Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / May 2006

Hi!  I am writing to you guys in an attempt to provide the best care
possible to my parent tiels and their clutch of five eggs/hatchlings.  I'm
experiencing a strange and gruesome problem!!

I have a female pet cockatiel, and about a month or so ago we lured in a
"wild" lost male cockatiel that was calling from the trees.  We put Broogie
on the ground in our front entryway, eating seed that we threw there, and
soon the wild bird flew down and joined her, at which time I quickly closed
the front door!!.  He was absolutely beautiful, and we had him!!!  I ran an
ad in the local papers, but no one claimed him, so I named him Dieter.  He
was still a little wild, but I could tell that he came from an owner who had
spent lots of time and affection on him.

Now the two birds are in love, a truly devoted couple.  After a few weeks,
they began mating, so I put a nest box on the side of their cage.  Dieter
fixed it all up for Broogie, and when it met with her approval she laid five
eggs in the nest box.  Dieter has been a very attentive father, Broogie
actually somewhat disinterested at times!!

The day before yesterday (Sunday), I heard little tiny chirping noises
coming from the nest box!!!  When both parents were out of the box, I snuck
a quick peek in, and I saw four eggs and one TINY, fragile little pink
tiel!!!  Today, however, this hatchling is completely gone, vanished without
a trace!!  I am astonished.  What happened to this baby bird??  Is this
something that happens frequently??  Did I do something wrong?  I provided
pine shavings as nesting material for inside the box.  Should I have given
them something else to construct their nest out of?  Did they EAT the baby
bird???  Did they bury it in the pine shavings???  I am aghast, at a loss.
Maybe the baby was unhealthy and just passed away, so they buried
it......???

However, on a more positive note, this morning one of the remaining four
eggs has a large-ish hole pecked in it, and with any luck soon another
hatchling will emerge and survive.  I was told that a new bird should hatch
every other day or so.

I learned what little information I have from my local bird store, Bird
Haven, who has been most helpful.  They told me that to hand-feed the
hatchlings, at five weeks of age I should remove them from the nest box and
put them in a cage separate from their parents.  I have a bag of dry food
mix and an eye-dropper type of device to use to feed the babies.  I was told
that I would have to feed the babies every four hours.  Is this what you
have heard?  Does this mean that I will also have to feed them throughout
the course of the night, too??

I love cockatiels!!  My first cockatiel, Spaz, was a birthday present one
year, and she lived to around 14 or 15 years old.  She was a very loving
pet, sweet and affectionate, yet endlessly amusing in her antics.  I was
home when Spaz passed away.  It was a terrible experience.  She was making
strange sounds, which drew my attention to the cage.  She was staggering
around the bottom of the cage.  I took her out and held her in my hands,
petting her and soothing her until she passed away.

Now that I have a cockatiel family, I feel a great responsibility to make
sure that these babies turn out as healthy and happy as they can.  I TOTALLY
welcome any bits of advice anyone has to help me raise these new
hatchlings!!!  I am struggling along, trying to do the right thing.  I would
deeply appreciate any words of wisdom that you send my way!!  I will go on
the internet today in an attempt to find out all I can about raising
cockatiels, but I thought it would be a good idea to go right to the
source - cockatiel owners/fans!!!  I would feel most grateful for any
tidbits of information you think might help me in the situation I'm in.
Thank you very much!!!!!