nvnvgirl | 05-18-2008 03:40 PM | Baby bird Quote:
Originally Posted by drawlins27
(Post 1995296)
If I bring it in, how do I keep it warm? I'm really hoping the sun will come back out. The bricks are still pretty warm but the poor thing seems to have gotten pretty weak :( | Hi there~ I didn't read thru all the posts, but I have raised tons of baby birds and hand fed them...the best thing to do is to put it into a box, get a small heating pad and fold a small (not too thick) towel on top of it....then set the box (what works GREAT are those clear acrylic boxes that they have at the pet stores for either small animals or crickets I think...they have a top that has little slits and a little handle)....put either some paper towels or a little towel in the bottom of it, and set on top of the heating pad that's set to either low or medium.
If you have an eye dropper, you can use that to work into the corner of it's beak to open it and drip slowly a few drops of water in. If you have a food that's like a gruel (like pablum baby food), you can also feed it with that. The baby will (or should) be very happy to accept the food...make SURE you WARM it up first though...just mix it with warm water and test it on the back of your hand like you would for a baby!! No microwave, b/c the center may be much hotter and if you burn the crop, the bird will surely die. You want to make sure it's warm enough for the baby to digest and not get what's called "sour crop" (where the food curdles in it's crop, or the little pouch you'll see expand on it's neck area when it's fed), but not too warm where it will produce a burn in the crop! You should feed it enough so that the crop expands like a small bulb...it should be swollen but not too firm...sort of soft, but not baggy. You can PM me or email me at seananapa2@aol.com if you like. I would also put a light towel over the top of the container so it's quiet and not too scary for it. Good luck! Wish I were closer and I'd bring over an eyedropper...I have lots of brand new ones from when I was raising mine! |