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#1
8th July 2007, 11:50 AM
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Obtained a young pigeon, what now?Hi.
This is my first time posting, but it's also the first time I've ever had a pigeon! Paloma was found as a featherless baby by a coworker of mine in the rain and he raised her for a week before deciding that he wasn't around enough to take care of it properly. So two days ago, Paloma was given to me. It's a young pigeon - mostly feathered with a few bald spots and a little bit of yellow tufts remaining, doesn't fly or anything. All the information I've found here has been for baby or old or sick pigeons so I don't really know what to do at this transitional stage. I've been feeding him/her with bread and water until I noticed that s/he was pecking around a lot so I tried to see if it would pick up seeds. Paloma just went CRAZY for it. Should I just start feeding that way or should I continue with the occassional bread and water? Also, s/he won't drink water on its own. S/he has a habit of putting its beak between my fingers pointing down and opens its beak wide, so I carefully used a squirt bottle to pour water in there. But I can't do that forever. Also, Paloma can't fly now, so s/he's residing in a large milkcrate with enough space to spread wings, but I figure it'll need a real home soon. Do they need any kind of toys like I see tropical birds have? Bells, mirrors, etc? Right now we have fun keeping Paloma either perched on my hand or head while I watch movies, huddled in my lap with my hands over it or I just let it roam in a small, clean area of my living room. I've only owned cats and dogs before (was petless up until Friday) so I know very very little about birds. Anyways, sorry for going on and on (and if the changing pronouns annoyed anyone!). I just want to make sure I'm taking good care of Paloma and get everything covered. Thanks! 
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#2
8th July 2007, 01:04 PM
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We have many members who give their birds bells and toys, and mirrors. They enjoy looking at themselves, and playing with toys.
Our member, Pete has a wonderful tame pigeon named Dudley who loves his ball toys, and plays and throws them around so much, he has to go buy new ones, every so often. I'm sure you will get alot of responses, from everyone. pigeons adapt very well to their environment and love toys and other things if given to them. You have to experiment. as our pets, having different personalities, will prefer different things.
__________________
Treesa  Plan ahead.............It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark. 
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#3
8th July 2007, 01:41 PM
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Hi and welcome -
Sounds like Paloma has found the right place If s/he is picking up seed happily enough and actually eating it rather than just moving it around or dropping it, then I'd continue like that . little pot of seed and the same of water. If she doesn't seem to be actually eating the seed, then by all means help her out with some little dampened bread pellets (preferably yesterday's wholemeal, as it's healthier ). If you have or can get dove mix, that would be fine for such a youngster, but bird seed contains goodness too.If you gently lower Paloma's beak into a small pot of water, but only to below the nostrils, s/he may then drink automatically - they suck up water rather than drink like other birds. If you give her water with the bottle, just dropit into the front of her beak - avoids it squirting into her windpipe (but I'm sure you're doing that bit OK anyway). Yes, they normally put the beak into the parent's mouth and then, as you saw, open it for the food. In fact, they often still beg for food even when old enough to start flying and eat for themselves Oh yes, pigeons very often like to perch on a brick or similar object .. it seems to be instinctive ... though maybe this one is too young to care yet. John
__________________
 Pigeons know more than we think - and think more than we know.
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#4
8th July 2007, 01:47 PM
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Fading dots,
Paloma sounds very young. Could you post a picture so we can get an idea of how old she is? If she will eat seed on her own, that is definitely the best food for her. Bread and water won't give her the necessary vitamins and proteins she needs. See if you can get some pigeon mix at a feed store. You can try taking a small glass, like a shot glass and guide her beak into the water. Pigeons suck up water with their beak like drinking it through a straw. She will get the hang of it eventually. Thank you for taking in this little one. They make wonderful loving pets and are gentle and sweet birds. Margarret
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#5
8th July 2007, 01:58 PM
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hello
i am currently rearing one of the same age . start with feeding him some of the seed so he gets used to the texture, leave a bowl of the seed in the cage/box with him so he also gets used to start picking it up, it is unlikely that he can do this straight away, they normally move it around on the floor for a while, and mostly look quite frustrated with it, continue to hand feed him an alternate mixture of the seed and the soaked bread in the day, a pigeon of this age will proberly only need feeding 4 times a day now and can be left to work out how to pick up the seed. good luck with your pigeon.
