New Addition To The Family!

[Scotty]

Hi Guys,

Well the Mrs at work yesterday calls me on the phone and says she found a baby sparrow. So me knowing the wife, hehe, I didn't know what shape this little guy was in, but she said it was good. So I rushed the daughter out the door to go get it, and to go also to the pet shop around the corner and get some baby bird food.

Well the guy, I should say gal, from what I gather the sparrows that don't have the black bib around the chest are girls, seems really healthy, made it through the night ok, been bouncing around and snoozing a little in it's cage today and enjoyed sitting in my hand, letting me pet it. It really enjoyed my attention, so it's not so big that it's not liking it's new home.

I had a sparrow quite a few years back called Squirty, she was such a sweet heart, they are so loving and affectionate...

I'll keep you all posted how she goes, one thing for sure, I'm making sure to not over feed her, like every 2 hours, about a half an eye dropper. At least with sparrows you can see the crop bulge out...

Here's the little gal in her cage;

[Munchy]

so cute! I once found a baby robin. It was trapped in our prison backyard with three large dogs. I can't believe I found it and got to it before they did. I put him/her in a cage and fed it canned dog food mixed with plain yogurt. The next day the mom was in the front yard with worms in her mouth looking for him/her. The baby was throwing a fit to get to it's parent so I let it go. It hopped into the next yard and the mom fed it some more. Later it hopped into the next yard over and I never saw or knew what happened to it. Hopefully it was able to fly within a few days.

You are going to have so much fun raising this bird. It might become bonded and hang around the area,
or become a tame wild bird.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Hey,

Another little tip on weaning from my avian vet. We had to 'top up' our cockatiel because he didn't know how to drink so he had eggfood wet to keep him hydrated till he realised what the water bowl was! If you get a cough mixture spoon, those plastic white ones, and sterilize it you can use that to feed the bird. They can then take it for themselves out of the spoon and it can be a step to fully weaning them. It also gets rid of the scare of accidentally getting the food in their lungs because they taking it for themselves- i didn't like using the syringe. This is probably something you would use later on and I'm not sure if it would work for a sparrow but just thought I'd fling it out there in case.

The spoon also has measurements so you can tell how much the bird is eating. George no longer uses the spoon now but we occassionally feed the moist eggfood during molting (for Edmund) and George because he still growing. The vet said it's a good source of vitamins for them and like a energy boost porridge. We also mix a little Harrison's mash in and some pellets. Again, i'm not sure if these would be suitable but I've seen some wild bird pellets in the bird shops...

Again just an idea from our minimal experienceand good luck with your little one

[pionus]

aw, he looks like a grumpy little guy. good luck!

[Scotty]

aw, he looks like a grumpy little guy. good luck!

I've yet to see a bird smile, LOL...


Well the little guy almost died this morning.

It's was laying over and I picked it up and it was struggling and I thought I over fed it, BUT the Exact baby food I did feed it pretty watered down.

I put the bird to bed at 8pm and I got up to feed at like 6:40am.

With a little dropper I have I thought if it might be stuffed up from to much food, then I gave it a tiny amount of water. After giving it some water it started to looking slightly better, so I started to think I was not making the food thick enough. So with the food still fairly watery for the moment I tried to force feed it.

Well after about 20 minutes of feeding it, the little guy jumped up onto my finger and I noticed the once sluggish little guy started to become quite energetic and nice alert head movements and the eyes looking better.

AHHH I can't believe I almost starved it... I was so sad this morning with the Mrs at my side while we really fought to save it.

Well that was 11 hours later and the little guy is still going and been taking food from the dropper about every 30-45 mins...

So I really have a BIG question here, what time should I put the bird to bed and what about feeding through a part of the night? Going to bed at sun down and then getting up at sun up, that is certainly along time without food...

