# NEARLY DROWNED PIGEON..help!



## Birdie_Mama (Sep 4, 2005)

ok

as my dad and I were walking to an Art Festival on Los Olas Blvd, Florida, we went over a bridge. I looked in the water below and saw a small, grayish lump on a palm frond in the very middle of the canal.  

My Dad and I went home, made a make-shift net out of PVC pipes and an orange nett. Then we grabbed a fishing pole and drove back to the bridge we crossed.

(the plan was to hook the frond and pull it closer to the concrete side of the canal, then use the 8 foot PVC-net to scoop the bird up.)

When we got to the bridge, the bird was gone. We saw it FLOATING in the water right on the edge of the sidewalk! 

I ran back to the Jeep, grabbed the net and an old T-shirt I brought and watched as my dad scooped the bird up flawlessly.

I brought it home and put him in an empty dresser drawer in my room. I, gently, wiped it dry with a soft paper towel, and put him in the drawer with a wicker basket filled with an old T-shirt and a hot water bottle.

I tried to feed it some Cheerio mash I made but he wouldn't eat.


Any suggestions as to what i can feed it?


or.. any advice at all???  



sincerely,
C (Birdie_Mama)


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Birdie_Moma,


For now, the Bird likely is suffering from hypothermia and will desperately need to get thoroughly warm.

Get an electeic heating pad, put a towell on it ( two layer, as in filding the towell in half) and set it to "medium" heat.

Put this in a large enough Box so the Bird can be on the heating pad or off of it as they please. It is VERY important that the Bird is able to be on or off of the heating pad as they decide for themselves. 

If the Bird is not walking or standing for now, then set them merely on the edge of the two layer towell covered pad, set them in their normal orientation in a "U" shape rolled up small towell.

They will need a few hours maybe to warm up...

And make sure there are no air conditioning drafts or breezes reching them.

Once the Bird is active, then food will be a consideration.

Too, we will need to determine if this is a young Bird or an Adult.

See http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm to see roughly how old the little one is...

And let us know...

Till next...!

 


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hello and Welcome to pigeons.com

Thank you for helping this needy bird. We will help you stabilize the bird first.

Here is the link to stabilize the bird:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8822

Do you have a heating pad that you can use to warm the bird? It might be easier, but a hot water bottle will do. The old t shirt is fine, put it between the bird and the heating pad.

Keep the bird in quiet area, no bright light, with no air drafts. warm the bird for about 20 to 30 minutes.

After the bird is warmed up then you can offer it some water, no food yet.

Is this a young pigeon or grown up? Does it have any yellow fuzz on its head or on its body, inbetween its feathers? 

If you have some clear Pedialyte you can give it to the bird to drink. See if it will drink on its own, if not you can give it to the bird with a dropper to the back of the throat slowly, behind the tongue.

If you don't have Pedialyte you can give it a mixture of a pinch of salt and sugar to 1 cup of water, stir well, and serve.

You can give about 2 ml's every hour for the time being.

Once the bird has rested and is stable you can try to give it wild bird seed.

Please continue to update us, and ask questions as needed.


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## Birdie_Mama (Sep 4, 2005)

i've put warm water in a bottle.

he has been quite active actually. Bright-eyed, and movin around occaisionally.

when i put a small glob of food on my hand, he pecked it off, but he shook his head and spit it out.

does he just not like it



i've raised wild birds many times before (hence birdie_mama)so i know usually how to take care of them, i just have never had a pigeon, dove, ect. and i just wanna be safe



i appreciate all replies,
C (Birdie_mama)


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## Birdie_Mama (Sep 4, 2005)

its about 21 days old. please give me some more ideas for what i can feed the little guy.

I'm only 15 so i can't go anywhere or get anything besides what i've gotten, but since the hurricane, we've had lots of cereals, non-perishable foods, and stuff like that.

ideas?


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

...if you like I can send you some feeding ad formula info in regular e-mail...

Write to me if you want the info, from your regular e-mail - I am at [email protected]

The info is too long for a post here.

This Bird may or may not have experiece eating on it's own.

For now, get some good general mixed Bird Seed and let them have some in a little dish or jar-lid and see if they can peck...or put soome Bird Seed on a folded towell so it is easier for them to grasp in their pecking...

If the Bird is not self feeding then you will have to work with it.

