Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 3/8/2006

Question
I have a pair of love Birds that laid their first eggs on the 5th of Feb/06. I noticed today the 8th of mar/06 that I have two babies. If I take the babies out or handle them will the mother abandon her babies? I still have two eggs left to hatch.... I origanally had six eggs and two were not fertile so I discarded them leaving me with four eggs.
could you please inform me of what I can do, and not do with these babies.
Thank you in advance


Answer
Hi, JoAnne.  Thanks for posting.

No, the mother will not abandon her babies if you handle them.  It's an old wives tale that the scent of humans on baby birds will result in the parents abandoning their hatchlings.

You want to handle the lovebird babies as often as possible so they will be tame when they are older.  Actually, depending on what you plan to do with these babies (keep, sell, or give them away), if you want them to be as tame as possible, you should pull them from the parents at about 10 days of age and handfeed them with a handfeeding syringe and baby parrot handfeeding formula.  If you don't plan on handfeeding them yourself, you MUST handle these babies every day or they will not be tame.  It will be difficult to sell them or give them away if they are not tame.  

When you handle the babies, make sure you thoroughly wash your hands before picking them up so you don't transfer any "bugs" to the babies.  Baby parrots are hatched without any immunities to illness (immunities develop as they grow and are exposed).  

My website can provide you with more information you will need:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back if you need to.  Thanks.

Chrys