# My new baby STARLINGS!



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew2M6i5amZE&feature=plcp
The full story of how I got them is in the video.
Anyway....they are adorable! Whenever I walk past them I see 2 giant yellow beaks pop up and I hear little baby bird screaming! To some people that would be a living HELL, but to me it is Heaven on Earth! I've always wanted to raise baby birds (I was thinking maybe Zebra Finches) but I never guessed they would be Starlings....I mean, I've always wanted a starling (they're beautiful, intelligent, they bond well, and they're talkative) but I never would ask my parents for one....the latest pet craze for me was a pigeon. My parents were actually going to buy me a pair of Diamond Doves for my 8th grade graduation present (I flat-out refused gold-and-diamond hoop earrings!).....I guess not!
I'm happy with my babies ^___^
I am going to have soooo much fun with them....they're going to be so SMART and they will learn so many tricks! One of the things I hope to do with them if just bring them outside to the field next door, and run around while they fly. And yes, to me this is what I call having FUN! You can keep your little betta tanks (though I have one, too!) and putter around with water quality, but birds will always be #1 on my list! :notworthy:
Actually, right now my typing is waking up the babies.....I hear quiet peeping coming from the box! Ahaha I just love those little birds too much!
But then again....they still might die.....and if they do....I will be HEARTBROKEN! And it's not just 1 death....2 would be quite a big deal to get over with 
Now I'm just exciting myself, just thinking about these birds, lol
So what do you think? Do you like them? Do they just make you wanna punt their nest down the stairs??? (if you said YES to that, I'd probably hit you if I knew you xD)
....also, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the babies being dead or just sleeping.....they're usually so LOUD so being silent is an eerie thing for them :O
I happen to love them ;-)


----------



## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

That's adorable! And after a while you tend to get used to the noise, or that's what happened with us & my dad's canaries anyway.

I've always liked the idea of raising a chick too, but I'm not all that knowledgeable on birds.

Please keep us updated! Or keep me updated, lol. They're so cute and i want to see how they're progressing! Good luck with them.


----------



## fleetfish (Jun 29, 2010)

Awww bless you <333 I have such a soft spot for baby birdies. 

We had robins nesting on our porch again, for the fourth year in a row. The babies were so cute and fat and they grew so quickly. They were amazing to watch. I love birds so much, keep us updated!


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

yes yes yes!! I love them too!!! What did you name them?

Starlings imprint, don't they? So that might be why they're moving away from you now. You'll have to do a video blog of them growing up! Someone in my city involved with the small animal rescue rescued a starling and it's an adult now - they make great pets. 

The video was so adorable!! They look so funny just standing up waiting for food!! lol and then they get peaceful and talk back and forth about their bellies. They're gonna be chubs! <3


----------



## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I did the same thing with a purple martin baby. We were up at our lake place and a crow picked it out of its nest. We assume he was carried to a tree by our cabin and dropped. I raised the little guy for a couple weeks and then bought him to a bird center when we came home.


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Awww.....I LOVE purple martins! They're so beautiful!
But since they're starlings, it's legal to keep them (they're invasive and nonnative), and I'm gonna keep my little pair!
I can't bring mine to a birds center, though, because they would be euthanized. Wildlife centers around here don't want any more invasive birds than there are, and they're "just 2 more birds" so they'd be killed.
I love them!


----------



## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

Grats on your new babies  I've never heard of gatoraid being used in the formula to feed. Things change a lot though! 

When I was growing up my mom was licensed in a wildlife rehabilitation center. She worked with zoos and whatnot as well, which exposed me to a lot of neat birds. It's great knowledge to get when you're young, and hand feeding birds is a wonderful skill to have especially if you decide to breed something like cockatiels or whatever later on. 

Good luck with the little guys


----------



## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

yeah I read the back story on the video. Their super cute and it makes me all happy that you can save them!


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

lvandert said:


> yeah I read the back story on the video. Their super cute and it makes me all happy that you can save them!


Yup....the video explains a lot, which is good because when I'm too lazy to type a lot, I send the video to whoever I'm talking to :lol:
I know they're cute!!! Haha I love them too much already....I also happen to be happy about being able to save them. What's really sweet is that today at 5pm after I finished feeding them, I picked them up in a cloth. I was about to swap out the paper towels lining their box, but in under 20 seconds both babies fell asleep in my hand! It was so sweet, my hand must've been very cozy, feeling just like a nest. I didn't have the heart to wake them up so I just put the cloth in the box and formed a nest around them with the edges


----------



## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

yup! lol. My little martin was a bit older then those guys. He was starting to get in his big boy feathers and liked to practice fly. I would bring him to the beach and sit down, he'd walk around until he found a good foot hold and go to town flapping those wings! He also followed me if I went anywhere. It made for a very mad baby when I left.


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

They might not make it. The poor babies have Gapeworm. Researching cures for it. I'm crying, I know I shouldn't have fed them worms. I'm so angry. Showing all signs of infection. 
Please pray for these innocent babies.


