To Handrear, or not to Handrear? That is the question.

[Nrg800]

I'm not sure if I should ask this, due to highly hypocritical nature of the question, after advising Nathan against the matter. Plus the possibility of being lynched, for letting my mind cross to parrots. But it has been on my mind.

My Scarlet-Chested Parrots are on eggs right now, my Mrs. Neophema laid her first egg last Monday, and I was just wondering if you think it would be wise for me to hand-rear one of the babies.

If I were to hand rear it I would take one (a male) out of the nest about 3 weeks after hatching, so that there is not too much difficulty in feeding the bird. I would put it in an opaque fish tank sized thing, with a heat mat and a heat lamp under a pot (I have all of these at my disposal) and I would put it in with warm wheat bags and hot water bottles and the like.

I don't think feeding it at that age would me much of a problem, my only problem (and it's one I need to think long and hard about) is whether I can provide it with the attention it needs. Being such a small bird it's not an inconvienance to take anywhere, really, and I would like to think it would come camping or hiking with us and everything (I would certainly buy a harness and possibly one of those things I've seen on macaws, which clips some wings together, so you can put it on to stop it flying and you can take it off and it can fly). When I needed to venture to my dad's house, I would be able to bring it to school and put it in either the Science Staff Room, or the Staff area of the Library, and then take it from there to my dad's house. In the day while I was at school, I would like to put in the aviary (unless there is too much aggression) throughout the day, and bring it out when I got back in the afternoon. And yeah, I would take it places with me, and I have no afterschool activities on any day, other than Tuesday, and often on Tuesday I could bring it with me.

Before I even consider it further I will certainly discuss it with the pet shop, but I would like opinions of other people I respect more, because lots of pet shops will tell you what you want to hear for a sale.

But yeah, do you think I would be able to provide adequate entertainment and enrichment for the bird?

If i can't, there's no way I'll try. I'd just like to get an idea whether I can or can't, because I would like to DNA sex the chicks if you think it would be a good idea, so that I got a male (call me superficial, but the male looks nicer).

Also, excuse the clumsy way that this was written...

Thank you!
Cut the hell into me if you feel I need it!
~Nathan

[Diane]

The thing that struck me most was the taking the bird with you everywhere. While this is a commendable thing, you then went on to say that it could spend the day in the aviary. My concern there would be, if you are taking it everywhere, i.e camping, hiking that means it is possibly coming into contact with places where wild birds have been, and then you would be putting it back into your aviary....
Don't have any experience hand raising so on that score I bow out.

[Nrg800]

Oh yes, I didn't think of that. Hmm... Keeping it inside all the time wouldn't really be fair though...

[spanna]

After having hand reared a few finches, and now keeping one inside as a pet, I would have to advise against it. Given that you are still at school, you will have only more work for yourself in an already busy time of your life. My little gouldian tells me off every chance he has for not getting him out and playing with him, which I do daily, but when I'm at uni or work I can't do this. Luckily I'm only working weekends and at part of the time during the week, so always have time for him, but at the risk of sounding like a dad; "it just doesn't fit your current lifestyle at the moment"

Honestly, some days you just wanna lock them in a cage, cos mine at least has a very cheeky personality, but you can't do that. Taking him with me everywhere in a small box wouldn't be fair either, so he has his cage at home and comes out as often as possible. I think it's probably a good idea to let the parents do their thing this time around. Maybe after you've finished school it might be an option.

Last point: if these are first time parents, I wouldn't be intruding too much on the nest either... I'm sure they will eventually get used to having human interaction with/around the nest, but would pulling a young bird out cause inexperienced parents to abandon the rest? Not sure on that though.

[jusdeb]

Firstly ..how can you tell which is the male ? They dont colour up until well after fledging .
Secondly if I wanted a companion bird to take everywhere with me I would want a much larger bird than a Scarlet . I have heard of birds the size of Conures and Quarrions being picked off peoples shoulders by Hawks etc .
Thirdly Scarlets are a very timid little bird and may not be the outgoing companion bird you are after.

OK hand rearing ... hmmm you go to school so there's 2 feeds you cannot do . A healthy crop needs topping up before it empties completely .

