Urgent!!! Help needed!! New baby conures!!!

Hello, I purchased two 1 1/2 year old Green Cheek Conures about 8 months ago. I have been a parrot owner my whole life since I was 5, I am now 28 and this is my first set of two and of GCC. Bonnie and Clyde laid 3 eggs last month, that being their first set of eggs since they started mating. I had bought them a nesting box once I noticed they started mating because I am interested in having babies. The first set were neglected more than half the time and she was very rough with them, they ended up all getting small holes in their shells and dying two weeks later. She has now laid another set of eggs,seems she's learned from her mistakes and is now sitting on them 24/7 baby chick was born 3 days ago, as I Was checking up on him every few hours I couldn't see whether he was being fed or not, Ive been worried sick for days now, to find at 6am this morning he had passed I am not sure wether to remove him from the nest as I am scared to disturb the other two eggs, and upset mom enough to stress her out or hurt the other babies. I can't see it but I believe in the last hour another baby has hatched and I want so badly to remove it from their care and take care of it on my own. I am worried though that the next time they breed that they will not have learned how to properly care for the chicks if I remove these ones. And if I do should I wait until the last one hatches to take them both? Also need help with deceased chick and what I should do. I have been giving parents fresh fruit variety of seed and I've made egg food for them to feed to babies and mom. Is that good enough? Is there something else I should be offering for babies to be fed? Are they not feeding babies because I'm not supplying the necessary food! Please help. Any thing will be appreciated.

Thank you for Taking the time to read my post. If you can offer any help I would really appreciate it!!

I breed GCCs and I would suggest you let them be. Especially when they are sitting on eggs and feeding babies. They are then VERY protective and can harm both eggs and babies. IF they were to leave the nest and cage and you could close the door so that they can't go back in and quickly remove the deceased baby, then go ahead. Otherwise, let it be, they will take care of it. Supplying egg food is good for the babies.

PS: Checking on them means what? Do you open the nest box while they are in it? Because if so, you may want to stay away from it. Your intrusion on their clutch is probably not welcome. If you are to let them breed, I would suggest that you equip the box with a mini cam to check on them without disturbing the pair, which is what I found the be the best way to keep an eye out

They are not feeding babies that's how the first one died and now another one hatched and I'm so worried they won't feed him either but if it's best for them to learn for future babies then I will leave them be. Thank you so much for the relief that egg food is good and for deceased baby advice

Im sorry im not a experienced breeder .But Im in the same situation myself . trying to figure out what to do. I know after they successfully hatch [they need to be warm and fed around the clock if the parents are not doing it]. Look up hand feeding and all the dangers on you tube. you would have to learn the amount for conures [too much and to hot can kill them ] Get parrot baby formula from a pet store .Ive hand fed before just not this young [it must be mixed right and go slow] Also they have to be warm [that I don't know about . I just know the wrong temperature is not good. do you think the one died because he didn't have enough food ? If the parents arnt doing their job you will have to pull them [make or get a brooder] and get the schedule for the amount and at first im sure your feeding them around the clock.Keep us updated

How do you know they are not feeding? They usually don't feed right way.

While I've got you for a moment I have supplied bedding for the nesting box though they refuse to use it. I refresh it every few days but they lay eggs on wood and let them hatch on wood. Will babies be warm enough that way? And will they stay unharmed by hardness of wood with no bedding?

I've watched intently for the past three days from outside the box and at a safe distance not to upset them, and never once did mom come out or dad take any food to baby or mom in box. I think mom feeds at night while cage is covered. As well baby crop was empty every time I looked and last night befor ei went to bed it was empty as well this morning when I found him gone. But I may be wrong, it was a fear of mine and I have been overly worried about it

IMO the babies are always in better hands with their parents than in humans' in the first few days of life. I always keep an eye on the growth of the babies far away with the camera for the first 2 weeks. Whatever happens within these 2 weeks is key. Past 2 weeks, if the parents do not feed or are too rough with the babies, I would pull. Before then, the parents are the ones to make the decisions.
Sometimes, we butt in way too much and cause the pair to lash out at their brood. Sometimes whatever happens to the eggs or babies, happens for a reason that we don't know about.

Over the years, I have had eggs and babies suddenly "missing" from a clutch early on. And over the years I have learned that my GCC's know what's best. I have had beautiful healthy babies and have learned to trust nature.

Not to say that all parents are good parents. Time do tell usually, and some babies NEED to be assisted, however, the babies do benefit from the first 2 weeks of their parents care and I would not pull before then.

