Page 568 - Hand rearing birds second

Toucans 569

direction that opposes the curvature. Gently bend the tip of the mandible 20–30° beyond center,
repeating the procedure three or four times per day, or as often as recommended by your
veterinarian.

Candida­Overgrowth
Some aviculturists use the antifungal drug Nystatin (Bristol Myers Squibb) orally as a prophylaxis
treatment in the hand‐rearing of toucans. The use of Nystatin for the first 2–3 weeks seems to do
no harm and should help reduce the risk of Candida. There is enough anecdotal information to
suggest that the use of Nystatin is helpful. However, it is also the case that toucans may be success-
fully hand‐reared without using Nystatin. Ultimately, the decision is made by the aviculturist and
the avian veterinarian.

Impaction­from Organic­Material
When young chicks are taken from the nest, be aware that they may have been fed inappropriate
items such as wood chips, sticks, cable ties, or other small nonfood items by their parents. The
chick itself may also have eaten bark and soil from the cavity floor. Watch for poor weight gains or
the appearance of soil in feces for clues as to whether the chick could be impacted. A chick may be
given a small amount of mineral oil (between 0.1 and 0.2 ml depending on the size of the chick) as
a laxative after being removed from the nest. However, the chick will normally defecate or cough
up nonfood items by itself in the first 24 hours.

Diet Recipes

When fed by their parents, toucans receive a high‐protein diet for the first several days, beginning
with large insects and progressing to small animals such as baby birds, mice, and small reptiles.
Even though fruit is the mainstay of the adult diet, it is only when the chicks are 4–7 days old,
depending on the species, that they receive fruit from their parents. This seemingly unusual initial
diet is normal for fruit‐eating birds and should be taken into account when hand‐rearing their
chicks.
Toucan chicks may be successfully reared using a small amount of pureed fruit (apple or papaya,
for example), “pinkie” (newborn) mice, and a proprietary hand‐rearing formula developed for par-
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rots, such as Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding Formula (Kaytee). The precise recipe is probably not
critical, but an approximate mix by weight of 20% pureed apple and/or papaya and 80% Kaytee
Exact made to the appropriate ratio of water : Kaytee Exact powder (Table 37.1) seems to be satis-
factory. In addition to this mixture, and in keeping with the natural feeding pattern, the author
recommends dribbling the innards of pinkie mice into the chick’s mouth or pureeing pinkies for
syringe feeding. It is recommended that a calcium supplement (calcium carbonate) be used daily
until fledging. Chicks are fed approximately 0.5 g of pharmaceutical grade calcium carbonate per
day from 1 to 10 days of age, gradually increasing to 1.5 g per day for chicks 10 days and older.
The abovementioned foods produce very satisfactory results. It must be said, however, that the
ingredients are intended to cover all the nutritional “bases” because the rearing of toucans is still
a rare event, which lacks scientific study. The success of this diet disguises the fact that it still needs
improvement. The fruit component is arguably questionable at a life stage that does not receive
fruit in nature (i.e. during the period 1–7 days of age). Future work may explore the benefits of