Mandarin ducks are very beautiful. And just a pleasure to own. However babies have a high mortality rate if you hand raise them.
I own a regular male named Ember and a white female named Sky. They are so lovable and are so excited when I get home from school to see me. They are to go into an aviary very soon, we're still in the process of it being built, but at the moment they are inside, in their own room. They love to nibble on my fingers and hair when I sit down with them and love to just perch on my shoulders and head. It wasn't always easy though. I got them at different times. Sky was about 3 weeks almost a month when I got her. I actually got two white mandarins but one passed away. As I said high mortality rates as babies. Then about a month later I got ember who was a month old at the time and just coming into his juvenile feathers. At first both were super scared of me like I couldn't get around them since I was afraid they would have a stress attack. But as they got older they seemed to calm down a bit. At that time I started re introducing myself to them. It took about a month or two to really get them used to me and esp my hands, they still don't really like 'the hands' but they tolerate them. Everyday I would take them to their bath and just sit in there with them. Let them know that I wasn't a threat and started whistling and talking to them. They were then the perfect age to tame, not quite an adult yet not a real juvenile anymore. I had to bond to them separately however so they could focus on me and not each other. Ember was the easiest to tame. Sky was a challenge and is still not as accepting as Ember is but she's up there. So yeah I would take a good amount of time after school for them to get used to me and now I know that they know I would never do any real harm to them and they treat me as if they would I guess any other duck. Hoping to have my aviary up soon so they can finally go outside. Btw a great way to a mandarins heart is meal worms XD
Hope this little story helped or even entertained anybody
I own a regular male named Ember and a white female named Sky. They are so lovable and are so excited when I get home from school to see me. They are to go into an aviary very soon, we're still in the process of it being built, but at the moment they are inside, in their own room. They love to nibble on my fingers and hair when I sit down with them and love to just perch on my shoulders and head. It wasn't always easy though. I got them at different times. Sky was about 3 weeks almost a month when I got her. I actually got two white mandarins but one passed away. As I said high mortality rates as babies. Then about a month later I got ember who was a month old at the time and just coming into his juvenile feathers. At first both were super scared of me like I couldn't get around them since I was afraid they would have a stress attack. But as they got older they seemed to calm down a bit. At that time I started re introducing myself to them. It took about a month or two to really get them used to me and esp my hands, they still don't really like 'the hands' but they tolerate them. Everyday I would take them to their bath and just sit in there with them. Let them know that I wasn't a threat and started whistling and talking to them. They were then the perfect age to tame, not quite an adult yet not a real juvenile anymore. I had to bond to them separately however so they could focus on me and not each other. Ember was the easiest to tame. Sky was a challenge and is still not as accepting as Ember is but she's up there. So yeah I would take a good amount of time after school for them to get used to me and now I know that they know I would never do any real harm to them and they treat me as if they would I guess any other duck. Hoping to have my aviary up soon so they can finally go outside. Btw a great way to a mandarins heart is meal worms XD
Hope this little story helped or even entertained anybody
