Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So one of my cockatiels eggs finally hatched. The pair had 2 hatch about 2 years ago but they both died within about 24 hours.

This one hatched the day me and my wife went on our honeymoon. We let them nest in a space in one of our closets and I had to move the female back into the cage before we left. I heard a peeping sound coming from one of the eggs and put it on a paper towel in the bottom of the cage so the female could continue incubating it. We had her parents come and move our birds to their house for the week we were away and when they arrived they found a little baby in the bottom of the cage. This was around 10am on the 14th.

The female cockatiel didnt know what to do with the baby so my wife's mother has been handfeeding it for the past 10 or so days and trying to let the parents feed it too. Problem is they regurgitate so much that the baby looks like its crop will explode and yet they continue to try and feed it. The male will feed it correctly to some extent, but the female just eats her reguritation before the baby can get any.

My mother-in-law is taking care of the tiels for the time being as she has time to feed it every 2 hours or so. My main question is though will the parents ever learn how much to feed the baby and how often they should be doing it? Or should we just let my mother-in-law conitnue monitoring the baby to make sure its not being fed too much?

First let me say I think it is wonderful that your mother-in-law stepped in to take care of this baby when it was having problems.

If the parents are actively trying to feed the baby and its crop is becoming too expanded it might be time that your mother-in-law stops feeding it or does not feed it as much. It is great to socialize the baby to make it tamer by taking it out of the nest and handling it everyday but it can cause serious problems for the baby if it is being overfed.

First she needs to watch the baby and their parents. If it's crop fully empties then she can step in to feed it. If the crop stays full then she needs to discontinue feeding it and just socialize it when she takes it out keeping watch for if it does empty. Baby birds that are overfed sometimes have to be put in what some people call a "crop bra". This is to support a saggy crop that can cause problems to the baby. A saggy crop can keep the baby from fully digesting its food and cause crop stasis where the food basically rots in the crop. The baby birds crop should be allowed to fully empty during the night and at least mostly empty between every feeding. If the crop does not empty then either the parents are feeding it plenty of else it has crop stasis and the crop is not emptying on its own.

Good luck and good way to be thoughtful to your mother-in-law!!

According to my wife the baby has tripled in size since my last post. The parents have supposedly lost all interest in the baby now however and my mother-in-law is doing all the feedings.