Our Baby Parrots
All of our baby parrots are left with their mother for the first three weeks of their lives. Doing this ensures a strong immune and gut flora system develops. At three weeks of age, the babies are taken from the nest, are handfed and the socialization period begins.
At around eight weeks old, the babies have a complete examination by a licensed avian veterinarian to make sure they are healthy and doing fine. At the same time as the checkup we have them DNA-sexed. As the babies start the weaning process, we introduce them to a great variety of pellets, fruits, rice, pasta, eggs, vegetables and even some chicken.
This usually begins at approximately five to six weeks of age, but they are also still being handfed. We gradually start to cut back on the handfeeding as the babies grow and mature. We let the babies let us know when that time arrives. When they are not hungry, they will spit the formula back out or they just won’t open their beaks. It is very common for a baby parrot to lose some of their body weight at this point.
All our babies are raised in our home, in a family environment. Our house is a very busy place, with lots of ongoing activity. We are Foster Parents, so we have children of all ages playing with, cuddling and just talking to the baby parrots. Running around the house also are two tiny Yorkshire Terriers and a Toy Maltese. Needless to say, our babies are exposed to many different faces and voices. The babies get to run around our kitchen for large periods of time throughout the day – this is their time to play together and get acquainted with their siblings and friends.