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#6
8th July 2007, 02:05 PM
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Hi Fadingdots...
I have a former racing homing pij who can no longer fly due to a partially amputated wing. His home is a small pet cage: 29"Lx21"Hx23"H. It's big enough that he can flap his wings without touching the sides... I also hung a bell in the back middle of the cage. When he is in "daddy" mode, he will sit in his nest basket, on his egg, and sometimes pecks at this bell. Sometimes he will grab the clapper and shake the heck out of it! His favorite time to do this, of course, is early in the morning, so I have to get up and let him OUT! His home is next to my bed but covered at night. He also has a mirror that he sometimes pecks too. I tried the small cat balls with the bell inside but he wasn't that interested. I think Pete's Dudley is the expert in this area! Besides, Squeaks has 3 cats to chase and keep in line...those are "his" toys! Some members have stuffed beanie type pigeons that their birds love as their mates IF they are the only pij. Others will be along with their suggestions and adventures! WELCOME TO Pigeon-Talk!  Shi and Squeaks Last edited by mr squeaks; 8th July 2007 at 02:09 PM.
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#7
11th July 2007, 05:00 PM
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update!Taking care of Paloma has been time consuming!
I finally located my crappy point-and-shoot digital camera with a flash since it's been too dark when I get home to use my nifty digital slr, so here's some pictures of him; I think it's a him, actually. ((hrm, well, i tried to imput HTML links to the images, but it didn't seem to work, so I'll use this attachment thing for now.)) He's been squeaking up a storm every time either my boyfriend or I just look at him. And somehow, he ALWAYS knows when we're looking... He also charges our feet a lot, pecking at it, pecks at our hands and flaps his wings incessantly. I'm actually concerned about this frenzy he works himself into whenever I'm around. I've been feeding him very little of the bread and water since he's been drinking when I tip the water cup at him and is able to peck seeds off the ground, out our hands and with some prodding, out of the bowl. But he never stops squeaking and flapping his feathers for more! He's been starting to explore the apartment a bit, running around in "his room" for a few minutes at a time before plopping down for a nap. He's ALWAYS either running or sleeping.
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#9
11th July 2007, 05:10 PM
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hrm... yea, he's got some cheesy looking gunk at the back of his throat.
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#11
11th July 2007, 05:18 PM
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where and how and it's already 8pm...?
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#13
11th July 2007, 05:35 PM
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New York City.
I called animal hospitals and got referred to one with an emergency room that'll charge me a lot (as far as my budget goes) just to see the bird, plus extra for antibiotics.
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#14
11th July 2007, 05:38 PM
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Metronidazole is a drug that we often use against canker (not to be confused with cancer) which is an infection by a flagellating protozoa called a Trichomonad. The real name is Trichomoniasis. They usually all have it (the bug) but some come down with the clinical disease and some don't. There are milder and more severe strains. Your little fellow is showing that it has an inflammatory response going on by way of the lack of feathers in the region from the base of the beak through to the earholes. We've probably got a little time but we don't want to take much.
The drug can be gotten a few different ways but we're going to be in a little bit of a race here. There are some aquarium supply stores that will carry it as a product called "FishZole". There may be pigeon fanciers near you that we can tap for a little bit of that or a related product if necessary. There may also be a member near you with the stuff. We'll do our best to find the quickest way to take care of it or to help you do it. Pidgey
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| Tags |
| animal hospital, baby bird, bird seed, dove mix, pigeon fanciers, pigeon mix, sick pigeon, sick pigeons, wild bird, young pigeon |
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