Lovebirds are an easy species to breed, since they seem to readily take to it, but sometimes things go wrong and you?ll need to care for the baby lovebirds yourself. In some cases, hand feeding the baby lovebirds also means creating very tame birds that are easy to care for. If you need to care for the baby lovebirds directly, though, you need to know what to do, since losing baby birds can be a rather disheartening experience. With a little experience, though, you?ll be able to care for baby lovebirds well.

When Do You Take Over for the Parents?

Of course, the first thing to know about caring for baby lovebirds is when you should let the parents care for them instead. In general, your best bet is to pull the whole clutch at once when the youngest baby is about ten days old, which usually puts the oldest at about sixteen or seventeen days.

Any time beyond this and you?ll find that the babies don?t take as well to hand feeding. If the baby lovebirds have hatched far apart enough that the oldest will be older than 17 days by the time the youngest is ready to be removed, don?t be afraid to remove them a couple at a time.

Where Do You Keep Them?

For baby lovebirds, a large plastic reptile container will work great for the first few weeks, giving the birds room to grow while keeping them safe. Line the bottom of the container with cage liner and use untreated paper towels above that, which will make cleaning each day easy. If you place food on one end of the container and encourage the birds to use the opposite end for cuddling, you will help to minimize the birds making a mess in their food area.

Hand Feeding

For the first few weeks, hand feeding the baby lovebirds is your best bet. It is best to do this with supervision from an experienced handler before attempting to do it on your own. You can purchase baby bird formula, which should be administered through a plastic O-ring syringe. Because baby birds are fed with regurgitated food, they like their food to be warm; about 103 degrees Fahrenheit will be about right. However, if you warm the food up in any way, be sure to stir it thoroughly and test the temperature before hand to prevent hot spots and the like.

Weaning

One of the most popular methods for weaning now is the so-called abundance weaning method, in which you continue to use the syringe to feed the baby lovebirds while supplying them with ample adult food, which will encourage them to eat on their own. Eventually, as their independence grows, the baby lovebirds will stop wanting the syringe and will take to eating their own food. Before selling your weaned lovebird, it?s best to wait a few days after the weaning to make sure there are no health problems. If there?s not, then congratulations! You?ve hand-raised your first lovebirds.

Filed under: Pet Birds

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