Can you handle baby parakeets that are a week old,w/out the mother stopping taking care of them?

Question

my parakeet had babies and I really need to change and clean out the cage. Is it safe to touch the birds without stressing them out or upsetting the mother to where she stops caring for them. I have looked at sites and i am getting mixed answers from every site I look at. They are all telling me something different. Thanks for any help that anyone can give me on this.
Missy

Answer 1

Some people think that if you touch baby birds, the mother will pick up your smell and won't take care of them anymore.

This is a myth.

Birds have a very poor sense of smell, and don't really taste that well either.

I have three suggestions for you to help take care of your birds properly:

http://www.budgietalk.com

http://www.theperch.net

or your avian vet. If you don't have one, you can find one at
http://aav.org/vet-lookup

Answer 2

Well at a week old you shouldn't touch them because the mother can smell any scent on the babies and if it is a scent from a human chances are she won't care for the babies anymore.So try to get a nesting box next time but what I think you should do is buy a formula for the birds just in case you do touch them that way you can care for the babies by giving them food that way they will live if the mother decides not to care for them anymore.

Answer 3

They should be in a nest box? Block the box off and remove the chicks, clean out box, replace chicks open box and there you have it. I breed keets for 10 yrs and never had a chick refused after touching. Birds can't smell !! Good Luck..*<;)oo

Answer 4

At one week they are very fragile...
They should be in a nest box..
check your pet store.
Once they are safe in the nest
you can clean without trouble.
It's not wise to up set the parents
or handle babies before they get
some pin feathers at least.
It is quite easy to bruise them.
It is normal to want to see them
and handle them, but it is no good.
Don't let your excitement make
you make a big mistake.
It's very easy to lose them.