Merrin Jam
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 5/5/21
- Messages
- 3
- Real Name
- Merrin James
I'm new here, so I'm sorry if there's a format I'm supposed to follow.
(S)he, who I've named Momo, was born a little over 2 weeks ago. I did everything I could to not intervene and just let them look after my budgies' kids themselves. The first blow came when a week old kid fell from the nest that we didn't know was overcrowded with 5 babies. That baby, unfortunately was found dead, followed by the rest 3 later. A few days later, Momo fell down into the food tray. The parents were feeding it while in the food tray and the baby looked healthy and still does.
When Momo dropped down, about 4 days ago, both the parents were fighting to feed it, the father, Mr. Dumpling was doing most of the job. The mother, Screechy, kept plucking off the soft white feathers on Momo's body, so Dumpling just shooed her away all the time. I tried to put Momo back in the nest, but (s)he always managed to drop back down without hurting itself.
So I fixed up a smaller nest nearer to the bottom of the cage and put Momo in it, seeing as Dumpling and Screechy was okay with the baby not being in their own nest and was feeding quite nicely as well. I regretted that decision when I realized my folly. I have a cage that fits on a huge platform on the patio outside of my house and so, all 10 of my budgies are in it. It's breeding season right now, so filled with 4 very hormonal female birds ready to lay eggs, including screechy who was done by that time. The rivalry gets very heated at times. I don't want to have to move some of the pairs to another cage to lay their eggs cuz it's significantly smaller.
Fearing for Momo's life if (s)he was to get in the middle of that, I shifted Momo to the incubator inside my house to get him out only to take it to the cage and let the parents feed him, a miracle I wasn't expecting.
Day before yesterday, Dumpling got out of the cage while I was cleaning and flew away. Cons of having the cage outside of the house, I suppose.
Ever since then, the responsibility to feed Momo has fallen on Screechy. And she's doing...good. Would've been better if she wasn't so much more interested in fighting the other budgies who dare come near the nest she was occupying before. She is way violent and territorial than any other females I have and that's taking a toll on Momo. Screechy flies off every now and then, leaving a screaming Momo to beg for food with a half filled crop. I tried doing this often so that Momo's crop is never empty for long except at night. But it's just getting annoying. Screechy loves her baby, don't get me wrong, but it's heartbreaking to see Momo cry on while his mom is doing something else.
So I tried to hand feed him. But my oh my. He's too old to accept a hand feeding syringe now. He won't open his mouth if it's the last thing he does and I don't want to force him. My fear comes from having a past of baby birds dying from Pneumonia due to food stuck in the trachea.
I woke up today morning and took Momo to his mom and she fed him, again crop half full. But Momo's screaming is less intense now. Seems more broken, if you know what I mean. Like sore throat, if you will. I'm not sure I should be concerned about that.
My main reason for this very lengthy essay is that Momo has been tired and sleeping all day today i.e. from 6 in the morning to now, about 11 before noon. This is not normal for him. He is very active usually.
He is attached to my hand for sleeping too, so not moving around and just sleeping on my hand, while adorable, is very concerning given his usual behavior.
Do any of you have a suggestion to get him to hand feed? What should I do about the mom? Is sleeping so much okay? Thank you for your time
(S)he, who I've named Momo, was born a little over 2 weeks ago. I did everything I could to not intervene and just let them look after my budgies' kids themselves. The first blow came when a week old kid fell from the nest that we didn't know was overcrowded with 5 babies. That baby, unfortunately was found dead, followed by the rest 3 later. A few days later, Momo fell down into the food tray. The parents were feeding it while in the food tray and the baby looked healthy and still does.
When Momo dropped down, about 4 days ago, both the parents were fighting to feed it, the father, Mr. Dumpling was doing most of the job. The mother, Screechy, kept plucking off the soft white feathers on Momo's body, so Dumpling just shooed her away all the time. I tried to put Momo back in the nest, but (s)he always managed to drop back down without hurting itself.
So I fixed up a smaller nest nearer to the bottom of the cage and put Momo in it, seeing as Dumpling and Screechy was okay with the baby not being in their own nest and was feeding quite nicely as well. I regretted that decision when I realized my folly. I have a cage that fits on a huge platform on the patio outside of my house and so, all 10 of my budgies are in it. It's breeding season right now, so filled with 4 very hormonal female birds ready to lay eggs, including screechy who was done by that time. The rivalry gets very heated at times. I don't want to have to move some of the pairs to another cage to lay their eggs cuz it's significantly smaller.
Fearing for Momo's life if (s)he was to get in the middle of that, I shifted Momo to the incubator inside my house to get him out only to take it to the cage and let the parents feed him, a miracle I wasn't expecting.
Day before yesterday, Dumpling got out of the cage while I was cleaning and flew away. Cons of having the cage outside of the house, I suppose.
Ever since then, the responsibility to feed Momo has fallen on Screechy. And she's doing...good. Would've been better if she wasn't so much more interested in fighting the other budgies who dare come near the nest she was occupying before. She is way violent and territorial than any other females I have and that's taking a toll on Momo. Screechy flies off every now and then, leaving a screaming Momo to beg for food with a half filled crop. I tried doing this often so that Momo's crop is never empty for long except at night. But it's just getting annoying. Screechy loves her baby, don't get me wrong, but it's heartbreaking to see Momo cry on while his mom is doing something else.
So I tried to hand feed him. But my oh my. He's too old to accept a hand feeding syringe now. He won't open his mouth if it's the last thing he does and I don't want to force him. My fear comes from having a past of baby birds dying from Pneumonia due to food stuck in the trachea.
I woke up today morning and took Momo to his mom and she fed him, again crop half full. But Momo's screaming is less intense now. Seems more broken, if you know what I mean. Like sore throat, if you will. I'm not sure I should be concerned about that.
My main reason for this very lengthy essay is that Momo has been tired and sleeping all day today i.e. from 6 in the morning to now, about 11 before noon. This is not normal for him. He is very active usually.
He is attached to my hand for sleeping too, so not moving around and just sleeping on my hand, while adorable, is very concerning given his usual behavior.
Do any of you have a suggestion to get him to hand feed? What should I do about the mom? Is sleeping so much okay? Thank you for your time
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