Abstract
F rom a very uncertain beginning, this particular bird grew into a complete success. As it was hatching, the parents abandoned it. And with egg shell still attached, it was taken from the nest log and placed in an incubator at 99.5° F and relative humidity of 65%. The chick was left overnight to dry out and recover from the exertions of hatching. The following morning its yolk sac appeared to have been absorbed, and the first feed was given. Kaytee Exact (original formula) was chosen as the hand rearing food.
Day One
The chick was kept in a small bowl lined with a face-cloth to help provide traction for the legs.It remained vocal, strong, and lively throughout the day, defecating a total of three times.
Feeding was from 7 A.M. to midnight. On the advice of Tim Kitchens and Veta Hollaway (accomplished, local a viculturists and friends of Riverbanks) the first feed was 0.1 cc, with 0.2 cc being fed every two hours thereafter. A one cc syringe was used to deliver the liquidy mixture of 70% Kaytee Exact (mixed with lactated ringers in a ratio of 1:6) plus 15% pureed papaya plus 15% applesauce.
Certain birds are particularly susceptible to Candida infections when being handreared. These fungal infections of the mouth and upper digestive tract can quickly be fatal but if they are detected in time, treatment is normally successful using Nystatin. In susceptible species such as Ramphastids and certain psittacines, a prophylactic treatment of Nystatin can be helpful. We decided to use Nystatin as a prophylaxis, treating twice a day for the first five days.
Day Two to Day Six
Feedings remained at two-hour intervals, from 7.30 A.M. to 11 P.M. We had not handraised this species from day one before, and since Ramphastids do not have a crop by which their food consumption can be judged, we wanted to proceed cautiously. Overfeeding can easily kill a young chick so food volume was increased by only 10% on day two and a further 10% on day three. On day three the strength of the Kaytee mixture was increased to 1:3 and increased again to 1:2 on day six. We continued to mix the Kaytee (in its increasing strengths) with papaya and applesauce. On day five, solid foods were eaten. Tiny pieces of papaya, banana, tomato and apple were lightly dusted with Vionate multivitamin supplement and fed with tweezers. Pieces of Red Apple Jungle pellets (Marion Zoological, Wayzata, MN) soaked in water and slices of pinkie mice were also eagerly consumed.
From Day Eight
The chick was fed every three hours from 7:30 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. Each feed comprised approximately 1 cc of the Kaytee/papaya/applesauce mixture and several pieces of solid food. From day 11, feeding of the Kaytee mixture was discontinued, and only solid food pieces were offered. The chick drank tap water from a syringe. A total of 15 grams of food were eaten on day 11, 46 grams on day 30, and 80 grams on day 40. From day 40, the chick was only fed four times a day, from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. And on day 50, he was completely independent and no longer needed to be handfed.
At four weeks of age the chick had fully feathered out, and was clearly a male. The Green Aracari is one of the few clearly dimorphic Ramphastid species. The feathers covering the
throat, head and neck are a solid jet black in the male and a chestnut brown in the female. The red and yellow of the female's bill are also paler than in the male.