Hi again,

So I came home to my parents place for the weekend so that I could bring the new budgie (who we've finally decided to call Lady) and I went to check on the baby budgie I have in the aviary. He's about 2.5 weeks old but as he's an only child he seems to be developing quite quickly. Anyway, there are 3 breeding boxes in the aviary because I always like to give them a few options (theres only one female in there at present) and I noticed that she was going in to sit in one of the empty ones and dad was following her in. Turns out she's left the baby alone and has started to lay eggs in the other box . This is the second clutch she's layed this season (although only one egg hatched and survived, she trampled 5 babies and although all of the 16 eggs she layed were fertile, only 6 hatched and only 1 survived ... Thinking I may not breed from her again.) So I've decided to hand raise the little one.

I've reared lorikeets before but never a budgie and I just had a few questions. I've read up on how often to feed and temperatures etc and even though I've only fed him twice so far he has taken well to being hand fed.

Firstly, does anyone have any handy tips for keeping the temp of the food warm long enough to complete the feed as he refuses the food the moment it gets below luke warm, which means I'm reheating the food 2 or 3 times each feed.

Secondly, I've bought a budgie hand rearing formula but should I been supplimenting with anything else? The food seems to be fairly complete but I'm paranoid about having him become deficient in something.

And lastly, I don't own an incubator but I do have a heat mat that sits at 27 degrees, will this be sufficient for the little one at night if I cover it with a towel and make sure it only sits at one end of the box I'm keeping him in (so there should be a range of temperatures within the box, which at the moment is just covered by a towel, obviously as he gets older I'll move him into a cage).

Thats about it at the moment, but any advice would be appreciated

I don't know if my method will help you or not, but this is what I do to keep the formula warm throughout the feeding. I used to use a thermometer until that broke. Now I just test the temp with my finger, but I'm planning to replace my thermometer, as I trust that method better.

 

I get the formula hotter than I want it, because it has to sit and thicken for a minute before you can feed it. (Or else it will thicken in the chick's crop.) So then it's going to cool down to where I want it, but then I try to stop it from cooling too much by keeping it warm in a large mug filled with hot water and a wash cloth. This is inexact, so what ends up happening is that the mug over warms the formula, and I remove it and let it cool again. Over and over. BUT, for the most part, it keeps it in pretty close range, and only takes a few seconds to get it exactly the temp I want. (The instructions on my canister say to feed it at 105 F, but that as long as it is between 102 and 108 it is close enough.)

 

Usually for one chick, it eats what it needs during one cycle, and I wouldn't need to re-warm the food. For multiple chicks, a few moments in the warming mug between chicks is usually all it takes. (Roughly the amount of time it takes me to clean off the prior chick, put it back, get out the next chick and weigh the next chick. Do it long enough and you work out a rhythm.)

 

Pictures explain better, so here is what I mix my formula in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my microwave, 7 to 11 seconds makes the water just right, depending on how much I am making, and then stirring in the powder very thoroughly evens out any hot spots.

 

Then here is the mug:

 

 

 

 

I fill the bottom part of the mug with water and nuke that for about a minute, then I roll up the cloth and let it soak up the hot water. I will usually cover the whole thing with a piece of paper towel, as I think that helps hold the heat in. Athough I don't know if it really does, it just makes me feel like it does.

 

 

I hope this is of some help to you. I was in the same predicament, when I had to save some newborn chicks once, and running back and forth to the microwave just wasn't working for me. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and I don't remember how I came up with this, but I guess by trying different ideas.

Thanks I tried it this morning and he took a lot more of the food much quicker, and I didn't have to reheat. Also, does anyone know roughly how much weight he should be putting on each day/week? I'm weighing him each time I feed him and this morning he was 1g lighter than when I pulled him from the nest but has put that 1g back on this arvo... and he's eating about 2-4g food each meal. Any ideas if that sounds right?

Thanks I tried it this morning and he took a lot more of the food much quicker, and I didn't have to reheat. Also, does anyone know roughly how much weight he should be putting on each day/week? I'm weighing him each time I feed him and this morning he was 1g lighter than when I pulled him from the nest but has put that 1g back on this arvo... and he's eating about 2-4g food each meal. Any ideas if that sounds right?

 

 

That sounds about right.

 

My mothers usually keep their chicks packed full, and sometimes when I pull them, they weigh a lot. They lose some in the first 24 hours, or until they take to eating the formula readily, and then steadily climb back up.

 

Also, they will put on weight through the day with each feeding, and then lose some of it over night when their crop empties. As long as the first weight of each morning continues to rise, then you know that there is a net gain, and they are growing.