Sun conure babies. Need advice

[MomBird]

Hello! So my sun conures just had babies. They are feeding them but I am planning to take them out after 3-4 weeks. Is that a good idea? I wanted to handfeed them so it is easy for me to tame and train them when they get older. Will I stress out the parents if I do that? The parents were also handfed by me.

 

[zERo]

Hello! So my sun conures just had babies. They are feeding them but I am planning to take them out after 3-4 weeks. Is that a good idea? I wanted to handfeed them so it is easy for me to tame and train them when they get older. Will I stress out the parents if I do that? The parents were also handfed by me.

I wouldn’t take them if the parents are taking good care of them.
I’ve seen people achieve the same results as far as tameness and trainability goes, with taking the birds out of the nest box for short periods a day and playing with them/holding them.
If you feel comfortable taking them, go ahead, but as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Lol, anyways, if you hand fed the parents I don’t doubt your abilities to feed them babies.

 

[MomBird]

I wouldn’t take them if the parents are taking good care of them.
I’ve seen people achieve the same results as far as tameness and trainability goes, with taking the birds out of the nest box for short periods a day and playing with them/holding them.
If you feel comfortable taking them, go ahead, but as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Lol, anyways, if you hand fed the parents I don’t doubt your abilities to feed them babies.

Thank you so much for your advice! Greatly appreciated!

 

[Sybil]

I also have baby sun conures! How are your babies doing? 😁 I have three babies. The last one that hatched turned 3 weeks two days ago. I’ve been taking them out and putting them on my lap and petting them. I’m planning on hand feeding but the youngest one doesn’t have many feathers yet so I’m worried it will get cold.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I wouldn’t take them if the parents are taking good care of them.
I’ve seen people achieve the same results as far as tameness and trainability goes, with taking the birds out of the nest box for short periods a day and playing with them/holding them.
If you feel comfortable taking them, go ahead, but as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Lol, anyways, if you hand fed the parents I don’t doubt your abilities to feed them babies.

The daily handling should be more than enough to tame them. Feeding them doesn't make them tame- handling them frequently while very young does!

 

[Sybil]

The daily handling should be more than enough to tame them. Feeding them doesn't make them tame- handling them frequently while very young does!

Why do so many people say you need to hand feed them?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Why do so many people say you need to hand feed them?

I don't know exactly but probably because "hand-fed baby" is so strongly associated with the very tame parrots, and people are willing to pay a hefty premium for one. I recently hand raised a baby budgie from hatching because her mama couldn't. It was an amazing experience but extremely time consuming, stressful and risky. The baby is fully grown now and very bonded to me but I've had parent raised budgies that I was also very bonded to. I don't believe it was feeding her that tamed her- itwaß handling and cuddling her so much did

 

[Mqevony]

Hello! So my sun conures just had babies. They are feeding them but I am planning to take them out after 3-4 weeks. Is that a good idea? I wanted to handfeed them so it is easy for me to tame and train them when they get older. Will I stress out the parents if I do that? The parents were also handfed by me.

Congrats. I would say let the mommy parent take care of them but do bring them out a little so they start to get used to you.

 

[Sybil]

Congrats. I would say let the mommy parent take care of them but do bring them out a little so they start to get used to you.

I’ve been taking mine out and putting them on a towel. The parents will fly around and then come over and feed them while they are on my lap!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

The daily handling should be more than enough to tame them. Feeding them doesn't make them tame- handling them frequently while very young does!

I also have baby sun conures! How are your babies doing? 😁 I have three babies. The last one that hatched turned 3 weeks two days ago. I’ve been taking them out and putting them on my lap and petting them. I’m planning on hand feeding but the youngest one doesn’t have many feathers yet so I’m worried it will get cold.
View attachment 50801

Don't take babies away from parents until they have enough feathers to keep themselves warm unless you have a thermostatically controlled incubator. You can buy a small one on Amazon for about $70. In fact, I recommend that anyone who breeds parrots at all have an incubator on hand in case a parent bird refuses to feed its young

I’ve been taking mine out and putting them on a towel. The parents will fly around and then come over and feed them while they are on my lap!

I want to see a photo of that! Too cute!

 

[Sybil]

I want to see a photo of that! Too cute!

I have videos on YouTube of them 😁

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I have videos on YouTube of them 😁

What's your utube name?

 

[Dr Anees]

Hello! So my sun conures just had babies. They are feeding them but I am planning to take them out after 3-4 weeks. Is that a good idea? I wanted to handfeed them so it is easy for me to tame and train them when they get older. Will I stress out the parents if I do that? The parents were also handfed by me.

As a vet, I would not recommend it. The young depend on their parents for 7 to 8 weeks after hatching and only become independent after 9 to 12 weeks. So let them stay with their parents for 3 months.

 

[Sybil]

As a vet, I would not recommend it. The young depend on their parents for 7 to 8 weeks after hatching and only become independent after 9 to 12 weeks. So let them stay with their parents for 3 months.

So many breeders say to hand feed at 2.5 weeks. I’ve had people tell me that the birds won’t be friendly at all if you wait til they are 3-4 weeks old to hand feed. My birds are doing a great job feeding the babies. Although they haven’t been eating many pellets. They have been focusing on seeds to feed the babies. As a vet is that ok? They eat parrot chop too.

 

[Sybil]

This is a picture of my babies right now. I take them out and pet them. The parents fly around and come and feed them on my lap.

 

[Dr Anees]

So many breeders say to hand feed at 2.5 weeks. I’ve had people tell me that the birds won’t be friendly at all if you wait til they are 3-4 weeks old to hand feed. My birds are doing a great job feeding the babies. Although they haven’t been eating many pellets. They have been focusing on seeds to feed the babies. As a vet is that ok? They eat parrot chop too.

Generally, baby birds will be fed on a diet of whatever it is their parents are eating. Naturally, this is insects and seeds/fruits. So, there is nothing to worry about. As far as taming a conure is concerned, yes, it is recommended to separate young birds from their parents at 4 weeks of age. In fact, you can separate a baby bird from its parents at any time before weaning. Just make sure that you can do this job. If not, let the parents do their job and then you can take action to tame the fledgling. It will take some time, but it is better than compromising baby Conures' health.

 

[Sybil]

Generally, baby birds will be fed on a diet of whatever it is their parents are eating. Naturally, this is insects and seeds/fruits. So, there is nothing to worry about. As far as taming a conure is concerned, yes, it is recommended to separate young birds from their parents at 4 weeks of age. In fact, you can separate a baby bird from its parents at any time before weaning. Just make sure that you can do this job. If not, let the parents do their job and then you can take action to tame the fledgling. It will take some time, but it is better than compromising baby Conures' health.

I took my babies out when they were 5-5.5 weeks old to hand feed. They are sooo friendly and adorable. They have started to fly a bit and they just fly to me. It’s so cute.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I took my babies out when they were 5-5.5 weeks old to hand feed. They are sooo friendly and adorable. They have started to fly a bit and they just fly to me. It’s so cute. View attachment 51969

They are so adorable! You've obviously done everything right and so have their parents. How are you going to be able to let any of them go to new homes?

 

[Sybil]

They are so adorable! You've obviously done everything right and so have their parents. How are you going to be able to let any of them go to new homes?

It’s going to be hard. I love all of them. They each have their own personalities and are just the sweetest little babies.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It’s going to be hard. I love all of them. They each have their own personalities and are just the sweetest little babies.

I can't breed birds because I wouldn't want to let any go and I'd end up with way too many birds. I wouldn't trust anyone to treat them right.
Are you going to keep any of them?