Today finally, I could breathe a slight breath of relief. With any new animal, seeing them eat for the first time is a monumental occasion to me. With the hatching of these two Homes, I have been eagerly awaiting them passing this stage in their growth.
Gobbler, the smaller one has surprised me with what appeared to perhaps be immediate eating. I caught him the first day, with a strand of sphagnum moss hanging from his beak. With the egg tooth in place, I gave credit to it simply snagging it, rather then him trying to eat it. The next day, I thought I saw him try to eat a bit of mushroom. By the fourth day, I knew for sure that he was eating solid foods. Since Kristina needs pictures to prove that anything has happened , they are at the bottom of this post.
Turkey continued to worry me on several levels. He was the biggest and most active, plus his egg sack was more absorbed of the two. Whenever I offered food, Turkey ignored it. While he may have possibly gotten some plant matter from his enclosure with it's living plants in it, I had saw no signs of that having happened. He also worried me, because his shell is softer then his smaller siblings.
Today, I offered some ripe banana. Seriously, what hingeback in it's right mind ignores banana? Atleast that was what I was telling myself. Guess what? Tho sorry Kristina, there are no pictures, Turkey has finally been seen eating solid food! What a relief. Now we can move on to be concerned with the softness of his shell....
After their soak, I placed some cooked sweet potato infront of them both. Turkey is the one closest to you.
While Turkey walked away from the food, Gobbler climbed on top of it trying to find a tasty spot.
Savoring his first bite. He even managed to get teeny tiny traces of the food on his face.
"I think I will try another sample of that!"
My camera does not do closeup shots well, so I thought I would try taking Gobbler out of the dish and feed him on a plate, maybe then I can get a picture of him eating.
Well that didn't work either.
Gobbler, the smaller one has surprised me with what appeared to perhaps be immediate eating. I caught him the first day, with a strand of sphagnum moss hanging from his beak. With the egg tooth in place, I gave credit to it simply snagging it, rather then him trying to eat it. The next day, I thought I saw him try to eat a bit of mushroom. By the fourth day, I knew for sure that he was eating solid foods. Since Kristina needs pictures to prove that anything has happened , they are at the bottom of this post.
Turkey continued to worry me on several levels. He was the biggest and most active, plus his egg sack was more absorbed of the two. Whenever I offered food, Turkey ignored it. While he may have possibly gotten some plant matter from his enclosure with it's living plants in it, I had saw no signs of that having happened. He also worried me, because his shell is softer then his smaller siblings.
Today, I offered some ripe banana. Seriously, what hingeback in it's right mind ignores banana? Atleast that was what I was telling myself. Guess what? Tho sorry Kristina, there are no pictures, Turkey has finally been seen eating solid food! What a relief. Now we can move on to be concerned with the softness of his shell....
After their soak, I placed some cooked sweet potato infront of them both. Turkey is the one closest to you.
While Turkey walked away from the food, Gobbler climbed on top of it trying to find a tasty spot.
Savoring his first bite. He even managed to get teeny tiny traces of the food on his face.
"I think I will try another sample of that!"
My camera does not do closeup shots well, so I thought I would try taking Gobbler out of the dish and feed him on a plate, maybe then I can get a picture of him eating.
Well that didn't work either.