Anyone breed ****atiels?

[Kazbah]

Reason I'm asking is it appears the eggs have hatched and we may have 2 baby ****atiels. The mum is a cinnamon lacewing and the dad is a white-faced pied. Goodness knows what they'll look like!

But although I've read a heap of webpages on ****atiels, I just want to know in easy terms what I need to provide for the mama & papa birds. Other than seed & water. Stuff like ... supplements? Do I clean the cage, would that upset them? (the cage is due for the mega-clean). Any preferred fruit/veg or anything to stay away from during this time?

ta in advance

kaz (on behalf of Dante & Gonk, proud parents to 2 chirping bundles)

[Kazbah]

Okies. Now only one chick .... anyone help pls?

[Dr. Tal]

This is probably too late to help you, but I'll post it anyway.

I don't currently breed ****atiels (I say currently because I have a pair I hoped would breed, but they hate each other) But I do have a pair of ringnecks that breed every year. They aren't quite the same, but they are similar in some aspects.

If you have gotten your bird acustomed to fruits, veggies and other stuff and not just seed, there are some good ones that you should suppliment when they have chicks. Whole grain bread is good becasue it has the seeds, but is also quite soft and moistens and softens very quickly in the crop and allows the birds to quickly feed the young in the mornings. I usually put half a piece in the cage with mine each night so it's ready for the first thing in the morning. Green veggies are also good for them, such as broccoli, peas and beans as they have a high iron and vitamin content. I also like to supply mine with a 'fruit salad' i just cut up a whole bunch fruit (strawberres, apples, oranges etc...) and put those in a as well to try to ensure they have a balanced diet.
You should also make sure they have shell grit or a cuttlefish bone or something like that in there so they have enough calcium, it also helps them grind the food up in their crop.

HTH

[Kazbah]

thanks for this ... the little bird is starting to get feathers, we've been finding the adults like fruit more than they usually do, so have been adding that in ..