Hamster Central - View Single Post - Animals -a full time job!

Vierville · 02-21-2020, 05:47 PM

Thanks for your kind message RiaP, I'm feeling a lot better today. I was on standby but not called out to work so that helped a lot!

The dove was brought to us in August by my wife's aunt after a neighbour cut down a tree, destroying the nest he was in. He was a tiny baby with only a few feathers...after consulting our vet (who is a a wonderful guy and has a huge love for animals) we were advised to feed him a special baby bird handrearing porridge type formula called Avi Plus - (im not sure if you get that there?)

We had to give it to him in a teaspoon as syringe feeding can be very dangerous if the bird inhales the food into his lungs. Luckily he learned very quickly how to eat from a teaspoon and we fed him that for the first month, gradually adding some millet to the mixture. Eventually he just gravitated towards only seeds and was no longer interested in the formula.

The sparrow was brought to us by one of my wife's friends who is a school teacher. He was found on the playground by a child who brought him to her. He was a little older- i guess around two weeks old when we got him. He's been getting a diet of fresh mealworms mostly, supplemented by a small amount of the Avi Plus. The mealworms are a mess as you need to remove the heads but he loves them. He gobbles down about six to eight mealworms every two to three hours during the day until about 8pm. We've been giving him his first morning feed around 7am. Luckily we don't need to feed him through the night but when we had the dove as a tiny baby it was August and very cold here so we did get up during the night to check on his hot water bottle.

Don't feel bad about the little hedgehog, you were doing your best to help him and he probably died as a result of being sick already, so I doubt there would be anything you or maybe even a vet could have done. You have also learned now for next time that you can take them to the wildlife rehabilitation centre so next time maybe one will come your way that you can save.

Sadly, the urban environment is very hostile towards little creatures and they live dangerous and precarious lives. They need all the love, thoughtfulness and help they can get.

02-21-2020, 05:47 PM
Vierville Hamster Addict Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 1,010	Re: Animals -a full time job! Thanks for your kind message RiaP, I'm feeling a lot better today. I was on standby but not called out to work so that helped a lot! The dove was brought to us in August by my wife's aunt after a neighbour cut down a tree, destroying the nest he was in. He was a tiny baby with only a few feathers...after consulting our vet (who is a a wonderful guy and has a huge love for animals) we were advised to feed him a special baby bird handrearing porridge type formula called Avi Plus - (im not sure if you get that there?) We had to give it to him in a teaspoon as syringe feeding can be very dangerous if the bird inhales the food into his lungs. Luckily he learned very quickly how to eat from a teaspoon and we fed him that for the first month, gradually adding some millet to the mixture. Eventually he just gravitated towards only seeds and was no longer interested in the formula. The sparrow was brought to us by one of my wife's friends who is a school teacher. He was found on the playground by a child who brought him to her. He was a little older- i guess around two weeks old when we got him. He's been getting a diet of fresh mealworms mostly, supplemented by a small amount of the Avi Plus. The mealworms are a mess as you need to remove the heads but he loves them. He gobbles down about six to eight mealworms every two to three hours during the day until about 8pm. We've been giving him his first morning feed around 7am. Luckily we don't need to feed him through the night but when we had the dove as a tiny baby it was August and very cold here so we did get up during the night to check on his hot water bottle. Don't feel bad about the little hedgehog, you were doing your best to help him and he probably died as a result of being sick already, so I doubt there would be anything you or maybe even a vet could have done. You have also learned now for next time that you can take them to the wildlife rehabilitation centre so next time maybe one will come your way that you can save. Sadly, the urban environment is very hostile towards little creatures and they live dangerous and precarious lives. They need all the love, thoughtfulness and help they can get.