# Help! found a tar covered young pigeon and need HELP!!



## NYCpigeon (Jun 13, 2005)

Hello Everyone,
Yesterday as I was walking towards my car I found a young pigeon and don't know what to do with him, the poor guy had black tar all over his feet and bottom of his body and was barely standing on the sidewalk he couldn't move his feet, I think he must have landed on a recently tarred road. I brought him home (I think it's a him because he slightly has that lovely purple gold turqoise ring of color around his neck) and gave him a warm bath and rubbed his poor little feet gently until most of the tar came off but I will have to repeat this a few more times to get all the tar off, I think he wasn't burned as badly as he could have been because he was able to perch on my hand with some coaxing. I have cared for many sick animals but pigeons are not one of them. I am worried becuase he is just sitting in the cage that I have him in and is not eating or drinking. I think he may just be an older baby that hasn't been weaned yet because his wings seem just fine and he tries to hop away from me when I pick him up but he just kind of plops to the ground. I would love to keep him but I have 4 ferrets that would kill him if they got their little paws on him. WHAT should I do!? I can keep him for a while until he is well since I have a large sturdy cage to keep him in, but how do I get him to eat on his own, and since his mother is not around how do I help him learn how to fly...and I'm really concerned about parasites. I have a child, a dog, 4 ferrets and a spouse, that I DON'T need to take to the vet/doctor. Please, Please, Please, any advice is welcomed. I did notice when I bathed "Uncle Sam",(I call him that because he's colored exactly like a bald eagle) that there were lice in the water YUK! Can I use something like a ferret or kitten flea dip to get rid of them? I can't really afford to take him to the vet right now as I just on Friday had to pay $500 for surgery for one of my ferrets. My husband would kill me if I spent more money on a "wild" animal when we have SOO many mouths to feed. Please tell me what I can do!


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Thank you so much for helping this little guy in need.

First, don't worry about diseases tramsimitted from the bird to you, your family or pets. Most pigeons diseases are species specific and are not transmittable to other species. You always have to wash your hands after handling the bird and before handling your other pets. If you do this you are safe.
For the lice and mites you can use some sevin dust powder, it will rid him of the "guests" he has.

To remove the tar from his feet and body, you can give him a bath with dawn dish detergent. It is known to remove tar, oil and gooe. Use warm water (not hot), soak the bird for a few minutes and then rinse off. You can repeat as ofen as necessary until all the tar is gone.

After the tar is removed you can check him out for injuties and burns on his feet and body. It might be that the tar is the reason he cannot fly.
Another possibility is the bird is still in shock. Give him a day or two with food and water. All the handling is probably stressing him out too.
After the bird has recoverd you can let him free in a room and see if he flys.


We have several NYC members, so hopefully someone will be on shortly.

Please let us know how it goes.

Reti


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Thank you so much for helping this poor pigeon. You described him as looking like a bald eagle. So does he have a pure white head? If so, he may actually be a domestic, not a feral. It's a color pattern often seen in rollers. Please let us know if you find a NYC rehabber to take him. You've probably already found it on this site, but just in case, here's our resource list: http://www.pigeons.com/prd.htm


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## NYCpigeon (Jun 13, 2005)

He does have a pure white head! he has a light brown body with lots, almost all white coloring on his wings and tail feathers, no gray anywhere on him. Wow, that's great I'm going to call some of those rehab centers and see if they can take him in, otherwise I will just keep him until I can find a good home for him. Thank you so much for your advise and I'm also going to pick up some of the sevin dust you spoke of to get rid of those lice. 
I will keep everyone posted.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Does he look anything like the pigeons on my avatar? They are bald-headed Birmingham rollers. They have pure white heads, white flights and tails. He sounds like a cutie-pie. I'd take him myself, but I'm in California. Hope you find someone to take him soon. He's probably someone's lost roller.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

NYCpigeon,

We don't want the pigeon to go too long without water because that can turn into a bad thing. It's fine if he's just in a little bit of shock and gets over it. But if he gets dehydrated enough to start looking "sleepy" in the eyes, we might need to look into helping him out a little. Just keep an eye on him and watch for that and let us know if he goes too long without water or gets that sleepy look.

Pidgey


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## NYCpigeon (Jun 13, 2005)

When I got home yesterday from work I gave him some pidgeon seed I bought at the pet shop and he was eating on his own just fine. However, I have not seen him drink at all and he does look sleepy alot. What should I do? Should I try to force water down this through with my feeding syringe?


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

He won't drink even if you dip his beak in a cup of water? Does he have water in front of him and is it possible he's drinking when you don't see him? I'd be surprised if he was eating and not drinking. I wouldn't try to force water down him with a feeding syringe for fear of him aspirating it, but you can try taking an eyedropper, gently opening his beak and putting just a few drops in until he gets the idea.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi NYCpigeon,

Wow! you do have your hands full..! Quite the managerie..!

Anyway, thanks for your good efforts here with this little one!

Do not worry about the 'Lice' for now...you, and the Bird have enough stresses already without 'seven' or the likes being applied..!

The Lice will not abide the 'cool' temperatures of you or your other pets anyway, and are specific to Birds much higher body heats.

Most of them have likely already floated off to go down the drain, or will do so in the subsequent baths for Tar washing, so, no need to worry on that matter at all.

Yahhh...if he knows how to eat, he knows how-to-drink, so...just leave a little low small bowl of Water for him. 

What do the poops look like so far?

Phil
Las Vegas


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