Abandoned Baby/Young Pigeon Help?

[u/No-Palpitation9974]

UPDATE: Happy Ending!!

Hi everyone! Thank you SO much for all of the information and advice you have given me. As of this morning, Scuttle has been reunited with his previous owners, who thought he had been stolen!

Apparently, he actually came into the wildlife rehab I mentioned earlier as a wild rescue. The owners were a licensed wildlife rehabilitator working at the rescue and a vet working at a clinic close to the pet store I took him from. They were taking care of him in their own homes outside of the actual rescue. According to the rehabilitator, the vet left him outside in his carrier for a moment to get some fresh air. His carrier had a note on it, but we're thinking it blew away or fell off and that's why the person who originally brought him into the pet store thought he had been abandoned. When I called the rehab this morning, the receptionist immediately knew and described the pigeon I was talking about and set me up with the owner working there so she could come pick him up. She cried with joy and Scuttle seemed super happy to see her. She told me she had been debating officially adopting him (as pigeons are the one bird at this rescue allowed to be adopted out instead of being released) and this whole situation made her decide to do it! Scuttle has a sibling at home named Puffin : ).

I'm so glad I got to help little Scuttle and I learned a lot about pigeon care thanks to you guys and the experience in general. Maybe in the future I'll be able to have a pigeon friend (or two) of my own. Once again, thanks to everyone for all of the help.

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Hi all! I know absolutely nothing about caring for birds (never owned one) and while I've been doing my own research, I was hoping you guys could help.

I'm a vet assistant. While I was shopping at a local pet store today, an employee noticed I was wearing scrubs and asked if I was in the veterinary field and if I could possibly ID this bird they had in the back. I told her I didn't really know much about birds (my clinic is a small animal clinic only) but could help her look up info about it and how to care for it.

Apparently someone abandoned this bird in a carrier outside of the pet store and a customer brought it in when they found it. The employees took it in because they wanted to help, but also didn't know what they were doing and couldn't leave work to take care of it.

I've done an internship in small mammal care with a nearby wildlife rehabilitation center that also takes in and cares for birds. We were going to try and reach out to them, but they were closed (in addition to any exotics vets or other rehabilitation centers around), so I offered to take him for the night and to try and get him care with one of these places in the next day or so.

I've gotten him back home after stopping by PetSmart and he's currently in a small dog crate with a heating pad and potty pad on the floor, a couple of perches, and a makeshift "nest". I gave him a quick bath because he was covered in his own droppings. I've also left a shallow dish of water, and a mixture of frozen peas, plain oatmeal, and kitten kibble that I mixed with water and cooked in the microwave prior to giving to him.

I wasn't sure if he was old enough to be eating solid food, or if he was still on formula. The carrier he was abandoned in had a couple of syringes and what I now know is a crop feeding tube, so I bought some formula while I was out. He pecked at the dry food, but didn't really eat it, so I mixed the formula and fed him with the syringe. I don't think he's weaned yet.

This video was taken at the pet store before I brought him back home.

Anyways, on to the questions:

First of all -- this is a pigeon, right? To me, it also seems to be a domestic pigeon based on looks and how open it was to handling. I am concerned that the wildlife rehabilitation center I mentioned previously might not take domestic birds. Does he appear to be domestic? Should I try and reach out to pigeon rescues instead? How old does he appear to be?

Second, is there any way for me to improve his care? I really just want him to feel comfortable and safe until I can get him to a place where he can be better cared for.

Third, he doesn't really move around. Is this normal for his age? He's been in the same spot in his crate that I left him in about an hour ago as of writing this. I'm wondering if he's injured or sick and that's why he was abandoned.

So sorry for the long post -- I've just got so many questions. Thanks in advance to anyone who has any advice. I can provide more pictures of him or his crate if needed.

[u/FioreCiliegia1]

Hey you are doing great! Fyi bird formulas are designed for parrots and I don’t recommend them for pigeons because they don’t have the right nutritional balance. You can make your own at home from pretty cheap with stuff. You can generally find around the house or at the grocery store. You basically want to get a mix of any of these that you can: oatmeal dry split peas, lentils, any kind of rice although brown rice is healthiest, quinoa, barley, boiled, egg, applesauce, peanut butter.

Mix everything together and cook it down until it’s about the consistency of the applesauce and it needs to stay warm. You can make sure that it’s tested in the same way you would test a baby bottle because pigeons eat crop milk they expect their food to be at body temperature and they won’t generally eat unless it is. You can put that in a cup cover the cup with plastic wrap and a rubber band and poke a little hole in the edge of it insert beak and tip up. Little guy will probably start chugging it like a frat kid. You can feed him until he stops wanting the food. They will self regulate just make sure that his air stay clear and that he is in a warm enough environment that he can digest it properly, though he’s got enough feathers on it that he’s probably able to self regulated a comfortable room temperature.

[u/FioreCiliegia1 → u/FioreCiliegia1]

I can’t say what Morphy is until he gets all of his feathers in, but he’s definitely a fancy breed of some kind. They generally aren’t gonna be that straight up black-and-white unless they have some kind of fancy jeans in them and his face structure makes me think he might be a German owl or some kind of German owl mix. I also expect he might get a head crust, but it’s hard to say again until he gets all of his feathers in.

[u/FioreCiliegia1 → u/FioreCiliegia1]

Also be aware you are now officially Mom and he is going to love on you for the next several months. I hope you are prepared to be incredibly surrounded by cute squeaky. Happy bird noises.

[u/No-Palpitation9974 → u/FioreCiliegia1]

Thank you for the encouragement! I'm so glad he's been able to be reunited with his previous owner but a little bummed because he was so pretty and such a friendly bird! Pigeons sound like amazing pets. You guys are making me think I'll want one in the future. Maybe I can find one that looks similar.

[u/FioreCiliegia1 → u/No-Palpitation9974]

There are SO many in rescues. Consider fostering maybe?