To PinkBirdy... I am scared to remove babies and hand feed them because I know they will breed again, and if I take this learning opportunity away from them now that next time it will be the same thing all over again. I do plan on eventually taking them from parents to ensure better chances for them wanting human contact. If I knew that taking them from parents wouldn't hurt the next set of babies in the future Id do it. But I'd like them to do this on their own if they can. I just love animals so much, and birds especially I hate the thought of an innocent baby chick going unfed or neglected and passing. Makes me absolutely distraught!

ECHO Thank you so much for all your advice. You have settled my nerves and fears.i just needed someone to let me know that trusting in them to do what's needed was the best thing to do. Not knowing eats at me. I just want the best for Bonnie and Clyde and their babies. Thank you again, you have been wonderful!

Once the nest box is set and the eggs laid, do not touch the box or bedding. I NEVER change the bedding until all babies have fledged. GCC's are pretty clean birds and keep the nest clean (unlike my Cockatiel pair that used to have a disgusting nest box ) and you are meddling too much. They also like a cavity like nest so I would cover that side of the cage to darken it.

What bedding do you use?

Bonnie_Clyde_GCC said:

To PinkBirdy... I am scared to remove babies and hand feed them because I know they will breed again, and if I take this learning opportunity away from them now that next time it will be the same thing all over again. I do plan on eventually taking them from parents to ensure better chances for them wanting human contact. If I knew that taking them from parents wouldn't hurt the next set of babies in the future Id do it. But I'd like them to do this on their own if they can. I just love animals so much, and birds especially I hate the thought of an innocent baby chick going unfed or neglected and passing. Makes me absolutely distraught!

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I co-parent and let the parents raise the babies until they wean. I do all the socializing and my babies are tame! There is no "better chance" of them accepting human contact unless you socialize them properly, being hand fed or parent raised.

I think ideally that's what I plan to do with mine .If my 2 Macaw eggs hatch successfully .Leave them with the parents 2 weeks then pull them.

Like it was mentioned some parents are bad parents and you'll be forced to yank them to hand feed around the clock by the hour. It's very time consuming and tiring process. You also must be delicate! Also must supplement yogurt for bacteria process to begin with if the parents haven't fed. This is something to be expected cause the process of breeding is not as simple as it seems. If you want them to quit breeding, remove the nest box and if they keep going, separate them in different cages. Cause the moment you supplied the nest box cause you wanted babies, it became your responsibility to know what to do when the time comes. Not waiting until the last minute.

IMO I think you need to stop looking into the nest box as much as you are. The parents could harm the eggs/babies. Once the parents hatch the eggs you need to trust in them a bit, this is hard. If you check I always train my breeders that I knock gently on the side of the nest box so they get used to the noise as a way of letting them know I am going to open it. I start this way before there are any eggs. You need to stop filling the nest box. Mine also lay on the wooden floor. I used to freak out about splayed legs. However usually if there are more than one egg then this will keep the mama off of the babies. Same goes for more than one baby keeping the mom from sitting to hard on them. Just let them do their thing. Maybe once the baby has hatched then you can check once the next day. If you have parents that are uber protective you might be better off leaving them alone. Good luck!

To prevent slippery bottom and splayed legs, I use a rubbering type shelf liner in case they throw away the bedding, then GCCs are tree dwellers so I fill the box with natural fir bark which also regulate humidity a bit which is important, then I put a thin layer of Carefresh for softness. They usually tend to mix the Carefresh with the bark a bit and make it home

Echo,

I also use a spray bottle to mist the eggs with to maintain humidity. That seem to do the eggs some good. I've gotta try the fir bark method. At one point I was gonna try using something like a grass sod type of material etc but it seems dirty to me....lol

MikeyTN said:

Echo,

I also use a spray bottle to mist the eggs with to maintain humidity. That seem to do the eggs some good. I've gotta try the fir bark method. At one point I was gonna try using something like a grass sod type of material etc but it seems dirty to me....lol

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The fir bark is a bit dirty too! But it seems to retain just enough humidity. I used to use the spray bottle too, but I decided to add a humidifier instead that is regulated to keep the humidity at around 50-60%. So between the fir bark and the humidifier, it's perfect!

PS: that is also why I added the Carefresh: besides adding softness, it helped reduce the dirtiness of the bark

Then no thanks....can't do that even though I know the birds wouldn't mind...not in my house....lol....