Ok then we get back to your age , your lifestyle changing as you become older and more independent blah blah you've heard it all from me before .

AND what if you stuff up ? Can you handle the guilt ? After you are taking a perfectly healthy baby bird away from its parents with no experience as to what you are doing .

AND have you got a healthy bank account because emergency vet fees are not cheap .

OK so now you're thinking "she is such a bitch " and yes you're probably right but I take the welfare of birds over all else . AND you're also thinking "well she hand rears " yep I do however I took the time to have a vet teach me how and have back up from another hand rearer because yes even I stuff up at times .

OK same as I said to Shanny and to Nathan so nothing new in what I say ...Just my very strong opinion and of course you will do what you want anyway .

Now dont be getting all angry with me NRG ....still buds

[maz]

Hand reared/tame parrots are fantastic (I know I have 6 in the house lol) but they are a long term commitment and require plenty of time, as plenty of people on here have said being a teenager your time will be taken up with social stuff quite a bit and a handraised bird doesn't take kindly to being neglected for couple of days....and they live for 15-30 years too life changes lots in that time...I've rescued a huge number of birds that were bought for teenagers and have been left alone after the teenager moves out of home so I'm a bit reticent to say yeah go ahead. But they are also one of the best pets because usually you will actually be able to take them with you when you do move out (I had a tame budgie that moved out of home with me when I was 19). Don't know much about scarlets and have rarely seen them handtame so not sure how they would go and make sure your parents are on the same page as you if you do decide to go ahead at least that way you have a backup for the bird if you can't keep it down the track.

[Myzomela]

Perhaps you could start off by handling the young in the nest often.
If the hen is used to you having a look whilst she is on eggs/rearing young, then you could take it one step further and hold the chicks on a daily basis whilst they are still in the nest.
Birds handled regularly in the nest can be very quiet and can remain fairly tame after fledging, depending on how often you handle them.
This gives you the best of both worlds- a tame, but still well socialised bird that still knows it's a bird, without the hassle of hand-rearing.
If the bird is still not tame enough for what you want, then hand-rear the next clutch.

[Nrg800]

Perhaps you could start off by handling the young in the nest often.
If the hen is used to you having a look whilst she is on eggs/rearing young, then you could take it one step further and hold the chicks on a daily basis whilst they are still in the nest.
Birds handled regularly in the nest can be very quiet and can remain fairly tame after fledging, depending on how often you handle them.
This gives you the best of both worlds- a tame, but still well socialised bird that still knows it's a bird, without the hassle of hand-rearing.
If the bird is still not tame enough for what you want, then hand-rear the next clutch.

That's what I think would be the best idea, try to make it tame, but not Hand-reared.

Not at all Angry Deb, not at all! When my mind gets an idea it becomes very stubborn about it, I only see the augments that suit my idea. I need people to tell me no, or more, give me reasons for it being a bad idea!

Thanks everyone! I think I'd like to try to get it more used to people than most birds (my Scarlets are pretty good anyway), but not have it leave the aviary.

But will the parents allow another bird in with them, or will they reject it, or not breed because of pressure... I might just save it all 'till later.

[jusdeb]

Is this their first clutch ? I think from memory it is ....so Im thinking now that they need the experience without interruptions to maybe let them raise a clutch or 2 while you have a think about it ....

A good hand rearer wont remove clutches from first time breeders else risk the parents never getting it right ...

Im sure you will do whats right for the birds anyway .

[desertbirds]

NRG you seem to be a wealth of information on native species and aussie birds in general. Keeping them, and having them as pets in another ball game. I agree with the all the posts so far but how about the parrot and giving the bird the chance to be just that. My own pesonal opinion is that the pet parrot industry is a bit on the nose . A dog is a far better option than a parrot,too many parrots get left behind as life changes and dont end up with the happy life they deserve. I inherited a Long Bill Corella when my dad passed away and as much as i love the bird she is pain in the butt sometimes, 20 plus years old and craves attention like a three year old kid.Unless it was a rescue situation i would personally never take on another pet parrot.Love them dearly but they are such a huge commitment.