My 14 yr-old son (Rob) recently decided to assume "fatherhood" of a new bird. After much research and soul searching, he finally decided on a Peachfaced Lovebird as his intro to "Parrothood." Last night we picked out the bird and tonight we went back to visit. As soon as I walked in, May, the owner (on the phone) frowned and pointed at a cage across from her desk. I thought she was pointing at a new playstand, so I stopped and admired it for a few moments until she got off the phone. As it turned out, she was pointing at a cage behind the playstand with my little GCC in it. She told me that JJ had been being a bully to the rest of the kids in the playpen, so JJ was taken out and put in "jail."
I posted her bond and got her out, and we talked another minute until her phone rang again. All told, this took, perhaps five minutes. In the meantime, Rob had headed straight back to the playpen to get Posei (short for Poseidon, but pronounced like the flower "Posey"). He got Posei and snuggled for a few minutes, then started wandering around and saying hi to the rest of the flock. That's when I heard him yell out, "MOM! I THINK THIS BIRD JUST DIED!" (Not Posei, one of his brothers.)Of course, I was certain he was exaggerating, but I went over to check it out. Unfortunately, he was far too close to being right. One of the little male lovebirds was lying face-down, wings out, limp, in the corner of the playpen. A cockatiel was stepping on his head in an effort to get to my son (cause EVERYONE who comes to the door has food, right?), and pressing his face farther down into the corncob. I started yelling for May as I opened the door to grab the baby, but she was still on the phone. In the real-world I'm an RN, and keeping living things alive is what I do. Typically they weigh more than about 20 grams, but the principle is the same: Airway, Breathing, Circulation. The babes airway was better now that his face was out of the corncob, but he didn't seem to be breathing. Rob said he was moving "before," but he certainly wasn't now. His eyes were glassy and rolled back, so you guessed it, I started breathing for the little fellow.
I've met this little baby's new Mom and Dad several times in the past week or two when they come in to feed the baby. They're some of the more devoted lovebird parents. They had bought a budgie at PetSmart recently, but things didn't work out with that bird the way they'd hoped, so they came to the bird store. The owner agreed to "buy" their budgie and put her to work as a brood hen, and they could find the hand-raised bird they wanted. Dad had done a bunch of research before deciding to get a lovebird, and every time I saw them, he had some new factoid he'd discovered about them. They had the pick of the bunch, and this little guy stole their hearts. And no wonder - he's a lovebird - a teeny one, chock full of lovey-personality! Dad was all lovey on the baby, and when most people have a hard time handfeeding lovebirds, he actually did a pretty good job with the little one. If anyone could be trusted to take home an unweaned baby, it would be them.
So anyway, I got him over to May who took over breathing as she took him to the back to try and get some fluids in him. When she got him back there he was breathing on his own, but he wouldn't swallow. At her request, I ran to the gas station across the street to grab some Gatorade which she tried to syringe feed him. No luck. The closest avian vet is about 15 miles away, and in rush-hour traffic it would have taken us at least 45 minutes to get there. I don't know where the closest "any-vet" is, so I can't speak to her decision to not take that route. At that point, I made the comment that I wished I had some IV fluid so I could just hydrate him that way, thinking that if I were at the hospital, I would have just started a slow subcutaneous microdrip of ... something! (I had no idea what you use on baby birds.) May countered my out-loud comment with her own, lamenting that if only she had some LR, she could give it Sub-cu. Of course, I started thinking. Hard. Where could we come up with some LR? FAST? Well, lets just say that it's possible that someone who happened to be in the store right then happened to know where s/he might be able to secure some IV fluid, and at that exact moment, I had to run a quick errand - no longer than 7-8 minutes. When I returned, May told me she found some IV fluid!
She gave the baby about 2.5 - 3 cc of fluid, and within five minutes that baby was trying to lift his head and stand up!!! About 5-10 minutes after that, the baby was drinking his handfeed formula - VERY eagerly. This baby was fine last night. I saw him. He was fine this morning when he was fed, and was fine earlier today when May took JJ out of the playpen and moved her to jail. But he was NOT fine when we arrived about an hour prior to closing time. That baby crumped in no-time flat. If the stars had not been aligned the way they were, I doubt he would be with us right now. If he had been at home when this happened? If mom and dad had been at work? Asleep? Right beside him and panicked?
There are too too too many horrible possibilities to want to take a chance unless you're fully prepared for the eventualities. It's just something to think about.
Oh yeah... May took the baby home with her tonight. He'll be getting fed every two hours tonight, and I'm going up there as soon as my car is out of the shop to see how he's doing. He seemed to be rallying when we left, so if y'all would, pray, or whatever you prefer, for the little champ-chick, ok?
And don't take home an unweaned baby.
Thanks.
(edited 4/8 to correct the Subject line.)
