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Conference 7.286::pet_birds

Title:Captive Breeding for Conservation--and FUN!
Notice:INTROS 6.X / FOR SALE 13.X / Buying a Bird 900.*
Moderator:VIDEO::PULSIFER
Created:Mon Oct 10 1988
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:942
Total number of notes:6016

705.0. "Sparrow rescue league" by ALFA1::COOK (Save the Skeets) Fri Jul 10 1992 13:29

    Did I do the right thing?  I sure hope so.
    
    Last night I rescued a baby sparrow.  She is almost ready to fly but
    not quite.  I think she fell out of one of the nests in the horse barn.
    After watching her almost get stepped on I decided her chances would be
    better in the house.  
    
    So she's in a finch cage with some finch seed, some Gerber rice baby
    cereal (mixed with water) and fresh water.  I can't tell if she's 
    eaten anything but other bodily functions seem to be fine.  She's 
    very quiet, not hopping around the cage.  Maybe she got hurt when
    she fell.  Although when I caught her I had to follow her as she
    flapped her wings and hopped away on the ground.
    
    Anyway, my question is, what else (besides bugs and worms, which I
    am NOT about to catch and chew up for her) is appropriate to feed her?
    Vegetables maybe?
    
    gwen
T.RTitleUserPersonal
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705.1Hearsay adviceGERBIL::MAGEEFri Jul 10 1992 14:025
    
    I was once told that canned dog food
    can be used instead of bugs in Le' Machine ;-('
    
    
705.2Try thisRAYBOK::DAMIANOIt's a question of weight ratios....Fri Jul 10 1992 16:2416
    I just finished raising three baby sparrows, from little naked babies
    to adulthood. I have the "official" recipe at home that was given to me
    by an avian expert at a local natural history museum, but off the top
    of my head, here's what you do:
    
    Soak some dry dog kibble in cold water to get it mushy. Hard boil some
    eggs. Throw both in a cusinart and grind to paste. Keep refrigerated,
    but serve at room temperature. It should be the consistency of cookie
    dough. I also gave them meal worms when they were older and hopping
    around the cage.
    
    They loved the dog food/egg mix, and it was easy to make and full of
    protien. Sparrows are meat eaters and need alot of it.
    
    John D.
    
705.3Oh, Gross!ALFA1::COOKSave the SkeetsFri Jul 10 1992 17:477
    re: .2
    
    YUK! Does that ever sound disgusting!!!!!!!!
    I bet she'll just love it though.  Thanks a bunch.
    
    gwen
    
705.4RAYBOK::DAMIANOIt's a question of weight ratios....Fri Jul 10 1992 18:419
    She'll love it alright. My birds were small when I found them; All they
    could do was lift their heads and open their mouths if your shadow
    happened to pass by. I kept the food mixture in a recycled margarine
    tub, and used a Q-tip swab to feed them. Just pull the cotton off of
    one end, load it up with food, and pretend you're loading a cannon.
    
    I have three fat, tame sparrows for friends now.
    
    John D.
705.5hand feeding mix-ready mix57112::PULSIFERUNHAMPERED BY FACTS AND INFORMATIONTue Jul 14 1992 14:1510
    When I raised a mourning dove , I was told to feed a mixture similiar to
    the previous mentioned one. The problem I had was, you should mix too
    much cause it can go bad quickly, and once you heat it up you should
    return that portion to the cold batch.
    
    I received later guidance that said I should go to a pet store that
    deals in hand fed baby parrots and get handfeeding formula. It was much
    easier, just mix up one feeding at a time ! less waste mess and it
    turned out cheaper for me.
    
705.6BULEAN::MAHLERDECnet for OpenVMS AlphaTue Jul 14 1992 16:417
    
    
    	I once fed a seagull, I rescued, dogfood.  It's high in protein
    	just like worms.
    
    	Yum.
    
705.7recipeLJOHUB::LBELLIVEAUWed Jul 15 1992 12:2822
    here's what our vet suggested when we rescued a wild baby bird:
    baby rice cereal 
    any strained baby vegetable
    canned dog food
    
    mix the above with warm water and feed with an eyedropper
    
    We mixed it in very small amounts since the baby didn't eat much
    at a time. The consistency was that of a shake; thick but liquidy.
    
    Fortunately, we were able to find the nest (a hole in the ground
    near our neighbor's shrubs) and the baby made a beeline once it 
    figured out where it was. 
    
    The vet also told us the idea that parent birds will ignore the
    young if you touch them (and get "human smell" all over them)
    is a myth.
    
    Good luck!
    
    Linda
    
705.8Update ??????ROYALT::PULSIFERUNHAMPERED BY FACTS AND INFORMATIONFri Jul 17 1992 13:463
    Hi Gwen,
    
    How about an update ?
705.9not a happy updateALFA1::COOKChips R UsMon Jul 20 1992 15:599
    Well, it's not a happy update.  The poor little thing must have gotten
    interal injuries when she fell out of the nest...it's quite a drop from
    the peak of the barn.  She was dead on the bottom of the cage on Sunday
    morning last week.  We buried her out under the pine trees.  
    
    I feel sad, but at least I tried.
    
    gwen