Rescued Pigeon

[lowe488795]

I live in Mesa, Arizona. This is the first time I have posted anything on this website. I rescued a baby pigeon on January 14 '04 at my work after a pest control man just knocked all the nests off a ledge. Several died, but I have managed to keep this one alive. I call it Rio (after the name of my workplace). Anyway, it had yellow pin feathers and just the bony structure with little tiny feathers at the end of them. I am guessing at that time it was about 2-3 weeks old? Rio is doing well. He is now eating some seeds after he has a little formula. I couldn't get him to open his mouth to feed him when I first found him. I was afraid of hurting him, so I discovered that by cutting the end of a small syringe off and inserting the plunger backwards in the syringe, he would stick his beak in and kind of drink up the formula. I would slowly push the formula up the syringe as he ate it. (Putting the plunger in backwards kept the sharp edges of plastic away from his beak).
He gets very excited when I come to take care of him. I am currently keeping him in a ten gallon aqaurium with a lid that has metal mesh on top. I keep a heating pad on the sid e of the tank on medium setting. There are wood shavings in there for now. He also has a dispenser for fresh water. I take him out of the tank and put him in a box that copier paper comes in to feed him. He is a little messy when he eats.
He is able to jump up on the side of the box now and balance. He has had a couple of baths and then I sit him in front of a space heater on low setting to get him dry. He doesn't seem to enjoy bath time too much yet.
Now that you have a little history on Rio, I have a few questions I was hoping someone could answer:
1. I would like to keep him. Will he be ok if I don't have any other pigeons around for him?

2. Do I need to worry about any diseases that he might pass on to my family?

3. My husband wants to build an enclosure outside for him. It is going to be 8'x8'x6' so that I can walk into it. Half of the roof will be covered and shingled. It will have a double door entrance. I know he needs a roosting spot, but I don't know what that needs to consist of. What else do I need to make sure he has available in there?

4. Do I need to wait until the weather is warmer to move him outside?

Well, I hope I didn't ramble on too much. I would appreciate any help that any one can offer.
Thanks in advance,
ML

[TAWhatley]

Welcome ML and Rio! How wonderful that you saved this baby pigeon and have raised him or her so successfully.

There is very little chance that you or your family could or would catch any disease from the bird, but you always want to be careful about hygiene.

Since Rio has been hand raised, he or she considers you and your family as the "flock". As long as you are able to spend quality time with the bird, it will be fine without another pigeon. After you build the outside enclosure and move the bird, you many want to consider a mate or companion for Rio .. there are many, many pigeons in need of a good home. Cindy, who is a moderator here, lives near you and works with a local wildlife rescue group. Should you ever want to get a companion for Rio, I suspect that Cindy can help you out.

Yes .. it's too cold right now (even in Arizona) to put Rio outside. There needs to be an acclimatization process gone through where you gradually get the bird used to being outside and dealing with those temperatures.

I will wait for other members to advise you about building Rio's pigeon palace .. they can provide you with pictures as well as their experience in creating good outside homes for their birds.

Again, welcome and again, thank you for saving Rio!

Terry

[lowe488795]

Terry, thank you for your input, I appreciate it.
Marci (ML)