Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. IS THEIR ANY WHERE, WHERE I CAN TAKE A NEWBORN BABY AND HAVE IT WEANED.

2. IS HANDFEEDING REALLY THAT HARD.

3. IAM BUYING EGGS OFF OF THE INTERNET ANYONE EVER DONE THAT BEFORE.

THANKS CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS I REALLY NEED HELP THANKS ALOT HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I think I am going to answer your questions in the opposite order posted, I think they seem most important in that order LOL!

3. Buying eggs off internet. Although I am sure there are some honest people that sell eggs over the internet there are many more dishonest people. There have been many cases of people from out of the country acting like they are selling eggs when it is actually illegal. The eggs cannot be shipped into the US any bird/etc has to be quarantined and vetted when shipped the person residing in the US has to have certain permits etc which all in all means this is a hoax. The same people will claim to be in the US and have monies sent through kind of like a broker and again your money is stolen. If buying eggs this way even after all warnings at least check to see that they are a reputable breeder with avian vet and personal references etc OR DO NOT BUY THEM.

2. Is handfeeding hard?? In a word YES!!!!! I have handfed but only after trained by a vet and helped the first several times by an experienced breeder. LOTS can go wrong. If you feed food too thick it clogs the crop and kills the baby, if feeding food too thin the baby feels full won't eat more and doesn't get enough nutrients and dies. IF feeding food too hot it creates crop burns and will cause a very painful problem for the baby possibly even burning a hole straight through the crop and again killing the baby. If feeding food too cold the babies body will not digest it, killing the baby. (Getting the picture here!!) If feeding food the exact right temperature, the exact right consistency the baby can swallow even a tiny bit into its lungs (the tube passing into it's lungs is adjacent to their crop tube and if the formula goes in the wrong side, the mouth is overful etc it can go down the tube into the airway. This causes fungal pneumonia and results in the babies painful death. If feeding by a bent spoon/cup style feeder you have to make sure you feed from the correct side. If using a tube feeder you can overfill the crop or even puncture the crop resulting in death plus many times they are harder to wean because they don't know what it is like to "taste" food and as such won't eat as easily on their own. You would have to know when to begin weaning them with abundance weaning not to just suddenly say okay this one is 10 weeks weaning age here's your food.

1. Is there someone to take them to be weaned. Well some vets and some breeders will do this but it is not something they will usually do for clutch after clutch of eggs. If you are still going to go through with this please go to an avian vet be instructed in the proper feeding, care etc. Then see if you can find a nearby breeder that would be willing to let you watch and even help handfeeding several times to get true experience and even though this may sound harsh expect to loose several clutches when beginning. IF all goes well wonderful but definitely don't expect it to!!