Advice on the Best Formula available in Australia

[Jayson_Black]

Hello All. We have a pair of Eclectus. They are not doing so well in the parenting department. In fact, they're doing a terrible job. While the mum is able to hatch the eggs, she is not doing so well in the rearing department.



She hatched a chick last week and we could hear the hatchling. My Experience with other baby birds told me that if she was not feeding the baby or if the baby is too cold, then the baby would keep crying until it was warmed or fed. This didn't happen. the baby would only cry for 2 to 3 mins then stop for more than an hour. This made me think the baby was satisfied.


However, on Day 3, we could not hear the baby. We had heard the mum making unusual sounds including something like a growl. In any case, we had not been familiar with these sounds. As soon as she was out of the nest we went in to look at the baby and found it dead. It did not have any visible injury but its crop was completely empty and (IMO) it looked Dehydrated (Dry/wrinkly).

We had considered checking on the baby, (while it was still audible) but we did not have a booder setup nor did we have an appropriate formula, so we didnt think we were going to be able to do anything the parents couldnt.


I am here to ask for advice on what people think is the best Formula available for Eclectus Hatchlings. The formula must be available from Within Australia. So this question is probably best answered by Australian Breeders.


We are Familiar with the "Paradise Pellets" from "Vetafarm" so our choice would probably be the "NEO Care" Powdered Formula from "Vetafarm"


But I'm open to other ideas. Particularly if coming from a Veteran Breeder.



We just really want to have a brooder and formula ready to go if need next time around. For emergency. Because we didn't have these items this time around we were reluctant to intervene if we didn't have everything we needed already.


I noticed that the Documentation Says that Neo care should not be given in the first 24 hours, but instead an electrolyte drink. Can I get anyone to confirm this?


I probably won't be removing Chicks or eggs unless its an emergency. I believe in letting the parents do what nature intended. but also keeping in mind that captive Eclectus often don't do so well in the rearing department. So any and all advice most welcome Thank you!

 

[LaManuka]

I know zero about hand-rearing and wouldn’t even want to try, but there seems to be a good variety of baby bird food available via the Parrot Society website and their associated shop which is based in Brisbane. You may even be able to ask them for some advice on the practicalities involved.

I’m sorry your eclectus lost their baby, I sure would’ve been heartbroken over that! Hopefully their next attempt at parenting will be more successful.

 

[itzjbean]

Breeding any species can be difficult -- just last year I lost my cockatiel hen while she was on eggs. Luckily I did have my brooder ready and hand feeding formula, syringes, gram scale, food thermometer, etc. but the eggs ended up being infertile.

Breeding often ends up in heartbreak as you've seen. Especially with larger species like Eclectus, some birds are just terrible at rearing young altogether after hatching so its up to you, the owner of the birds to make sure you are ready to act, pull babies and begin hand feeding should things like this happen.

I'm in the USA so I don't know what brands are carried in Australia but I have always used Kaytee Handfeeding Formula for baby birds. It's cheap here nd sold in most commercial pet stores.

You will need a good working brooder (the good ones are hundreds of dollars) or you can make one for cheaper but the issue with that is you don't get humidity and temperature control, which newborns need regulated while in human care. There's SO much to learn about rearing babies, not just the brand of formula but also what equipment to use, what to do if the baby's crop is not emptying, how much formula to feed and what consistency it should be, how to actually feed the baby, these are all things to learn from another breeder who can give you good advice about how to do all this. Hard to learn from an internet forum as newborns are extremely delicate and should not be attempted by novice or beginners.

Honestly, I would take out the nest box and stop letting them breed, as they clearly don't know what to do, are not well suited to parent and will just end up in more dead babies. As for you I would recommend getting in touch with a local breeder in your area to learn, learn, learn as much as you can before even attempting this again.