Folly Farm's pet centre supervisor Laura Jones has gone above and beyond the call of duty and taken two baby parrots under her wing! The babies, both green-cheek conures, hatched in Folly Farm's aviary 38 and 34 days ago. Laura noticed their legs were not developing properly, so she decided to take on the full-time job of raising them herself with the aim of straightening their 'wonky' legs using sponge splints. For the first two weeks she fed them with a syringe six times a day, using special bird rearing powder. They have now moved on to being spoon-fed soft fruit five times a day. Laura takes the babies home every night in a portable incubator, and they go with her wherever she goes so she can feed them and monitor their temperature! Laura has been rearing the parrots for three weeks now and is confident they will grow into healthy adults. She said: "I'm very excited about having hand- reared birds at the park, it's something we've never done before and there's so much potential for them. I'm planning to use them for conservation education demonstrations with the public, to teach people about exotic pets. They're a huge responsibility and I would urge anyone to think very carefully before taking one on." The babies have already turned into little characters. "They're very vocal birds, they seem to chatter all day long. They'll pick up a few words when fully grown. They're also intelligent and can be trained so I'd like to teach them a few tricks to keep them amused as well as the public!" From scrawny pink hatchlings to the fluffy bundles that they are now, Laura has found rearing the birds delightful. She enthused: "It's been so rewarding. They recognise my voice and now squawk to be picked up as well as fed. They are very affectionate and like to be close to my face." With a lifespan of 30 years or more, it looks like Laura has taken on a long-term commitment. "It's very hard work but it's all been worth it. They're absolutely lovely birds, and I can't wait for them to get their beautiful green and red plumage," she added.