# help with baby birdies?



## daikenkai (May 24, 2007)

heylo all!
ok so heres the deal, yesterday a box of 8 baby birds was brought to my door, the kid that brought them said he didnt know what else to do with them and brought them to me (im pretty well known around here for my pets). 
i THINK theyre either blue tits or great tits, but since theres 8 of them ive been told its most likely bluetits. 
they were all pretty much in shock so i put them in the spare room with some heat on them and presumed they'd die by morning (most that are brought here do because of the shock) but to my amazement theyre all still alive, have very healthy appetites and and very loud! 
theres no sanctuaries around here and im well aware of what the sspca do with most wild birds so it seems im stuck with them. theyre eyes are open and they have their downy feathers. 
just wondering what advice anyones got? ive brought up wild birds before but never anything this small and delicate!


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## salad dodger (Feb 13, 2007)

mush up any smallish bugs 
-crickets
-spiders
-centipedes
anything pretty much except woodlice & not too many mealies
once mushed , you can use a lollipop stick or similar ,
sort of wittle it til its a couple of mm wide at the end & use that to feed em .
also egg food (widely used dried egg mix that you rehydrate & feed to chicks)
dont forget to stimulate poo by gently rubbing their rumps 
its non stop once you start but best of luck : victory:


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

good advice!: victory:


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## daikenkai (May 24, 2007)

yeah theyve been gettin egg mix and ive just ordered 1000 crickets and some insectivore feed. they are non stop, every 2 hours from about 5-6am onwards! the tweeting isnt cute anymore, just shrill! lol!
and theyve figured out how to get out of the impenitrable fortress that is a cardboard box so im gonna have to go out and buy some sort of cage! lol 
thanks for the advice! t'is much appreciated. :no1:


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## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

I have raised plenty of these, along with other species, but I do enjoy doing the blue tits. I actuly have 2 at the moment that have just fledged a couple of das ago. I too had a clutch of 8 the year before last that I raised from about a week old. if you are unsure of the species, there will be a black stripe down the centre of the breast if they are great tits, plain yellow for blue tits. it is also posable that they could be coal tits, which also start off mostly yellow, but these have a white patch on the back of the head. I raise them on a mixture of choped meal worms, waxworms and washed cat food (the jelly or gravy gives them the squits) the generaly rule is to feed them every 2 hours through the daylight hours. in reality I feed them basicly when they demand it up until 11pm, then keep them dark until I feed them again about 7am. I have blunt plastic tweezers but normal metal ones will work as long as they are not sharp. they should produce a fecal sac after the first mouthfull at each feed and, unlike mammals, very rairly need to be stimulated to do this unless there is something wrong. if they are jumping out of the box then they are probably not far off fledging. once they do, as well as feeding them by hand, leave some chopped meal worms or small whole ones (crush the head to stop them running away) on the floor of the cage and also provide a small bowl of water. don't try to give them any water yourself, I have had too many people drown them like that. they get all the moisture they need from the food until they fledge. once they start to pick at the food on the floor, cut down the feeding and they will soon learn to feed them selves. it usualy takes about 3 weeks until they are compleatly independent. once they reach this stage they will need to go into a outside aviary for a few weeks with as little human contact as posable. they will soon revert back to being wild and can then be released by leaving the door open but continuing to feed until they have compleatly gone.
here were my 8


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i raised a mourning dove from an egg. made my own mix. a cherished pet. taught me more than zoololgy class.


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## salad dodger (Feb 13, 2007)

HABU said:


> good advice!: victory:


good advice yet no rep :Na_Na_Na_Na::lol2:


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## poshweiller (Nov 17, 2006)

if you get stuck i have a mate who deals with wildlife and can supply an aviary for them?we are only 40 mins from dundee so give us a shout if you need any help?: victory:


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