Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    speaking of Vitamin A deficiencies, dried red chilly peppers are
    loaded with Vitamin A.  I just add 'em to my birds normal diet.
    Just be careful of getting a kiss from your bird after feeding.

    Another tip..
    
    Diet and Calcium are probably the most important factors in preventing
    Egg binding however lack of exercise can also be a factor.  For
    small birds a cage too small can be a problem.
    
    Some birds just refuse to eat cuttlebone, this problem can be solved
    by scraping a cuttlebone with a knife over the seed.
    
    If an Egg binding condition occurs the bird should be imediatly
    taken to a Vet.  This is a condition that sould be dealt with 
    only by a profesional.  If a vet is not imeadiatly available put
    the bird on heat using standard bird first aid techniques.    
    
    Malcolm
    
    

    Good tip Malcom!
    
    I had two egg bound bird experiences...one was a very expensive
    quail...she tried to lay an egg as big as a chicken egg!  Real sad
    day at the aviary for us!  Not because she was so expensive, but
    she was super bird!  She half thought she was people....her problem
    was hypocalcemia!  The vet said he had never seen a better feathered
    or tissued bird...there was not much we could have done...Hence,
    the fears of over supplementation!  The second, we put on heat in
    an aquarium, and also held her over steam....no, not boiling raging
    steam, just enough to moisten her vent and relax the uterus!  she
    was fine afterwards.
    
    Providing a good balance of humidity and heat for the birds along
    with a proper diet, mother nature will usually handle things nicely
    for us!  Right?
    
    J
    

    Our finches seem particularly disinterested in cuttlebone and mineral
    blocks.
    
    Another method of supplementing calcium is to grind up eggshells. We
    boil the eggshells, and then use a morter and pestle. We've found that
    this will stick to food better if you sprinkle some Superpreen or
    vitamin supplement over the food, then apply the eggshells. 
    
    Some birds like the eggshells as it.  You could tell when our female
    Gould was ready to lay eggs, because you'd hear these little crunching
    noises from the aviary, as she consumed eggshells. 

    RE: .2, yes, exercise makes a big difference.  Our waxbills got
    eggbound in a small cage (remedied by heat and moisture), but not
    since the've been moved to the aviary.  They're lousy parents, though.
    And it's hard to hand feed something the size of a pencil eraser,
    especially when the they need live food.
    
    -Steve

    

    Just a note....
    
    When using egg shells, be careful that they are like powder when
    they are ground..the egg shells can tear that tender little crop!
    They are a great source of calcium...but not a substitute for grit.
    
    And feeding waxbills live food?  Foster the babies to Societies
    or Zebras...careful using live food, depending upon what you use
    and how you use it...it can eat it's way back out of the baby.
    I fed out babies a crop milk mixture that was fed on the end of
    a Q-Tip!

E: .5 
>    And feeding waxbills live food?  Foster the babies to Societies
>    or Zebras. 

There are several issues in fostering. 

1) Some birds feed their young with the beaks at a 90% angle (also called being
fed "from the side"), some feed with the beaks at the same angle (fed from
above).  If you get a mismatch, feeding does not work. 

2) Some parent birds look for color cue in the baby's open mouth, like a red
spot in the throat, and won't feed otherwise.  The general appearance of the
young, like being naked or feathered, can affect willingness to feed, too. 

3) The protein requirement of the young is critical. Young who require a high
protein intake need live food.  Societies are pretty flexible birds; I've read
that you can train them to accept changes in their diet, and feed the young
accordingly.  However, I've read that waxbills require 80% or 90% live food,
and have different feeding habits than societies, so you would have to train
the societies to accept a radical change in diet and feeding technique
before you can try fostering.  Zebras I know less about, but I suspect the live
food problem would still exist. 

Goulds foster very well with Societies because their diet, feeding angle, mouth
markings and the appearance of the young are nearly identical. 

If anyone's interested, I can dig up an article in Cage Bird that goes into
precise detail. 

>    ..careful using live food, depending upon what you use
>    and how you use it...it can eat it's way back out of the baby. 

Yes, I've heard that about mealworms.  The adult waxbills skin them first, so
it's no problem (assuming you get adult waxbills you are inclined to feed
their young in the first place).  If you don't trust the parents to feed right,
I've read that you can scald the worms to kill them or just chop off their
heads. (Yucko.  I think I'll stick to vegetarian birds.)

-Steve

    Re: mealworms
    
    
    This is just based on my experience from owning lizards.  I have
    only had lizards who ate crickets.  Crickets tend to get scarce
    in the winter, so many unreputable pet sotres try to convince you
    to buy the mealworms instead - the mealworms will live forever in
    your refrigerator.
    
    Anyway, the danger with the mealworms was that if the lizard did
    not thoroughly chew the mealworm, the mealworm would bore right
    out of the lizards stomach leaving you with a dead lizard.  I assume
    the same problem would occur with the baby birds
    
    	-Nancy