Some tips for a baby quaker

[ciaciu95]

Hello, i state here that i am from italy and i could mess with both my english and the specific terms. I hope that i can explain myself properly.
I've bought yesterday a 4 weeks old baby quaker. The brooder taught me the proper handfeeding tecnique, formula temperature, etc...
However i always try to get second opinions and so i read Aviator's article "the science of handfeeding and weaning the baby parrot". Even so i still have a huge doubt, which i haven't been able to solve even searching and asking.
Beside the time spent feeding him, how much time should i spend touching/interacting with him/her? Is there some things that he could like better than other or are more important to do in order to achieve a proper develop?
P.s. we are starting to bond and he/she is really curious about me, and he likes a lot my nails and my fingertips which "bite"/lick, i think to explore, he's really gentle doing so. Should i let him do it or he could learn that biting is good from that?
Thanks in advance to everybody.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and baby quaker! Your English and explanations are excellent and well detailed, no problems interacting with the forums!!

Hand feeding young birds is delicate and risky, hopefully you were taught proper techniques and avoid hazardous issues. Please read this thread written by one of our experienced breeders. It may seem harsh, written for a worse case scenario: http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

Other members can better suggest how much and what type interaction is best!

 

[ciaciu95]

Hand feeding young birds is delicate and risky, hopefully you were taught proper techniques and avoid hazardous issues.

I hope so! I'm constantly checking him, looking for change in his behavior and at the first sign, i will instantly take him to the avian vet! I already knew that buying parrot this young is not good but i live in an island and there is only one breeding quaker. I went to visit him and when i saw that he was raising the parrots just feeding them without contact nor nurturing, i had to take him. Plus he divided every baby, raising each one in his own box, with the only contact being the very fast feeding he provided.

Please read this thread written by one of our experienced breeders. It may seem harsh, written for a worse case scenario: http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

It's not harsh at all! It's just the truth. I hope i can spot any difference in his behavior in time to take him to the vet eventually!

 

[Scott]

Sad to know the breeder is simply feeding without intent to socialize. I'd understand if they were captive born with intent to release in the wild - implausible situation! Absolutely understand why you wanted to adopt so early.

Not every hand-feeding situation becomes difficult, hopefully your quaker will wean naturally and thrive. Do you have a cooking or postage scale measuring grams? Periodic weighing is crucial early warning for possible health issues. At this stage he should be steadily gaining, any significant loss would be an alert to consult avian vet.

 

[ciaciu95]

Not every hand-feeding situation becomes difficult, hopefully your quaker will wean naturally and thrive. Do you have a cooking or postage scale measuring grams? Periodic weighing is crucial early warning for possible health issues. At this stage he should be steadily gaining, any significant loss would be an alert to consult avian vet.

The day i bought him, on my way back home i bought a scale that can measure up to the tenth of a gram, and every morning, with empty crop, i weight him and write the measurment down. It went like this:
06/22 - 91,2 g
06/23 - 93.0 g
06/24 - 96.3 g
06/25 - 98.5 g
Is it going well?

This is him the day i bought him home (i don't have better photo because i didn't want to stress him out)

And this is him today

I actually have another question. When i asked the breeder when he was born, he just said he was 30 days old, but he couldn't give me the exact date. It's not even written in the CITES i have. I don't really care about the exact date, but is him 30 days old for real?

 

[Laurasea]

I love quakers. You do not have to limit your time with a baby, other than letting them sleep a lot. They are very social and babies need reassurance, and contact. Not that I'd take them out a lot till they more feathered and mobil. They would have siblings, and parents and older family tending to them.

I hate that you have an unwanted baby....ugh. proper warmth is most critical for baby, and fir food. Allowing them to fledged and learn to fly well , before ever clipping wings( I am so against clipping, all mine are full flight) because this develops body and mind and so important fir them to learn as a baby as great difficulty in learning to fly when older.

I will look fir some of my links to share. Yes they explore everything with beak, that's normal
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/bird-behavior/

http://www.parrot-parrots.com/important-stages-life-parrot.php

http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/articles/truenature.htm

Raising baby bird tips
https://iqbirdtesting.com/hand-rearing-parrots-some-basic-guidelines/

 

[ciaciu95]

I love quakers. You do not have to limit your time with a baby, other than letting them sleep a lot. They are very social and babies need reassurance, and contact. Not that I'd take them out a lot till they more feathered and mobil. They would have siblings, and parents and older family tending to them.

I didn't even knew this specie untill last year, when i saw a flock in a park and googled them. I immediately fell in love. It took me a whole year to find a breeder where i live. I don't know why, but breeders here hide themselves, and you can contact one only if someone gives you their number.

I hate that you have an unwanted baby....ugh. proper warmth is most critical for baby, and fir food.

The warmth is not a problem, in this season in my home i have 84 F? during the night, and between 87 and 91 during the day.
Also he's living in a temporary small cage (18in x 20in, 16in tall), in which i placed a cardbox with a small opening on the side from which he can come and go. I placed wood shavings as a substrate, and i think he's hot most of the time because in the last days he's been sleeping outside the box.
Just to be sure i also placed a heating pad under the box, connected to a thermostat (with the temperature detector inside the box) that activate the pad if the temperature drops below 82 ?F, in order to avoid sudden temperature change (but it never activated).
For the food i bought a food thermomether and i'm following formula instruction feeding it between 100 ?F and 104 ?F.

Allowing them to fledged and learn to fly well , before ever clipping wings( I am so against clipping, all mine are full flight) because this develops body and mind and so important fir them to learn as a baby as great difficulty in learning to fly when older.

That's not an issue because i'm against clipping too, so i won't do that.
I live near my parents house, and when i was little we had a couple indian ringneck and my dad bough a huge outside cage (it's about 16ft per side), i really look forward to take him to "stretch" his wings there.

I will look fir some of my links to share. Yes they explore everything with beak, that's normal
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/bird-behavior/

The Important Stages in the Life of a Parrot

AWC - Avian Welfare Coalition - Issues - Articles - The True Nature of Parrots

Raising baby bird tips
https://iqbirdtesting.com/hand-rearing-parrots-some-basic-guidelines/

I will eagerly read this, i hope to undestand everything but if not, i will definetly ask.