Phil
Las Vegas



Pigeons and Doves are particular in many ways.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

He is a little young and probably will need to be hand fed. 

For now, you can give it any kind of oatmeal cereal, mixed with water, no milk. Make sure it is the consistency of pudding. Do you have any puppy chow? You can use that also temporarily. Soak it and drain it and break in tiny pieces. Feed one piece at a time and let him swallow. You may have to open the beak and place food on the back of the tongue.

See if he will drink by himself. Tip his head gently into a bowl of water, just up to the beak, do not submerge nostrils. If he drinks that would be good. He will soon eat by himself.

Please do get wild bird seed soon.


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## Birdie_Mama (Sep 4, 2005)

i kinda can't, he's very fiesty and won't let me get near him long enough to feed him.

i tried syringe-dropping some water to him but he won't drink.

his droppings are slghtly runny, is that bad?


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Go to petsmart, get some good Birdseed, get also some plain raw Peanuts.

Do not be trying to put liquids into it's Beak...this Bird likely has already had plenty of 'water' for today anyway..Lol...

Get some Birdseed...be gentle with the Bird...

Young Birds are usually more than happy to be easy and friendly if you do not alienate it with fast movements or insensitive or invasive handling or trying to force it to do anything.


Pigeons and Doves will drink at young ages if their Beak is gently guided into a small cup of body temperature water.

You best not ever try syringeing water into any kind of Baby Bird's Beak ever... it will reliably drown them. No Bird ever is given Water inn that way in Nature and none are equipped to handle it.

If this one is already distrustful, or resenting invasive handleig, then you have already made lots of complicatios for later.

See if anyone in your area has Pigeons and might be willing to adopt the one to let this one spend time with theirs, where, without further problems, it will soon learn to eat on it's own, and will also need several more weeks or more to be able to fly decently to be on it's own.

Otherwise, if you do not kow how to handle them and make friends with them, the whole thing is a battle of wills and hassles and no fun for the Bird and not much fun for you.

Worse yet if you wish to feed them, since if they are traumatised or distrustful already, and their distrust or resentment of bad handleing so far eliminates most feeding methods and leaves force feeding which is absurd unless a dire emergency.

Did you say you thought this Bird was about three weeks old?

He likely will be able to assume pecking at Seeds if you just provide the Seeds for him to peck....with no need for any more invasive intrusions which will just make him more distructful of the whole scene and interfere with him learning to peck on his own.

Likely, best if you can find someone who has Pigeons already, or a nice rehabber to guide this one the rest of the way to young adulthood...


Good luck...


Too, maybe just see if you can put him back near where you foud him, where his parents likely will be seeking him anyway...and if you can do that and kind of keep an eye on him also for a while to see how it goes...


Phil
Las Vegas


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## Birdie_Mama (Sep 4, 2005)

thank you for the advice. i'm glad to hear he will probably eat seeds, i thought he might. I wasn't being invasive, was i? he's getting more used to me now. I've been just lightly petting him when i change his hot water bottle. his feathers are completely dry and he's sleeping right now.


thank you all so much for you help, i think he's gonna be OK.


P.S. back where i found him?! am i supposed to just throw him in the nearest canal? lol


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Hello Birdie Mama & Welcome.
Many thanks for rescuing this poor sweet pij.

If he seems a bit distrusting, it's only their nature. Mom & Dad taught him well.  

He *must* be hydrated, even if this means helping him a bit by dropping a few drops of the rehydrating solution (a cup of room temperature water with a pinch each of salt & sugar added) every few minutes just inside his beak. If he can't drink on his own, then he needs assistance. Either way, he must be hydrated *before* offering him food of any kind.

If your plans are to care for him until he is able to 'fend' for himself, I would suggest not becoming too friendly as this will only make him dependent upon you, thereby making it difficult for him to survive properly once released.

I would not recommend putting him back where you found him. Chances are you will not be able to find the nest & if he isn't able to fly properly, he will be unable to escape any type of predator if he is placed on the ground.

In what area do you reside? Perhaps there is a rehabber nearby that we can recommend assisting you.

Please do keep us posted on how things are coming along.

Cindy


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Hello Birdie Mama,
I noticed you haven't posted for a few days & was wondering how the little guy is doing?

Please post a note when time permits & let us know how things are coming along. If you need any further assistance please don't hesitate to ask.  

Cindy


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