Our new baby budgie :) 2 weeks old

IcyWolf

New member
Jul 5, 2011
1,542
3
Etters, Pa
Parrots
~Alexandrine Parakeet~2 Red Lored Amazons~Blue Fronted Amazon~Black capped conure~4 Green Cheeks~4 Parrotlets~2 lineolated parakeets~9 American budgies~9 English budgies~ And lots of babies :)
First off, I didn't mean to disappear for the past two weeks, BUT...from 11.28 until yesterday I have had no electricity :( It's kind of a long story but it has to do with the people that lived here before us and a tussle with the electric company, but after two weeks and a lot of money, we once again have power so, here I am.
Our little baby budgie hatched the morning of 11.28 and by about noon our electricity went off and I went outside to see that our meter was completely gone! At that point it was safe to say that I was completely freaking out. Our bedroom has no windows so without electricity it is pitch black and pretty cold. Luckily we have a wood stove but it's on the second floor of our envelope heated style house so without electricity to run the blowers and ceiling fan, it was quite a task keeping everyone warm. The little baby is quite a trooper though and he survived despite being the only one. The other fertile egg unfortunately did not make it :( I pulled the nestbox last night and put him in the brooder and gave him his first hand feeding around midnight last night. Everything went well and I was feeling pretty good about everything, but when I went to feed him again around 4 this morning, he was eating but he kept sucking air into his crop! I've never had this happen before in any of the babies I have raised and it has me quite concerned. He will be eating fine and then all of a sudden he will have these little air bubbles in his crop which then get bigger, before I know it, his crop is full of air with only about a third of his crop actually having food in it. I can gently squeeze his crop and sort of burp him to remove the air but after I do, he doesn't really want to eat anymore and if I put him back in the brooder that way, next thing I know his crop is full of air again. He is getting some food, but it's not a big full cropfull like I am used to. I've been researching and reading online about this and I'm not having much luck figuring out how to stop it. I've fed plenty of babies, but never one this small, but I have never had this happen. Also, It wasn't happening when the mom was feeding him so I don't think it is something wrong with him, like a ruptured air sac or anything. For now, I am just feeding him more often than I had planned, trying to keep a decent amount of food in him just so he doesn't starve to death. Otherwise, he seems strong and healthy, his brooder is in the nineties and the room itself is in the 80's so I don't think he is too cold. I've been checking the temps of his food as well, start out with about 120 degree water, mix with the food, cool to about 105 and then feed him, unfortunately, since he is the only baby, I'm only mixing about a spoonful of formula at a time and it seems to cool pretty quickly, but I have just been putting the syringe in a cup of hot water if I feel it is getting to cool for him. His crop is also emptying just fine, it's just that he keeps sucking air into it. Can anyone give me some advice? I would be devastated if something happened to this little guy.
 
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IcyWolf

IcyWolf

New member
Jul 5, 2011
1,542
3
Etters, Pa
Parrots
~Alexandrine Parakeet~2 Red Lored Amazons~Blue Fronted Amazon~Black capped conure~4 Green Cheeks~4 Parrotlets~2 lineolated parakeets~9 American budgies~9 English budgies~ And lots of babies :)
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The other thing that has me kind of concerned is that he is two weeks and two days and is still quite small, I'll try and post some pictures. He has colored pins on his wings and tail but no fuzz on his body and his skin is more of a reddish than a pink, which worries me that he is dehydrated. I think I may thin out his formula a little more next feeding and I'm thinking I may even try spoon feeding next go around instead of a syringe. I have been looking at pictures and videos online and it seems like a lot of the two week olds are fairly large and their bodies are completely covered in fuzz. He's only been away from the momma for about half a day at this point, I hope this baby wasn't doomed from the start :( Just wanted to add, I've also noticed that there is something wrong with his right foot, his left one is normal, lays flat, 2 toes forward and two toes backward and he tries to stand on it, the best a 2 week old baby can, anyway. But, the right foot is always curled up. I just looked closer at it and it seems like his outer back toe, the long one, goes forward instead of backward, I can kind of make it go back but it doesn't stay that way. I have a feeling this poor baby may have trouble perching in the future. I didn't notice this before when he was in the nestbox, but I only got him out once ever two days or so, just to make sure his legs weren't splaying or anything, and I may have not noticed it. So I don't know if he was born with it like that or if it got broken or something. I can't believe all the problems that keep popping up with this poor little guy :(
 
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ann

New member
Feb 18, 2011
1,323
1
USA
Parrots
1 nanday conure Black Jack, 1 Brotogeris parakeet Whiff, 1 ring neck dove Eliza, and 6 society finches (3 are tame). RIP my parent pairs of societies and my little gouldian finches
awww im sory i cant be of much help but congradulations on the baby birdie :), also maybe you could call your vet for advice, or you could mix some of his formula with plain pedialight, good luck!
 

Mayden

New member
Apr 22, 2010
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UK.
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Merlin & Charlie (Senegals)
I don't know how to help with the air sac problems but I'm sure one of the breeders here will come along soon and help, best you can do now is just keep trying what you're doing and keeping a close eye on him.
 

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