fledgling robin...help/advice please?

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by pinkprint

I'm a little worried...the part where his toe was severed off is starting to get a little red and puffy. If its infected, can I just treat it at home? Like, with neosporin and such? Or would it require a vet trip?

Could you post a picture of the toe? That would be helpful. You can clean the toe well with diluted Betadine or a similar antiseptic and then use the Neosporin. If the toe is getting seriously infected then the bird may need oral antibiotics.

Terry

[pinkprint]

I tried to get a picture from my cell phone (i dont heve my digital camera with me) but it didn't show it well. Its a little swollen and pink (not very red). If I keep an eye on it, clean it, and put ointment on it, it should heal on its own, correct?

[Beth1965]

Robins are insect and fruit eaters not seed. Feed him mealworms, earthworms cut up in pieces and they love blueberries cut up small and grapes. Also there is a great food called bugs-n-berries put out by avico. Can look avico up on web and order. I have starlings and they adore it as they are also considerd softbills and eat insects and fruits and such. it is easy to store. Good luck but he wont eat seed and if he does it will not digest properly.

[Msfreebird]

I had a Robin "Baby" for 13 years, raised him from the day he hatched. Mom kicked him out of the nest (when he was 1 day old) because he had a deformed foot. We witnessed this because the nest was right outside our window. I put him back in the nest and when mom returned she threw him out again. So I claimed him.
I fed him small crickets and chopped earthworms to start. When he got to fledgeling age he vomited roundworms. The vet I worked for at the time told me I should switch him to dog good. He said they can get roundworms from earthworms. So I switched Baby to Eukanuba Puppy Small Bites. A small amount soaked in warm water until they "puffed", and changed his food twice a day. The only other thing he liked was apple. He had a stroke last year at the age of 13 and was still trying to go on - I had to put him to sleep

[little bird]

Originally Posted by Msfreebird

I had a Robin "Baby" for 13 years, raised him from the day he hatched. Mom kicked him out of the nest (when he was 1 day old) because he had a deformed foot. We witnessed this because the nest was right outside our window. I put him back in the nest and when mom returned she threw him out again. So I claimed him.
I fed him small crickets and chopped earthworms to start. When he got to fledgeling age he vomited roundworms. The vet I worked for at the time told me I should switch him to dog good. He said they can get roundworms from earthworms. So I switched Baby to Eukanuba Puppy Small Bites. A small amount soaked in warm water until they "puffed", and changed his food twice a day. The only other thing he liked was apple. He had a stroke last year at the age of 13 and was still trying to go on - I had to put him to sleep

Thirteen years!!! Good on you!!! longevity=the very best care....I know, I have an old guy.

[Msfreebird]

Originally Posted by little bird

Thirteen years!!! Good on you!!! longevity=the very best care....I know, I have an old guy.

Baby was great! He showered every morning with me, played in the sink while I was getting ready for work, sat on the back and arm of the couch next to me every night and kept the mosquito's away (yum) - my house was bug free for 13 years! He's in my garden now with a nice headstone. And I sure do miss him!

[Noisy_minor]

hows the little guy goen? im sorry i missed this thread, im glad you didnt leave your bird with the rude rehabber not all rehabbers are nice caring people like us hehehe.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by Lady Tarheel

Shi, absolutely. Monkey biscuits are very good for them. I'm glad you mentioned them because I used them, alternating with the regular Science Diet. We still keep monkey biscuits on hand and I put them in the blender to make a fine powder which I use as one of the ingredients to feed our meal worms.

Bet you're having a good time with the little fellow.

what are monkey biscuits?

[Lady Tarheel]

Regarding this thread, "pinkprint" wrote this in 7/2007 and has not been back since so we don't know what happened with this robin.

Earthworms are a definite No-No for any captive bird because they can get sick from eating them.

These are the ingredients in Monkey Biscuits. Zupreem Monkey Biscuit – nutritional content:

Ground corn, Soybean meal, Cracked wheat, Sucrose, Wheat germ meal, Animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Dried whole egg, Dicalcium phosphate, Calcium carbonate, Iodized salt, Vegetable oil, Choline chloride, Stabilized ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Ferrous sulfate, Zinc oxide, Copper chloride, Manganous oxide, Cobalt carbonate, Calcium iodate, Sodium selenite, Vitamin A supplement, uVitamin D3 supplement, Vitamin E supplement, Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Calcium pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic acid, Biotin,Vitamin B12 supplement.

This link is pretty good with information about a lot of things and #17 talks about monkey biscuits.

http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/20facts.html

We always had good success with Science Diet Small Bite Adult Pellets that were soaked to a soft but not soggy texture, various fruits and vegetables and vitamins in the drinking water about 2 x week. We have broken up Monkey Biscuits from time to time to add variety and we still occasionally soak them for our outside crows.

[cindyv11]

I really think you need to follow the advice given above and get this bird to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator right away. If the area is red and/or inflamed there is probably an infection going on. A rehabilitator would have put the bird on antibiotics as soon as it was taken in based on the injuries you described. Delaying the critical care this robin needs may end up costing him his little life. I am sorry the rehabilitator you spoke to was grumpy, but this is such a busy time of year caring for all the baby birds. Unless you have cared for 50 or 100 baby birds at one time, you cannot begin to know how hard they work. Often many of them are not so good with people, but take great care of the animals they take into their care. It is probably very frustrating for her having to waste precious time on the phone trying to get you to understand the reasons you should not try to raise and keep the bird yourself. All she really has time to do is to give you directions to get the bird to her house so she can give it the care it so desperately needs. It is against the law for anyone that is not a trained wildlife rehabilitator to keep a bird and legally she cannot give you the long-term care or diet instructions you were seeking

The loss of three toes will probably not prevent a Robin from living a normal happy full life as a wild bird. Robins are flocking birds and they need to be around other Robins for companionship to be happy. As Maggie said, he would be fine after a short time around other Robins in a flight cage and imprinting would not be a problem.

