Connor and Blu

[Blu]

What would I have to worry about bringing a orphaned starling into the home with Connor and Blu in the house? I see at least one starling baby orphaned each year. I have Blu's old cage that I could raise it in but what would I have to worry about

[liz]

It would be the same as a quarantine. You could not keep it in the same part of the house. You must wash your hands and should change your clothes after touching it.

I have done it but you really have to be careful. Not only could the bird be sick but it could be a carrier. The wild birds have built up immunities that our pet birds have not.

Last summer when I was letting the boxers run in the back yard, a baby bird bombed out of a nest and right into the dog lot. I saw the parents so I picked it up to put behind a bush. The lice were so bad that they ran up my arm in the few seconds it took me to do it.

Unless you are sure you can do a complete quarantine please do not risk the lives of Blu and Connor.

There are wildlife rehabs every where. I used to volunteer at NC Zoo. They have a vet on hand are give them the species care that is needed.

[Blu]

Ok thanks Liz.

[Wolf]

Unless you are sure that the parent birds are dead, look for the nest, it will be nearby and put the baby back in it. That is the most appropriate way to deal with this.

[liz]

You are anticipating that you will find another one this year. There is a time when the babies get to big for the nest. That is when they bomb out. It seems when I see one there is another one the next day. The parents are trying to get them to cover. They can't fly yet but they are too big for the nest so the parents take care of them on the ground.

One evening about dark I heard a baby bird squawk. It was just at the bottom of my front steps and my cat was poking it to make it squawk. I brought the cat in. I heard it again and the dog was doing the same thing. I fed it and put it in a cage. I did not have birds at that time. The next morning it woke me up wanting breakfast. When I opened my front door there was another one just like it in the same place. I put the baby out with the other one and the parents took both.

Don't interfere with the birds if you can help it. Let the parents raise them and they will be a lot happier. When you take it from the parents you also take it from the flock. It is not easy finding the right flock to put them back in.

[Blu]

I was getting on to talk about how much of a baby Connor is when I noticed him doing the regurgitation head movement. He didnt regurgitate but I have heard of birds doing this to when they have swallowed string He has an obsession with eating the carpet and backs of chairs and I am worried he ate some of his rope perch How could I tell short of taking him to the vet. Plz help. It will be hard to convince my mom to take him to the vet.

[Pajarita]

You need to monitor closely his food intake and his poop. If you see the bird is not eating or pooping as much, he might have a crop impaction.

[Blu]

Ok I will. If he has a crop infection what would it cost to get it removed you think?

[Wolf]

Prevention is often the easiest and cheapest way of dealing with these things. To that end I would keep him off of carpets and the chairs that have the backs that he picks at or at least cover them when he is on them. I would also remove the rope perches if you think he is eating them and replace them with perches made of bird safe woods.
I would also try to set aside money for your birds medical care as avian vets are expensive.

[Pajarita]

Infection has completely different symptoms than impaction. Impaction is when the crop is filled up with a foreign material that the body is not capable of 'moving' along the digestive tract so, unless you do something about it, the bird will die of starvation because it can't eat. Infection is caused by a pathogen (bacteria, fungus) and although the bird continues to eat and poop, you see that it's lethargic, fluffed up, might be regurgitating a clear liquid or some semi-solid smelly stuff, could have diarrhea, etc.