So here's a little backstory. I am a hobby Budgie breeder. In a local bird group, a lady (who later said she was an avian vet) posted that she was looking for an experienced hand feeder to take a disabled baby sun conure with splayed legs. 
I've only ever hand fed budgies 
-but not knowing that she was an avian vet- I sent her some info on a splint for splayed legs and wished her luck. I then told her to check with a local bird rescue- but later that evening she replied that they didn't help, just told her she could post to their Facebook wall to see if anyone was interested and that every other response was very greedy or they were inexperienced. So I ended up taking the bird on- and hand feeding has been great so far! The baby is such a sweetheart. However, she said the bird's breeder who she bought it from told her it was 4 weeks old but she told me it was actually more like 3.5 weeks old. I've had him 3 days. I really feel he is closer to 5 weeks than 4. But I have no experience raising this species (although I do have an adult sun conure ). The first full day he was here he took 4 feedings. Yesterday would only take 3. Today he cried for a 4th, but only ate a tiny bit before refusing any more (his crop wasn't empty and poops have been fine looking). He expressed interest in the millet (just a tiny piece) that the vet told me to leave in his box and even ate a tiny bit of it tonight. So can anyone estimate an age for me?Here are some pics.
In one he has a makeup sponge splint on- it was all I had available when I got him home, and the one the vet put on him had blood on it from the medical tape rubbing his leg too much and also his toes were getting caught in the gauze she used. Now he has a different type of tape (the kind that sticks to itself but not to skin) and is doing really well with that splint for anyone curious! He is currently living in a box with receiving blankets on the bottom (easy to clean and his nails don't get caught in them as much) and a baby neck pillow and teddy bear for snuggling and for support when he sleeps since his legs are still building up strength. He is able to stand freely with the splint on. I tightened it a bit today and he was able to pull himself to a stand in his feeding box without the splint on, although his worse leg is still being pulled behind him a bit, he is definitely showing progress. He also is able to grip strongly with both feet- even dug his nails into my skin tonight when I was trying to fix his splint. He's a feisty little thing alright.
I've only ever hand fed budgies -but not knowing that she was an avian vet- I sent her some info on a splint for splayed legs and wished her luck. I then told her to check with a local bird rescue- but later that evening she replied that they didn't help, just told her she could post to their Facebook wall to see if anyone was interested and that every other response was very greedy or they were inexperienced. So I ended up taking the bird on- and hand feeding has been great so far! The baby is such a sweetheart. However, she said the bird's breeder who she bought it from told her it was 4 weeks old but she told me it was actually more like 3.5 weeks old. I've had him 3 days. I really feel he is closer to 5 weeks than 4. But I have no experience raising this species (although I do have an adult sun conure ). The first full day he was here he took 4 feedings. Yesterday would only take 3. Today he cried for a 4th, but only ate a tiny bit before refusing any more (his crop wasn't empty and poops have been fine looking). He expressed interest in the millet (just a tiny piece) that the vet told me to leave in his box and even ate a tiny bit of it tonight. So can anyone estimate an age for me?Here are some pics. In one he has a makeup sponge splint on- it was all I had available when I got him home, and the one the vet put on him had blood on it from the medical tape rubbing his leg too much and also his toes were getting caught in the gauze she used. Now he has a different type of tape (the kind that sticks to itself but not to skin) and is doing really well with that splint for anyone curious! He is currently living in a box with receiving blankets on the bottom (easy to clean and his nails don't get caught in them as much) and a baby neck pillow and teddy bear for snuggling and for support when he sleeps since his legs are still building up strength. He is able to stand freely with the splint on. I tightened it a bit today and he was able to pull himself to a stand in his feeding box without the splint on, although his worse leg is still being pulled behind him a bit, he is definitely showing progress. He also is able to grip strongly with both feet- even dug his nails into my skin tonight when I was trying to fix his splint. He's a feisty little thing alright.
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