Formally introducing Birdy-Bird *pics*

[mandelyn82]

Well the little dove is going strong and it's been about a week, make or break time in wildlife rehabilitation. So with my confidence in his/her survival, I feel an introduction needs to be made! I've been calling it Birdy-Bird since I have "Ratty-Rat"... I don't really do "real" names on small critters.

Warm and cozy with "Momma Towel" in the incubator... I heard to use shavings as bedding, but I'm liking the ease of paper towels for easy clean-up. I roll a towel into a nest shape, line it with a paper towel (has to go up the sides too, since they push their butt up to poo) and then set another towel over the bird to simulate being sat on.



It likes my hand better, but I can't go around carrying it all day!



Seeing my hand, wondering if there's food?



Is there food? It chases my hand to find out, it's so strong, I'm surprised it can move as well as it does!



It's up to eating 4 eye droppers of food, 3 really, by the time you account for wasted food. The feeding process is quite messy! It's quite the little pig, it feeds until it's crop is about 3 times as big as it was prior to feeding! And it feeds every 3 hours, about 5-6 times a day.

[gailfinney]

that little guy is sooooo cute!

[farmergal]

Birdy-Bird is adorable! I had one that I hand fed once. Been a few years but If memory serves me correctly I do believe that given the amount of feathering I'm seeing you should start to introduce seed to his diet. I know with my pigeons they would pic at the seed in their nest.

I love the momma towel. Wish I had thought of that.

[arabiancowgirl]

She is so cute! Her beak is huge.

[mandelyn82]

Yeah this week I was going to see if I could find a health food store around here to get some grain like millet and a medicine bowl grinder thing so I can crush up sunflower seeds too and start scattering that around on the feeding towel.

She's not pecking at anything, she still only rubs against my hand for food. I was going to start adding the grain when she got "groomy" and "pecky" and curious about her surroundings.

She hasn't escaped from the towel nest yet, nor do I find her straying from where I set her in the nest. Once she starts moving around more is when I'll upgrade to ratty-rat's old cage and set a heat light on her.

Or I saw on one site to get a plastic bin, put water in it, a 15 (amp or watt or something...) fish tank heater in it, then set another plastic bin in that and the heated water heats the bird. The heater never gets hot enough to melt the plastic and it's thermostat controlled so it never gets too hot.

Once she starts jumping off the coffee table during feedings to chase me to the kitchen as I get more warm water to keep her food hot (she won't touch it if it's luke warm) then I'll start taking her outside and see what she thinks of that.

I'm half way hoping she refuses to go wild... but it's not fair to deny her of the chance. I've only ever had one bird refuse to be a wild bird after fledgling age, a robin that was raised alone. Full grown robin chasing me around! It finally left in the fall when the others did.

I have a Balcony that's really large, so the last stage will be hanging a feeder with her favorite seeds, putting her out there in a large cage with a large door where she can come and go when she reaches full feather and can eat on her own. I've never used that tactic before.

I was thinking on starting the feeder this week to get some wild doves out there for her to watch and listen to. I've been playing dove noises on the computer too.

[farmergal]

A warm chuckle! Your such a good mommy. Have you thought of trying parakeet seed or cockatiel seed? Use a rolling pin to crush the seeds.

[lawcat]

Birdy bird looks awesome!!! Given how much its fledged, I would start with spray millet if you can find some... I hand raised an orphaned mourning dove once, and was told by a wildlife rehab person that they really become tame quickly and don't return to the wild very willingly....she told me to keep it, as if it was released, it would probably spend its time landing on people's heads looking for food So, it lived many years in a large aviary with my diamond doves....you may well end up with a permanent resident!

[mandelyn82]

I was hoping it would stay... I've seen a couple of Ring Neck doves on Craigslist that came with a big cage.

That is if another storm orphan doesn't show up. They can brood up to 6 times a year!

I haven't been holding it much... but it's little yet so I need to keep it warm anyways. It's getting more demanding about spending time with me though, so I've been putting a bag of hot water into a plastic critter carrier, putting a towel in it, then Birdy-Bird, and letting it sit at the computer desk listening to dove noises.

Ideally it should go wild or have a buddy of it's own species... but if it doesn't want to, then I'm totally ok with that!

[snwflk]

awwww how sweet! I hand raised two robins, but they were released back in to the wilds of my back yard - They stuck a round for a while but then flew off.. (yay!)

But doves are so sweet.. and they make such pretty coo's.. I think you have a new keeper..

[farmergal]

Originally Posted by mandelyn82

I've been putting a bag of hot water into a plastic critter carrier, putting a towel in it, then Birdy-Bird, and letting it sit at the computer desk listening to dove noises.

Ideally it should go wild or have a buddy of it's own species... but if it doesn't want to, then I'm totally ok with that!

Have you thought of using a rice bag instead of hot water? It stays warm longer. I used a tube sock and put a cup of long grain rice in it, tied the end in a knot. Heat for about a minute or two. Mix to distribute the heat evenly. I used it for my kittens I was hand feeding to simulate a mom. Birdy-Bird might think he has a clutch mate and a towel mommy.