baby housing
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baby housing
whats the best way to house a several week old baby. ive read through posts and sites and cant find anything significant? images would be great too!
Re: baby housing
at 7 weeks old you can be doing a number of things, keeping your baby in a roomy well lit box, in a small cage with a perch for it to start using, some people keep them in nest boxes even, as long as you have sufficient nesting material/cloth etc on the bottom for the baby to grip on you should be fine... (my personal opinion) i keep mine in a plastic 'cat box' while my friend has hers in a nest box.... both our babies are just fine, healthy happy social birds...
Re: baby housing
well, we're not quite at seven weeks yet, however, im more concerned with substrate as ive read some very conflicting responses on what to use/ not use. ive read that bark chips are fantastic and what would naturally be in the nest in the wild, and is good for maintaining temperature and comfortability. I have then read other articles which say these a the devil and should NOT be used, but paper towels or unprinted newspaper (no idea where one would get this!) are the best.
being on the safe side, today i switched to paper towels in a black plastic tub (~20L). this was an upgrade from the 4L cardboard box with bark chips as bedding which he would notoriously bury into. after two hours hes already pushed all the paper to one side of the tub as he scuffles around and was trying to bury into the uncovered plastic (bless!).
some advice on this would be great! In terms of heating, ive got that covered, we're just heating at night with a blue incandescent - the weather is quite hot now and he's nearly got a full coat of feathers.
he was perching on my finger, though took him several minutes to gain balance, this morning, so i'll prob introduce a perch in a week or two, as i dont think hes ready - still only hand feeding and constantly burrowing down in the nest.
ive noticed people place soft toys and such with the babies? any thoughts on this one?
being on the safe side, today i switched to paper towels in a black plastic tub (~20L). this was an upgrade from the 4L cardboard box with bark chips as bedding which he would notoriously bury into. after two hours hes already pushed all the paper to one side of the tub as he scuffles around and was trying to bury into the uncovered plastic (bless!).
some advice on this would be great! In terms of heating, ive got that covered, we're just heating at night with a blue incandescent - the weather is quite hot now and he's nearly got a full coat of feathers.
he was perching on my finger, though took him several minutes to gain balance, this morning, so i'll prob introduce a perch in a week or two, as i dont think hes ready - still only hand feeding and constantly burrowing down in the nest.
ive noticed people place soft toys and such with the babies? any thoughts on this one?
Re: baby housing
When you have just one baby, a soft toy as a companion is a good idea for them to cuddle with.
At several weeks of age, I had moved the chicks into a small cage and was using regular old towels to line the bottom. Towels were changed at each feeding or as needed. I had a shallow dish of fresh foods and a sprig of millet available at all times. Once the chicks could walk (started to stop scooting) I would add in the wire grate to the cage and cover only half with a towel (a place to rest and be warm) and also added a shallow dish of water and a very low perch. I always kept the cage mostly covered until they had nearly full feathering and began exposing the sides one by one. I figure parrots raise their chicks in a dark hole for a reason so I like to keep chicks out of a lot of light until they would be naturally beginning to peek out of their nest.
Once the chick was perching regularly I removed the towel altogether and slowly raised the perch as the chicks became more adept. Also added seed dishes and a regular water dish once they began climbing the bars. Added toys and more perches as well. They never moved into the larger cages until they were fully fledged/weaned and were very, very good at climbing the bars.
At several weeks of age, I had moved the chicks into a small cage and was using regular old towels to line the bottom. Towels were changed at each feeding or as needed. I had a shallow dish of fresh foods and a sprig of millet available at all times. Once the chicks could walk (started to stop scooting) I would add in the wire grate to the cage and cover only half with a towel (a place to rest and be warm) and also added a shallow dish of water and a very low perch. I always kept the cage mostly covered until they had nearly full feathering and began exposing the sides one by one. I figure parrots raise their chicks in a dark hole for a reason so I like to keep chicks out of a lot of light until they would be naturally beginning to peek out of their nest.
Once the chick was perching regularly I removed the towel altogether and slowly raised the perch as the chicks became more adept. Also added seed dishes and a regular water dish once they began climbing the bars. Added toys and more perches as well. They never moved into the larger cages until they were fully fledged/weaned and were very, very good at climbing the bars.
I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
Re: baby housing
I agree fully with Melika, but again it is every one to their own choice, many people prefer wood/bark shavings as it tends to absorb runny poop and if changed regulary is better than towel etc where the poop just sits on top to be 'scooted' over and walked and sat in which makes for dorty babies, but i use soft toweling cloths with some newspaper underneath, covered so they cannot nibble and ingest it and finds it works well for me.
Re: baby housing
I currently have my 8 in a large plastic dark tub, that hubby's drilled lots of airholes in. I can put small food and water containers inbetween the holes, and the babies are nibbling at the pellets.
I use the pet bedding, $14 for a large bale, which is fine wood shavings. I was using old towels, but the washing was horrendus! I find the wood shavings absorb more, and the babies love burrowing lol.
The 3 larger babies are flying, so through the day they've been transferred to a large cage, when I can catch them around the house! And in there they've got water, fruit/veges, seed, pellets and millet, with just newspaper on the bottom. They don't seem interested in chewing the paper at the moment, just getting out and flying round the house
The 3 larger ones go back in the tub at night, about 6 pm when I feed, they all go diving back in on their own, so I figure it's not hurting. Getting a tad crowded in there though (but only at night)
I use the pet bedding, $14 for a large bale, which is fine wood shavings. I was using old towels, but the washing was horrendus! I find the wood shavings absorb more, and the babies love burrowing lol.
The 3 larger babies are flying, so through the day they've been transferred to a large cage, when I can catch them around the house! And in there they've got water, fruit/veges, seed, pellets and millet, with just newspaper on the bottom. They don't seem interested in chewing the paper at the moment, just getting out and flying round the house
The 3 larger ones go back in the tub at night, about 6 pm when I feed, they all go diving back in on their own, so I figure it's not hurting. Getting a tad crowded in there though
(but only at night)Re: baby housing
thanks for the responses.
ive gone for a similar setup to melika's suggestion. Ive lined the base with towel and overlayed the towel with paper towel, which is the same setup i had in the black box. i change the towel each day and the soil paper whenever i have a nosey. i was using a type of bark-mulch suggested for parrot nesting, but im hesitant to use it again. he was definately burrowing into it a bit, but i was particularly worried about ingestion and inhalation. I think aslong as i stay ontop of the clearning, the towels should be fine.
ive gone for a similar setup to melika's suggestion. Ive lined the base with towel and overlayed the towel with paper towel, which is the same setup i had in the black box. i change the towel each day and the soil paper whenever i have a nosey. i was using a type of bark-mulch suggested for parrot nesting, but im hesitant to use it again. he was definately burrowing into it a bit, but i was particularly worried about ingestion and inhalation. I think aslong as i stay ontop of the clearning, the towels should be fine.