It is obvious you love birds! This Robin may have made it’s way to you to get you involved with a wildlife rehabilitation organization in your area where you could help lots birds. You would have the opportunity to learn all about birds (even sparrows need a more rounded and complete diet than just seeds) and soon find yourself caring for so many birds that you would not have the time to contemplate making "pets" of them.

[little bird]

Originally Posted by cindyv11

I really think you need to follow the advice given above and get this bird to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator right away. If the area is red and/or inflamed there is probably an infection going on. A rehabilitator would have put the bird on antibiotics as soon as it was taken in based on the injuries you described. Delaying the critical care this robin needs may end up costing him his little life. I am sorry the rehabilitator you spoke to was grumpy, but this is such a busy time of year caring for all the baby birds. Unless you have cared for 50 or 100 baby birds at one time, you cannot begin to know how hard they work. Often many of them are not so good with people, but take great care of the animals they take into their care. It is probably very frustrating for her having to waste precious time on the phone trying to get you to understand the reasons you should not try to raise and keep the bird yourself. All she really has time to do is to give you directions to get the bird to her house so she can give it the care it so desperately needs. It is against the law for anyone that is not a trained wildlife rehabilitator to keep a bird and legally she cannot give you the long-term care or diet instructions you were seeking

The loss of three toes will probably not prevent a Robin from living a normal happy full life as a wild bird. Robins are flocking birds and they need to be around other Robins for companionship to be happy. As Maggie said, he would be fine after a short time around other Robins in a flight cage and imprinting would not be a problem.

It is obvious you love birds! This Robin may have made it’s way to you to get you involved with a wildlife rehabilitation organization in your area where you could help lots birds. You would have the opportunity to learn all about birds (even sparrows need a more rounded and complete diet than just seeds) and soon find yourself caring for so many birds that you would not have the time to contemplate making "pets" of them.

Cindy...this thread is out dated but thank you for you advice.

[Lady Tarheel]

Cindy, that was a terrific post. You're absolutely right about the rehabber being stretched to the limits. Back when we did both songbirds and pigeons, I was up from sunrise until about 10 pm trying to help all the ones we took in. Rehabbers don't mean to be short or sound mean, they're just tired!

I finally made it a policy to tell people that - no, I can't take any calls about how the bird is doing and, no, please don't come to check on it. I hated so much to do that but it was the only way I could manage.

I had one lady that I swear beat the bushes to find birds to bring me - well, I actually had two that did that - but this one lady would sit down at our dining room table, rear back and want to watch me feed them. Sometimes she would stay two or more hours. The only way I was able to stop this after an entire summer of visits was to tell her to take an injured bird to the after hours clinic. This was when she showed up at almost 10:30 pm and wanted to talk and watch me set the leg. Don't know where the bird had been since she had to have found it during daylight hours. Anyhow, from then on I sent her to either the vet or the clinic. Later found out she had attached to our vet and was even calling her at home. Go figure.

[cindyv11]

Oops... I thought I saw the message about the Robin in the New Posts Category... I am new to this list and trying to learn my way around. I will try to be sure to make sure I a following the current posts from now on. I have to say that I have really enjoyed reading all information on this site. I have spent far too much time doing so today! I walk away from my computer and a little while later I find myself right back her on this site again.

Maggie you are so right about everything you said regarding rehabbing! The Robin post hit a sore spot with me because it reminded me of the people that called me after finding a cat caught bird that supposedly escaped any injuries. I warn them that if the bird is not treated with antibiotics it will probably get sick on the third day. They call for several days wanting care advice claiming they have no way to get the bird to me. Then on the third day, I open my door to find them holding a gasping dying bird they finally found a way to get to me just in time for me to watch it die instead of them.

All that said, rehabbing is the most exhausting, time consuming, heart breaking, heartwarming, rewarding unpaid job anyone can ever have.

Cindy

[Charis]

Originally Posted by cindyv11

Oops... I thought I saw the message about the Robin in the New Posts Category... I am new to this list and trying to learn my way around. I will try to be sure to make sure I a following the current posts from now on. I have to say that I have really enjoyed reading all information on this site. I have spent far too much time doing so today! I walk away from my computer and a little while later I find myself right back her on this site again.

Maggie you are so right about everything you said regarding rehabbing! The Robin post hit a sore spot with me because it reminded me of the people that called me after finding a cat caught bird that supposedly escaped any injuries. I warn them that if the bird is not treated with antibiotics it will probably get sick on the third day. They call for several days wanting care advice claiming they have no way to get the bird to me. Then on the third day, I open my door to find them holding a gasping dying bird they finally found a way to get to me just in time for me to watch it die instead of them.

All that said, rehabbing is the most exhausting, time consuming, heart breaking, heartwarming, rewarding unpaid job anyone can ever have.

Cindy

I appreciate you saying that, Cindy. I have had a similar experiences through the years with little Starlings and Sparrows. It's not a bad thing to remind us that we do need to strongly encourage folks that have found a protected species to turn it over to a licensed rehabber as soon as possible.