WoW Petopia Community

Found a baby bird, maybe only a few weeks old at max. Severely dehydrated but responds well to stimuli. wildlife shelter is closed with no emergency number to call, the SPCA's closed and their emergency number is not responding to my calls. Ive read up that they require a high protein diet and many call for the yolks of hard-boiled eggs and mushy soaking wet cat/dog food. It is in a safe, cool, reasonably dark place right now and ive fitted a facecloth in its dish so it feels secure (since nests are usually cramped they feel safer being in a more form-fititng environment).

Is there anything else i can do for it? What other kinds of food could i give it? What do i do to restore its hydration? i read not to give it water with an eyedropper but its severely dehydrated and needs some source of liquid asap.

This 'nest' is only temporary cause i needed to get it out of my hands before i accidently gave it heat stroke

Awe, poor little guy!

I don't know for sure, but there might be something you can pick up at a local pet supply store for him. Perhaps some sort of liquid concoction like formula especially designed for baby birds. I know there's formula on the market for puppies and kittens so it might be worth a try.

*Edit: Found this on PetSmart's website.


I hear meal worms are a pretty good source of protein. If you can get a hold of some, try grounding them up with some water into a fine, liquidy mush and feeding it to him. If he won't take water alone, this can be a way of sneaking some into his system to help combat the dehydration. As long as the food you are feeding him is moist, he should be ok. I'm no expert on the matter but at least it should help until you can speak to a professional.

Thank you for your help Nia <3 someone gave me this site to use for caring for it, since i feel its too young and weak from stress and heat to eat mushed cat/dog food and im currently feeding it every 15min a few drops of hard-boiled egg yolk mixed with honey water and the 'gatorade mix' (measurements followed presicely) that was on that site i linked. Its responding well, its sleeping right now but when i was feeding it the gatorade mix its eyes opened up, it was peeping, and it was trying to swallow the eyedropper on its own terms (like, trying to stand and shive it down >_>) so its doing very well.

Its breathing is normal, i have it far far away from the cat, im washing my hands everytime i touch it or the eyedropper (diseases :X) and im STILL.... trying to figure out how the hell im going to keep it at a minimum of 30 degrees celsius D: i dont have anything, no hot water bottles, no heating pads, nothing at all ._. thats my biggest concern right now. Its clear that it is still rather healthy and it has a lot of fight in it, but i gotta keep it warm if its to survive. Any uggestions to mimic a hot water bottle or heat pad?

Hmm...do you have like a plastic canteen or just any type of water bottle or container that you could fill it with hot water and wrap a towel around it just so that it's a source of heat.

Vephriel wrote:Hmm...do you have like a plastic canteen or just any type of water bottle or container that you could fill it with hot water and wrap a towel around it just so that it's a source of heat.

Ooooh yea, we got metal and plastic water bottles, i'll use those ^^ ty

Edit: Birdy pics!




The last one there was during feeding time. It has trouble swallowing if i try to feed it without handling so i gotta remove it from the facecloth to be able to convince it to extend its neck so its throat is clear and it decided it didnt want to be fed and started scrambling out of my hand

Its cute. Hope it continues to do well until you can take it somewhere.

*nod nod* thats what im most concerned about. I have training, yes, ive volunteered for a year at the center i will be taking it to and ive taken an in-depth and hands on course working with exotic animals, but ive never dealt with babies before. I'm definitely not by any means a professional so im really hoping the experience ive gained is enough to sustain it :S The trip out to the center is going to be pretty rough. Its about an hours trip to the stop i get off thats by the lake, and then an extra hour to walk to the center. I have to walk carefully and smoothly for the bird's saftey so i'd probably add an extra half hour minimum ontop of that >_<

Status update: Bird is good, hydration is good, activity levels are good, it reacts well to stimuli still and is very energetic. Been up for 14 hours now with the little one making sure it was fed, watered, and didnt have to sleep in any poop. Care center opens in an hour now so im heading out to hand it over to them to take care of. I feel so accomplished to successfully care for it and have it be so successful <3 Most cases babies dont usually make it and the poor thing was looking pretty grim when i brought it into the house but its acting as any normal baby bird should! Cept its chirping, it does chirp when im feeding it, but it doesnt chirp often or loudly. Not sure if it was a weaker sibling or if its cause it's still ill.

Not to sound alarmist, but....
Once the bird is gone from your home, I suggest seeing a doctor and telling them about it.
Wild birds can and do carry diseases that can be quite dangerous.
You might have to have a few tests run, to make sure.

Sukurachi wrote:Not to sound alarmist, but....
Once the bird is gone from your home, I suggest seeing a doctor and telling them about it.
Wild birds can and do carry diseases that can be quite dangerous.
You might have to have a few tests run, to make sure.

I have an appointment on the 17th and ive sanitized everything it touched :3 while handling it i washed my hands everytime i was done to make sure i didnt spread anything anywhere. Thank you for your concern <33 it is a big risk when caring for wildlife since they are left untreated to diseases and parasites. Im confident i prevented the transfer of anything with the use of soap and sanitizer but definitely going to double check.

and homg sleep... it felt so good... i really needed it like.. bird is well, it was placed in an incubator as soon as we brought it in. Was doing very well when we left the house and when we got to the center. ^_^ so happy everything was successful~