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911 help, swollen belly- Sad Update Post #31

Hennafairy

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Our first baby cockatiel hatched on November 28th. He has been doing well until today, his belly is swollen tight. His parents have been keeping his crop nice with food and he had pooped or peed in my had every time I picked him up until today. On some advice I have given him a few drops of warm water and a few drops of vegetable oil. He has pooped and peed very little amounts since then. I can't tell if his crop is emptying today or not. Should I keep him away from his parents so they Don't feed him more and make his belly explode. I also tried stimulating him to go potty by touching around his bottom.
 

Hennafairy

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Ok, I just poked around his bottom again and he pooped more than he ever has that I have seen so far, his belly looks a little better but before he pooped the skin actually looked stretched and shiny. I have never seen a new hatched cockatiel before, is his stomach supposed to be so much bigger than his full crop and you can see black winding lines through his belly skin?
Also I think his dad might be pulling the down off his head and legs, what should I do?
 

Shastasmom

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Cockatiels are normally excellent parents. Is there any reason you are needing to be in the nest box and removing the baby so much at such a young age? The stress of handling such a young baby can cause them to shut down. Also, some parents stuff their babies crops and they can go a good 12 hours before they totally empty. So don't be alarmed if their crops are always full or close to it when you check. Sounds to me like the parents are doing an admirable job. I'd leave them to it. :marlenesmile:
 

Shastasmom

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What you describe sounds like a normal newly hatched youngster to me. And, they do not have much down at all at this age. So I doubt dad is pulling any off. Again, I'd let the parents do their job.
 

Hennafairy

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Thanks so much for your reply. I was told by a number of sources, people who breed cockatiels, that I should handle the baby some every day, if that is wrong let me know please.
I was only worried once I saw his extremely swollen belly.
I checked previous pictures of the hatchling and I am positive the dad is pulling his down off. I saw him do it yesterday but thought it was a mistake but looking at the photo he had much more down two days ago.
 

Hennafairy

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The hatchling is also missing about half of the down on his back he had a few days ago.
 

Calpurnia

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From what I've heard you should not worry about handling a baby for the first week and a half to two weeks. Simply because it is not necessary and because you should be letting the parents take care of them while they are in a particularly delicate state. That being said, if you really are 100% positive that the dad is plucking him, then you can always pull him from the nest completely and begin hand feeding him. But in this case you run the risk of not having the proper equipment/skills to handle a vulnerable baby bird. So it's hard to say what the best course of action should be.
 

Hennafairy

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Thanks for the reply. The mom is feeding the baby well, at night it is very quiet in their box so maybe I should just pull the dad during the day, this is when I hear him making a huge racket in the box and why I looked in and saw him yanking some down off. He made a tiny tiny red spot on the hatchling head too and I have seen him peck at his legs but thought maybe that is normal. I will check out the Web site, thanks. I only take him out like twice a day for about 10 minutes but it sounds like that might be a bad idea and I don't want to interfere, I thought I was doing good, the parents will stand on my hand and feed him and snuggle their heads into my thumb for pets while I am holding him. I just got scared when I saw the massive belly with black streaks inside and under the skin.
I so appreciate everyone's help.
 

Shastasmom

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He may be picking because your scent is on the hatchling and it upsets him. Most parent birds do not like intruders in their boxes let alone playing with their newborn babies. I have raised many birds, still raise poi's, quakers and conures, and I never get into the boxes until I am pulling the babies for handfeeding. If your intent is to parent raise, and handle only to tame them, then I'd leave them alone and take him out when he is older. And, I would not remove Dad. He sounds frustrated. Also, if you keep the female off her eggs as often as you are with taking the chick out, the rest may not hatch. I do applaud you for asking questions on this forum. The link above is a wonderful source of information. Good luck!
 

Chopper

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Thank you for asking the questions and thank you too for the people who are answering them and not bashing the OP. We learn but doing.
 

sunnysmom

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This has always been a highly recommended site for information. Hope the baby is okay!

Just Cockatiels! - HOME
I was going to post this too. :) The woman who has the website has been breeding tiels for many years and has a lot of very good info posted on taking care of the babies, etc.
 

Hennafairy

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Thanks again, I Love that people actually reply with out making me feel stupid for not knowing.
The dad was picking the down off before I ever touched the hatchling, part of the reason I picked him up the first time. Dad was pulling it off then pecking on its head so hard baby was kind of screaming, this was again before I touched the baby or went into their box.
There are no other eggs, there was one other that looked like it had a baby in it but it disappeared.
And again, the reason I posted here was to ask about its belly. I took a picture so will try to upload it.
 

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SandraK

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If you can, get him to the vet asap. I've had that happen with one of my tiel babies and I took the entire nestbox in w/mom & dad. Baby was RX'd Nystatin and pulled through.
 

Chopper

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Ohh, how cute and ugly at the same time. They are definitely feeding it.
 

SandraK

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Thanks again, I Love that people actually reply with out making me feel stupid for not knowing.
The dad was picking the down off before I ever touched the hatchling, part of the reason I picked him up the first time. Dad was pulling it off then pecking on its head so hard baby was kind of screaming, this was again before I touched the baby or went into their box.
There are no other eggs, there was one other that looked like it had a baby in it but it disappeared.
And again, the reason I posted here was to ask about its belly. I took a picture so will try to upload it.
I'll also add this - I'd rather you ask questions and feel comfortable doing so. Speaking for myself, I know I've done some stupid things before I knew better. That is not a really an excuse by any means. BUT if you don't know and you don't ask a direct question none of us can really give you a clean answer. BTW, welcome to AA and I hope we can really help you. If you can give us a general idea of where you are in this world of ours, we might be able to help you find an avian vet nearby. I'll also add this statement - if you live overseas, depending on where you live, I (for one) do understand that it might be near impossible to do.

Above all, breath and remember we're trying to help.
 

Hennafairy

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I planned to leave him with his parents for about 3 weeks then hand raise him because we have 2 cockatiels that were hand raised and love humans, and love to snuggle, and are just happy birds. We have rescued 2 other cockatiels, one a neighbor found at the pool and she had pulled all of ther feathers off so no one wanted to bring her home they thought she was ugly, I think she is beautiful, have no idea what she went through, she has been here for 7 months and is still very fearful. It breaks my heart that she seems to always be in a state of fear. The other beauty we rescued was parent raised and she is terrified of people. They had no idea how old she was. I want this hatchling to be a happy bird who is not afraid of humams, but more than anything I want to do what is best for the baby. I do have some experience hand feeding a young but not baby cockatiel.
 

Hennafairy

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I live in Georgia north of Atlanta.
The direct question is, is his belly normal. It feels hard in some spots.
Thanks for the welcome!
 

Hennafairy

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Look at these beautiful new parents! I had no idea how truly birds love each other, how loyal they are, how can anyone think animals don't have emotions?
 

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Hennafairy

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I was told it is important to weigh him daily and he has lost weight since yesterday. He weighed 7.3 g yesterday around noon and he weighs 6.8 today. He was full of poop yesterday and went a lot last night but I thought they were supposed to gain significant weight every day. What should I do?
 
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