THANKS

[KimberlyAnn]

I'm pretty sure that you should be feeding it through the night, but less often then the day time. It's been a long time since my mom worked with the wild bird rescue, but I remember helping her feed through the night. It must have been esanctuary w hours because I was to get up twice and she got up twice. Then during the day, we must have fed every half hour. It was a HUGE job. Especially when we were asked to take care of humming bird babies. Wow...that was insane! They had to eat every ten mins! I don't think my mom and I ever fought so much as in that week! My dad flat out refused to feed too. I must have been around 11 so I'm sure I was not so helpful either. Lol We were tied down completely and at the end, everyone could not wait for the babies to leave. Lol

But it does depend on the bird, how often you feed. I do remember that. But I don't remember any bird going over 30 mins between feedings for the day time. And you feed them until they stop peeping for food or like you said...when their crop is full. I am guessing that it's around 12 hours...night and day. So maybe try every two hours through the night for now. I for sure remember this didn't last for months...just a few weeks or a month? But you bird has feathers so I'm sure this won't be for long. I will call my mom tomorrow and ask for you.

I remember the next stage being meal worms...Yuck! But the birds we rescued were going back into the wild and so they had to learn to eat bugs. We fed them with tongs and gloves and tried not to make friends. Then they were placed in the sanctuary with other wild birds...then back to the wild. If you are planning to keep the bird, then I'm sure pellets would be fine? I'm not sure. I think they need a lot of protien.

But whatever you do...just remember that the night feedings are not forever and you will sleep again lol We used to have the birds in their boxes next to us at night and they would start peeping. They do know when they need to eat!

[KimberlyAnn]

http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm

I just found this link for you that is very informative! I guess the meal worms are very important! But this will help you to know what to feed and when depending on the age of your bird. They say cat food is a good option for feeding. I slightly remember this, but my mom made the mush and I think we got something from the bird lady too. I hope this link helps you! Keep me posted!

[Scotty]

Well I did hand feed and raise a sparrow before but that was like 7 years ago and if memory serves me correct I would put it to bed at 10pm and then get up to feed at 6am.

Winnie listed in my profile I hand fed from the wild as a baby, I never fed her in the night, probably the same thing, up till 10pm.

The Kaytee Exact hand formula is what I fed Winnie and the other Sparrow, Squirty...

http://www.kaytee.com/products/exact-ha ... y-bird.php

I realize now I had it to watery, because I was afraid it would stuff them up and block them and they wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom, but then I realize a mother in the wild feeding them isn't going to be so watery, so I've made the formula a bit more watery than a baby food and it's working ok.

I read online that someone said you don't feed them through the night, I'm really not sure, all I know is I didn't do this in the past. But I'm asking to make sure since I don't really know, maybe I just got lucky twice...

Oh and this little guy doesn't peep either when hungry and I wish she would so I'd know better, but since she almost died I gave every 30-45mins for up to eight hours around a half of dropper of food, it's all she would take, then after eight hours she started to take more food and she waited about an hour...

THANKS

[KimberlyAnn]

It sounds like you are doing the right thing from what that link says. I see what you are saying about having things too watery.

It's been years for me and I know we took care of so many birds! Lol it all started with the Cow Bird. I guess Cow Birds lay their eggs in other bird's nest and sometimes they get kicked out by the other chicks! Or they kick out the other chicks themselves. They are like little pigs. Eat and eat and eat. He's the one I remember the most. All the others are blurs because I was 11 and lost interest lol but there was so many. They all ate at different times and had different needs. We also took on a lot without feathers so I am assuming those are the ones that need the most round the clock care. I just remember all these boxes of birds...three or so to a box. One would start complaining and they would all start complaining right down the line of boxes. Lol it was like those nature sound tapes that were popular in the 80s!

But I see what you are saying about not feeding at night too. In the link above, the lady said she didn't feed them when she was sleeping. So that means you get rest! Lol

I'm also amazed they can live 15 years! I had no idea. I didn't even know they made good pets. You learn something new every day. I can't wait to see pictures as your baby grows up!

[Scotty]

I'm going to feed it to around 10pm and then have it sleep next to me, in case it does start to chirp...

Yeah this time thicker food, boy you should of seen the ICU this morning with me trying to revive this thing, it was on the edge of death and I brought it back, wow it was so terrible, I just hope that it didn't put the bird into to much of a shock.

Towards the end of the day she did hop over to the door when I approached her, so she does have quite a bit of strength back...

Cheers