Hand raising gouldian babies orphaned by a fox

[tomorrows_angel]

Hi,

I'm new here.

We've had finches, mainly Gouldians for over 10 years.

Last night, a fox or a dog or something broke into our aviary. We had a double door and all our birds were eaten or escaped (first is more likely, we've only seen one hanging around outside and the hole wasn't very big). We have one male gouldian, a red faced parrot finch and a cuban left.

We also have 11 baby Gouldians in 2 nests. They're about 2 weeks old, they're getting feather quills and they need help. The remaining Gouldian is not one of our nesters.

PLEASE HELP! Anyone in Sydney with handraising experience want to take them on? Or can anyone tell me what to do to keep them alive?

Any help or advice is very gratefully received.

Thanks in advance,
Kathryn

[spanna]

have a read through this thread, helped me raise mine.

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=4803&hilit=+hand" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jusdeb]

Firstly they need to come out of the aviary and put somewhere warm , a heat lamp or heat mat is ideal .
They will need something to eat asap even a crushed up milk arrowroot biscuit with glucose and water will keep them going till you get some formula thats suitable.
Just use this as an emergency feed though as too much sugar can start a candida outbreak in the crop which will be another problem for them to deal with .

I think the other handrearers use a toothpick to get small amounts of food into the beak ( not sure I only hand rear parrots ). Do a search while you wait for other replies or even google the topic , Im sure theres info out there to get you started.

Good luck .

[tomorrows_angel]

Thanks for your replies.

I'm ridiculously angry right now.

So last weekend, when this happened, my parents went up to the local large pet store who claim to be bird specialists and told them what had happened and said we needed food. The store lady gave them handraising mix, but for parrots. My parents said that we don't have parrots, and they said not to worry because it's all the same. IT IS NOT THE SAME!!

Sooo after my parents effectively starving them for days because they weren't being fed the right food, we lost four of the babies. Have since gone to another pet store, bought the right food, and the remaining 7 are doing well (albeit covered in the sticky nectar parrot food junk). They're being kept in the laundry during the night in a nest box in a cardboard box insulated with carpet underlay and a hot water bottle, and are being fed a couple of times a day with syringes. They're getting very friendly, and they know when we walk in the laundry and start squawking. They're almost fully feathered now, so during the day we're returning them to the aviary (with a reinforced steel door now) to be with the remaining few birds and hopefully they'll start to venture out of the nest box soon!

[Diane]

Hope you manage to save them. If you can get some pics we would love to see them.
I know you have now got the correct food, but just to let you know Coles Supermarkets sell Millet meal, very finely ground, would work in an emergency.
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=7340&hilit=+coles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also there is an emergency electrolyte mix here, again suitable for those emergencies, as they always tend to happen on a long weekend when the shops are shut.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=6897&hilit=+emergency" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tomorrows_angel]

Just went and fed them again. Messy little things!! They're going to have to be washed down with warm water to get the nectar off them before they're properly released.... Took some photos on my phone so I'll try and upload them shortly.

[tomorrows_angel]

Ok I've changed the topic title because I guess I don't need urgent help any more...

Here are a couple of photos. Most were way too blurry cos they wriggle a lot and twist their heads. We've been replacing the paper in the nesting box, ignore the fact that it's a bit messy at the moment.

[Diane]

Cute! They are doing really well considering their rough start in life. Now life should improve with a few humans running to their every beck and call

[Mickp]

Those youngster's are looking good, shouldn't be long now until they are flying around.

[tomorrows_angel]

They're a bit scraggly so we just gave them a wash with a cloth and some warm water, fed them again and drying with a hair dryer. Also gave them a clean box. They should be fledging soon. Not sure how exactly they're going to learn to eat seed though!!