# Help Needed DESPERATLY!



## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

I am beside myself upset. My white earred conures are cannibals - they just hatched the second baby and ate it. I had thought the first one was just a broken egg but I just caught the parent bird with the remains of the second baby. I need to know what would make the best incubator/brooder. I have 5 eggs left, all appear to be fertile and these birds are rare. I have never had to incubate the eggs and the youngest tiel baby I have managed to feed was already three days old. Usually I would just foster out the conures but my hen that will take them is still recovering from the fosters she took care of a couple weeks ago. The conures are roughly the same size as tiels and require basically the same care. Also, where can I buy pipettes small enough for a newborn?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I've never been able to find a brooder I like online, we have had discussions about homemade brooders, the most popular being an aquarium (10 gallon) with bedding on the bottom and a heating pad on one side (the other side has to be heating pad free in case the babies get too hot.) We've also had mentioned someone putting a jar filled with hot water in the brooder as well to help with warmth. 

As for the pipette, a vet would be my best guess or a bird specialty store. If you have time, there are some bird sites that have them, I just don't know which ones.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

You can use a cheap Styrofoam incubator from a farm/feed store, and also covert it into a brooder, and use 1cc syringe initially for handfeeding.


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

Susanne - That was what I was looking for. I knew I had seen something like it before. Thank you!


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I have used the styrofoan incubator to hatch out eggs. I manually turned them. I kept a container with a wet sponge in for humidity. If you have your air conditioner on it is harder to maintain a steady temp. What I do is keep a towel draped over 1/2 of the top of the incubator. This helped in maintaining a consistent temp of 99.5 degrees, once I got it set. You can make the plexiglass spacer to convert it into a brooder. For the first 5-7 days the hatched babiesd can be in a container in the incubator, and as they get bigger, then used the spacer to convert it to a brooder. I also used the soaked sponge in a cup in the booder till they were just about feathered.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I also posted some candling illustrations in this thread that will be helpful. Watching the air cell is advised when using an incubatore: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=30131


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

Thanks again Susanne. One of my cockatiel pairs laid an egg yesterday so I slipped 2 of the conure eggs in last night. I have never used this hen to foster before so I am holding my breath. So far she seems to be fine with them. I was going to order the aviquarium brooder but it will take too long to get for the next two eggs due to hatch. So, I set up my 10 gal aquarium and the reptile heat pad. The reptile heat pad has been an issue because it is already 91 here in Texas and I can't seem to get the pad to regulate properly. We try to leave the airconditioning off until June due to the cost. I know this is slightly off topic, being conures, but the species is so rare and they are so similar to tiels - I just couldn't think of anywhere else to go for advice. Thank you so much.


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## fannykiki1993 (May 19, 2012)

first off u need to take the baby out when they hatch and put it in a incubator and hand feed it, then take the other one that hatches until u have all of them hand feeding hope i helped


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## Dreamcatchers (Apr 17, 2011)

fannykiki1993 - yes, I plan on pulling them and handfeeding them as soon as they hatch. I was more concerned that the parent birds would start going after the eggs before the babies could hatch and needed to get advice on an incubator that I could double as a brooder once they did hatch.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

fannykiki1993 said:


> first off u need to take the baby out when they hatch and put it in a incubator and hand feed it, then take the other one that hatches until u have all of them hand feeding hope i helped


DreamCatchers is an experienced breeder.  Thanks for your concern. And welcome to the forum.


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