the sun. And do the 'poop' thing - very important! Not always necessary because birdies sometimes do it themselves but do always encourage!

Give it a name... :)
 
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cathykins

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5/7/13
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9
Real Name
catherine
mousebirds yay!! i need help too!! i live in africa and i have a speckled fella, sweetest thing eva, he is four months old but i dont know the gender yet, can anyone tell me how i can tell this? it helps if you feed them lettuce, mine loves it because he can tear it easily and feather dusters are great
 

cathykins

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5/7/13
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9
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catherine
hi can u help me too? i heard you are the mousebird expert here...
how do i tell the gender of my four month old speckled mousebird??!
:o: please email me back or reply
URGENT!!
 

waterfaller1

Ripping up the road
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10/16/09
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carole
Catherine, this thread is also three years old, and this person has not been on the forum in two years. There is no way to visually sex a mousebird. You have to take a feather or blood sample, and it has to be sent to a lab that does DNA testing.
 

Sarel

Strolling the yard
Joined
9/10/10
Messages
81
Location
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Real Name
Sarel de Wet
hi can u help me too? i heard you are the mousebird expert here...
how do i tell the gender of my four month old speckled mousebird??!
:o: please email me back or reply
URGENT!!
Hello Cathy... well the gender of your 4 month SMB will remain a mystery until breeding time! Unfortunately we cannot detect the gender of a MB as determined by observing ostriches. Ostrich males have black plumage and females look a dull grey. Did you know MB's male and female all look the same! Their is no distinction between the appearance of a male and female SMB. Now if you really want to know the sex then DNA testing is the only way by taking a sample of the feather or blood is the way to go - expensive!

And to all my feathered friends... Hello!
 

solo

Rollerblading along the road
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1/2/13
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Real Name
jess
this seems to be the South African thread !:D
i'm from Cape Town
 

waterfaller1

Ripping up the road
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carole
Hello Cathy... well the gender of your 4 month SMB will remain a mystery until breeding time! Unfortunately we cannot detect the gender of a MB as determined by observing ostriches. Ostrich males have black plumage and females look a dull grey. Did you know MB's male and female all look the same! Their is no distinction between the appearance of a male and female SMB. Now if you really want to know the sex then DNA testing is the only way by taking a sample of the feather or blood is the way to go - expensive!

And to all my feathered friends... Hello!
Thanks for replying and coming to the forum Sarel. It seems this person just ignored all of my replies, even though I wrote the same information like 4 times. Maybe she will believe you!:rolleyes:
 

soulie12000

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1/9/10
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5
Location
Gauteng
Real Name
Barry
Fallen Feathers Avian Rehabilitation centre ,Thank you to all the people on the forum that have forwarded our details to members with respect to Wild Mousebird rescue , we recieve around 20 calls a month , because of this site many mousies have been saved and rehabilitated back into the wild successfully .Wild mousebirds should be wild and free .
contact details are still 0834434913 in South Africa all hours , (birds dont wear watches .)Thank You to all .
 

Lisasmiles

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11/5/15
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6
Real Name
Lisa
Hey Everyone Im new here.

Im from SA and I found a baby Mousebird that fell out of its nest. From pictures I found online Ive identified him/her as a white-backed Mousebird and I really need help looking after this young one.

Any advice would be great.
 

Ziggy Stardust

Jogging around the block
Joined
10/12/15
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845
Location
Wichita Kansas
Real Name
Jodie Reed
Lisa you might want to repost this on like the Bird Boulevard forum ad more people will see it that way. Hoping the little mouse bird will be O.K.
 

Alet

Meeting neighbors
Joined
2/4/16
Messages
32
Location
Parys Freestate S A
Real Name
Alet
IMG-20160203-WA0000.jpg IMG-20160203-WA0002.jpg IMG-20160203-WA0003.jpg
I am from Parys South Africa. I found this little bird under a tree in garden where ants were busy attacking it. First gave him honey water and later pronutro until a family member said its a mousebird. Then I gave fruit like grapes and litchis. Now he is eating on his own.
 

Vix

Meeting neighbors
Joined
1/15/16
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20
Real Name
Victoria
I can see from your pics that mousebirds all seem to have similar characters...they are absolutely delightful! The only thing is the more attention you give them the more they crave and demand.
 

Alet

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Parys Freestate S A
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Alet
Very much so. When he sits with me and I try to take pictures of him,he jumps on the phone. Wants my attention all the time. Cant keep him out of the cage all the time because of my two chihuahuas. When I put them outside baby knows he is getting out of cage and gets very excited, jumping all over.
 

Vix

Meeting neighbors
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1/15/16
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20
Real Name
Victoria
They have a thing for cellphones...mine also jumps on mine. I also have a laughing dove which learned to do the same. I worry about cellphone radiation near their small little bodies but what can you do...
 

Vix

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Victoria
Thank God my dog is ok with them but I wouldn't leave them unattended
 

Alet

Meeting neighbors
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32
Location
Parys Freestate S A
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Alet
No my dogs are very jealous. The only babies for too long.! Can you post a picture of your laughing dove?
 

TarynV

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
10/31/16
Messages
2
Real Name
Taryn Vlok
Hello All.
I have also just taken in a baby mouse bird. I'm told it's a speckled mouse bird.

Have him on the avi hand raising food with purity apples and some mashed paw paw.
Is this right? I read something about iron

Should he be on the minah food??

I'm feeding every hour and giving ringers.
 

Alet

Meeting neighbors
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2/4/16
Messages
32
Location
Parys Freestate S A
Real Name
Alet
Hi! I gave my redfaced mouse bird Pronutro with n little honey when he was small. I feeded him with a spoon. Now he is allready 10 months old. Loves banana peach and apple.

You can give that little one banana.
 
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