# Encouraging rehab fledgling to eat--please help!



## Tippy (Jul 26, 2006)

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site and hoping someone can help me. I came across a fledgling dove being munched on by a cat a couple days ago, so I brought it to the vet to be euthanized; however he said I had the option of rehabilitating it...which by now I'm not sure if I've done the right thing by agreeing to rehab it. 

The bird won't eat! 

I've contacted a local person who has done rehab with wild birds for 9 years (but no longer does it) to see what to feed it, the problem is HOW TO FEED IT...

The dove isn't eating from the bottle method, so I've tried some syringe feeding (but I think this might be more of a stress for the bird). I've also left things like moistened bread, Rice Krispies, a blueberry, and some of the mash diet in the cage with him. I'm currently on the hunt for wild bird seed.

I guess my main concern is keeping him fed/energized to fight off the infection for the duration of his stay with me while I'm treating him with antibiotics. Any suggestions on how to get him interested in eating would be appreciated  !

Thanks!


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Welcome to the forum! 
There are many wonderful people, that will help you step by step.
Don't worry the experts in this forum will answer all your concerns.
Meanwhile I will suggest to hold the bird and cover him with a towel, and try to open his mouth and hold his peak insert some small seed like finch seeds or something no to hard for him to swallows.

Karla


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi There and welcome to the forum

Can you post a picture of this dove and do you know approximately how old it is ...you mention a "fledgling" but maybe it's not. You also said that it was found after being attacked by a cat. Are there any injuries; cuts, scratches, bite marks on the dove? Cat bites and scratches can be lethal to birds. You mentioned that you're giving an antibiotic...was this from the vets and if so, what kind is it?

As for feeding, bread isn't very healthy and rice crispies or blueberries are not suitable for this bird either. You really need to get either a wild bird seed or a dove mix and possibly a baby bird formula. What were you feeding it with a bottle?

Also, can you let us know where you are located in case we can help you find a proper rehabber near to you that might assist?

Sorry for all the questions but they are important so we can establish what is going on and how to help further.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello,

What sort of dove is it?

Could the rehabber teach you to gavage the food? I find that is the easiest way of feeding the collared doves that I rehab because they hate being held, so any other form of hand feeding can be too stressful for them.

Cynthia


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## Tippy (Jul 26, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestions so far! 
He has been injured in the back of the neck and right thigh. I am treating him with topical antibiotic (Polysporin), and systemic antibiotic (long acting)--for which I have been seeing the diagram of syringe feeding on this posting board as well.

I have taken him to a local rehabilitator and she has identified that this is a morning dove. And as of yesterday she was home and helped me figure out how to feed him--turns out that the notch in the bottle wasn't as it should have been. 

He is doing much better today and actually went for the bottle. He is bright, and alert. 

I have found some pigeon seed for him, and I had this approved also by the rehabilitator. I've been looking up proper restraint from another link found on this posting board and will be trying to keep it to a minimum. 

I am bottle feeding every 2-3hours and checking that his crop doesn't become too full.

Will birds naturally try to peck at the seeds once they are older or is this something they must be taught? Unfortunately I don't ahve a pic to send 

Thanks for your help, I'm open to any suggestions you might have on feeding, handling, weaning, etc.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Tippy,



Tippy said:


> I am treating him with topical antibiotic (Polysporin), *and systemic antibiotic (long acting)*--for which I have been seeing the diagram of syringe feeding on this posting board as well.


What kind of systemic antibiotic are you giving? The polysporin could be useless if the bird was scratched or bitten by the cat.



Tippy said:


> --turns out that the notch in the bottle wasn't as it should have been.


What exactly have you been feeding him from the bottle?



Tippy said:


> Will birds naturally try to peck at the seeds once they are older or is this something they must be taught? Unfortunately I don't ahve a pic to send


Yes, they will peck at seeds and you can help teach them but in this case, and with a wild dove, it would likely be difficult. Is the dove skittish and timid?


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## Tippy (Jul 26, 2006)

Hi Pigeonpal2002,

I will respond to the questions you just asked me.

Systemic antibiotics: prescribed by veterinarian, I believe it is called Metronidazole (aka Flagyl) which is a nonpenicillan antibiotic. I am giving it a dose of 0.1mL 2xdaily orally by a syringe. The topical antibiotic was suggested by the rehabilitator for a "just in case". It will also aid in the prevention of new bacteria entering the wound and adding more stress to the birds system. 

The feed in the bottle is a mash consisting of equal amounts of finely ground kitten chow with baby rice pablum, all mixed with water. There is also part of a crushed up tablet of brewer's yeast and liquid calcium.The rehabilitator has shown me the proper consistency. I currently have him housed in a cage outside to get sunlight; however when I feed him outside he seems distracted and less interested in food than when I feed him indoors. I feed him roughly every 3 hrs to the point at which his crop is enlarged or he loses interest. Feeding from between 8:30am - 10pm. His cage is set up with a shallow tin foil tart plate of water and some seeds in another dish. The seeds are Dove seeds, and I have also sprinkled them around the cage in the hopes that other doves will come by to visit and possibly teach him how to peck at the ground for food.

His temperament is good, albeit testing to get away. He doesn't like restraint (which is the norm according to what I have been reading) so I try not to touch him when he is eating. He is not timid, nor is he aggressive, yet he does try to escape my hand when I go to pick him up, and tries to fly away when I feed him.

What would be a way to teach him to eat seeds so that its less stressful on him than say inserting the seeds into his mouth? My concern would be him choking on the seeds, or basically becoming dependant on hand feeding and not learning the process of foraging for himself.

I will avoid gauvage feeding because I don't have the equipment and I think he is doing fine with the mash diet in the bottle.

Again, thank you to those who are offering their suggestions and advice


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

Remember that doves and pigeons go into the moms mouth to retreive food. If it is a Mourning Dove it will have a black spot on the side of it's face at adult stage, if there is no black spot than it isn't an adult yet. Baby doves leave the nest when they are approx. 6 inches in length if that may help out any. One of their favorite seeds are safflower, milo, white millet. Let us know how he/she does. Curious to see how it is doing. 

Cindy


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## Tippy (Jul 26, 2006)

It WAS going well...until she/he flew away a couple days ago  
The wound on its neck had scabbed over and the one on its thigh was still deep.I never did get a chance to finish the course of its antibiotics, which concerns me a bit about its survival (incase the bacteria repopulate and cause problems for it).

It was about 9cm (or about 3.5inches) long, and brown feathered with no particular markings that I could see, although the rehabilitator did confirm it to be a dove and its beak did look rather pigeon-like.

I tried to encourage it to eat the seed mix specificly for doves--which did contain the white millets; however it was doing fine with the bottle feeding for the 5 days that it stayed with me. 

Do you think he/she will learn to forage on the ground once it is out there? The reason I ask is because I never did see it peck at the seeds I left for it in its cage. 

Thank you for all of your help!
If I find another bird I'll know where to come!

Tippy


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Sunlight is fine but a bird as injured as this one was should have been kept inside until he was better and not be put in a position to be able to escape.


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