Ask Lafeber

Baby sun conure

We’ve had a baby conure hatch and it has reached 2 weeks. What should i be expecting and what should i do as it grows?

Hi,

It’s best to let the parents raise it. You can start taking it our of the box for a few minutes at a time to get it used to you. But if the parents protest too much, you need to return it. Most parents will learn to tolerate letting someone handle the chick. When the chick gets to the point that it can leave the nest box, take the box down. Otherwise the parents will try to nest again too soon. Hopefully you are feeding the parents a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets, and not a loose seed mix. You should also be offering leafy greens, veggies, a small amount of fruit and an egg food. This can be a commercial dry egg food or you can cook and egg with the shell washed, crushed and cooked with it. The chick will learn to eat these foods once he has left the box and starts exploring. The parents will eventually wean the chick, and once it is eating entirely on his own, you should move it to a different cage. The parents should be rested for about 6 months before you return the nest box to them.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda