# Hold your pigeon to give oral medicine on your own



## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

Hi there,

I need to give my adult pigeon some oral liquid medicine, and there's no other people to help me hold it, so I need to hold it and keep open its beak with only one arm/hand with the other hand using the syringe.

There are some guides on youtube for chickens and parrots, in which people towel their birds and either put it on their laps and hold it with their arms in case of chicken or hold it around the neck right below the head in case of parrot. But it seems to me those cannot be applied to pigeons as they are too small to hold firmly when on your lap and their necks more delicate and heads are smaller so can't be hold by neck. Could you please give me some advice on how to safely hold it?

Many thanks in advance.


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## bootface (Jun 29, 2017)

The towel method works just fine with pigeons. You cans also hold the bird against your body with an arm, use that hand to open the mouth, and give the meds with your free hand. I’m not even sure how I usually do it, now that I think about it, but I think I open the mouth and give the meds with the same hand.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You need to be careful to get it over the back of the tongue and down the throat so you don't aspirate him. What is the med, and how much do you need to give him at one time?


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

I stand mine on a non slip waist high surface, hold the body against mine with my forearm and the head with my hand with finger and thumb holding the beak open and put the tablet or liquid in the syringe over the back of the tongue. I use a small 1ml syringe and give the dose needed bit by bit to allow the bird to swallow and not overload the mouth in case of aspiration.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Some people make bread balls, and soak the med up in the ball. Then feed it to them like you would a pea, over the tongue to the back of the throat.


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## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

Thank you all for your help. I did it some hours ago. I wrapped my pigeon in a towel, put her on a table and hold hold her with my arm against my body. When I tried to open her beak she shook her little head strongly and her beak kept slipping out of of my fingers so in the end I had to put a finger across the beak, pushing her head back a little bit and slightly upwards. Then I put just the tip of the syringe at the back of her beak, slightly downwards, pushed 2-3 drops at a time and quickly pull my finger out so she could swallow them. 

I think the liquid went down correctly as she did not show any signs of aspiration. If you think there's something I did wrong though, please kindly let me know.

@Jay3: what I need to give her is 2.5ml of probiotic per day. The idea of bread balls soaked of medicine sounds interesting. Do people generally have to put it deep in the throat or just the front of the beak and the birds will eat it willingly?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They will usually spit it out. Why does she need so much a day? People usually give it in the water. Even yogurt can be given for probiotics.


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## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

@Jay3: she's being given antibiotics and her droppings are green so my vet prescribed that for her. He said that it should be given to her orally, immediately after the vial is open and not in her water.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Is she eating? If not, then she could have starvation droppings. Also, the antibiotics kill bacteria, both good and bad. That is what probiotics are...........good gut bacteria. So the antibiotic is killing the probiotics as soon as you give them to her. Most will wait till after the antibiotic treatment, then give the probiotics for 3 to 5 days to replenish them. Some do give them during the treatment, but most don't. Doesn't help anyway, as the antibiotics will just kill them. What is a good idea is giving Nystatin or similar to fight yeast infections, which antibiotics can cause by killing off the good gut bacteria.

Is the bird eating? If not, are you hand feeding?


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## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

@Jay3: yes she's eating, though not as much as usual. My vet is also giving her some extra nutriment along with antibiotics via injection. 

The medicines to treat fungi infection is very hard to find in my place, so my vet's just trying to boost her immunity so that she can keep the fungi in check by her own while he's searching for it.


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## alby68 (Mar 18, 2013)

Hi Howl
I use a cut off upper sock/tube, to slide them into, and through when done, and then capture them between my legs, in the sock, while seated. this gives me two hands free to pinch the beak open with my left hand, and use my right hand to administer the potion. I am right handed. do the reverse if left handed. capiche?


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## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

alby68 said:


> Hi Howl
> I use a cut off upper sock/tube, to slide them into, and through when done, and then capture them between my legs, in the sock, while seated. this gives me two hands free to pinch the beak open with my left hand, and use my right hand to administer the potion. I am right handed. do the reverse if left handed. capiche?


Thank you, sounds like a good idea. The very thought of a pigeon in a sock makes me giggle


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## Howl (Nov 9, 2017)

Sorry to bother you all again, I thought I did it right but now I am confused again. I am looking at this photo of the inside of a pigeon's mouth, and the glottis is right at the back of the tongue. 

https://www.omicsonline.org/article...hotomicrograph-tongue-laughing-6-363-g001.png

I've never seen the glottis when examining my pigeon's mouth as she shakes her head strongly. When pushing liquid from the syringe into its mouth, how can I make sure it does not go into the glottis? I put the syringe tip at the back at the beak and keep the beak slightly upwards, trying to get the liquid into the 'void' of the throat, but still, if she shakes her head from side to side it looks possible that the liquid accidentally goes into the glottis. Considering that the glottis is at the back at the tongue, isn't it better that the liquid should enter from the front of the beak like when she drinks so she can control the flow by her self?


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## bootface (Jun 29, 2017)

You need to hold her head better, so she can’t shake it. Adult birds usually don’t let themselves aspirate that easily. It should be fine as long as you’re not squirting it directly into the glottis or putting too much in her mouth at once. But you definitely want to get it past the glottis. If you put it further forward, she’s more likely to aspirate and there’s a chance she won’t actually get the full dose.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You can aspirate an adult bird, it has happened. Some do put the drops in the front of the beak a little at a time and let him swallow. You may be able to get it up and over the tongue better with an eye dropper. Or roll bread balls in it and feed those. I prefer using a crop needle, but you would need to be shown.


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