----------



## Jupiter (Aug 30, 2009)

Hopefully they can recover!


----------



## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

poor babies!!


----------



## Karebear13 (Jan 23, 2012)

SO cute! hope they make it! and would like to see their progress


----------



## mursey (May 9, 2012)

Aw. . . I hope they make it.

We have a problem with doves committing suicide into our windows. One crashed so hard he died a minute after we went outside, I felt really bummed and creeped out by it. Then we discovered a dove had built a nest right near there, 2 eggs hatched and we now have 2 baby doves. They are ugly as sh!t. . . for some reason they look like smaller adults but their heads have no feathers so they look like "Beetlejuice" . . BUT they act cute and funny. I'm happy we have 2 babies because the one adult that died was so sad . .. I felt pretty sad and helpless as the poor guy died right in front of me. 

We don't keep our window shades down anymore. .. until we find some stupid window decals or something .. . we don't want anymore crashes. The dove that died was the third dove in about a week or two to crash right into a window in our house. We can't even keep any window shades down!


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

mursey said:


> Aw. . . I hope they make it.
> 
> We have a problem with doves committing suicide into our windows. One crashed so hard he died a minute after we went outside, I felt really bummed and creeped out by it. Then we discovered a dove had built a nest right near there, 2 eggs hatched and we now have 2 baby doves. They are ugly as sh!t. . . for some reason they look like smaller adults but their heads have no feathers so they look like "Beetlejuice" . . BUT they act cute and funny. I'm happy we have 2 babies because the one adult that died was so sad . .. I felt pretty sad and helpless as the poor guy died right in front of me.
> 
> We don't keep our window shades down anymore. .. until we find some stupid window decals or something .. . we don't want anymore crashes. The dove that died was the third dove in about a week or two to crash right into a window in our house. We can't even keep any window shades down!


Awwww.....that's so sad. A lot of birds, in the spring, defend "their" territory by attacking the rival birds in their reflections....This spring a pair of goldfinches would sit for hours on my windowsills, but ONLY in the livingroom/diningroom area. They were funny because I put a large bird cage out on the AC, and the birds went right into the cage! I don't think either bird died from hitting the window (they just pecked) but it was ANNOYING.
And kudos to you for taking the babies!(wait, you did, didn't you???) That would be the better thing to do....who knows if the other parent would have died by hitting the window? And what if it happened while you weren't home, so the babies would starve to death?
So tell me about them....how old do ya think they are? What species? I looked up pictures of baby doves online, and you are RIGHT, THEY ARE UGLY! Haha....but they are adorable in a way because they look like miniature adults!
Anyway....good luck to you! And keep those birds away from your windows!


----------



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

When I was 5, my grandpa who keeps pigeons asked if I wanted to see a baby pigeon. What he put in my hand scarred me for life. Little squabs, disgusting little squabs. Coming from me, pigeons are my favorite bird lol.
Hope your babies are okay! You should check a farm supply store for a cure, from what I read chicks and turkey poults can get that too, so a farm store may have an idea.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

I volunteer at a wildlife rescue and have taken in baby starlings, but released them. I'm very against keeping wild birds as pets. They do not imprint, but they are very piggy and will eat and eat, and quickly can "train" you to feed them constantly. You don't need to feed them every time they want to be fed, but should eat every 45 minutes. Keeping a wild bird captive is just plain wrong, IMO.

I didn't read what you are feeding, and it looks like you've got some knowledge about caring for them. They look healthy. Where are you hearing they have some illness? Are you feeding "Exact"? 

Gwen


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

GwenInNM said:


> I volunteer at a wildlife rescue and have taken in baby starlings, but released them. I'm very against keeping wild birds as pets. They do not imprint, but they are very piggy and will eat and eat, and quickly can "train" you to feed them constantly. You don't need to feed them every time they want to be fed, but should eat every 45 minutes. Keeping a wild bird captive is just plain wrong, IMO.
> 
> I didn't read what you are feeding, and it looks like you've got some knowledge about caring for them. They look healthy. Where are you hearing they have some illness? Are you feeding "Exact"?
> 
> Gwen


I agree with you that wild birds don't make good pets....However I had no clue what to do at the time, and the birds were in a barnyard with 20+ cats, all there for their mousing skills....one bird was caught by a cat but I pulled it out of its mouth.
Wildlife rehabbers all around me are NOT accepting Starlings to rehabilitate.....they cause huge problems around here, and you're right, they are very piggy. They destroy native populations, and disturb the birds around here. They do bother nesting birds in birdhouses, and they also invade bird feeders. A few times each year we get a flock of 1000+ starlings, and they go from yard to yard and completely clear the place of bugs and scare away all other birds. The only person who would take the birds is my uncle, who lives right down the road from me. But I know that his specialty are birds of prey (he used to have hawks, falcons, etc) and he was trying to teach me about feeding the birds and such, but it was all wrong information. He wouldn't be off much better than I am.
When I first found them I thought it would be OK to give them worms, so of course the unknowing me was at a horse stable, and since the soil was healthy, along with the rainwater and fertilization, I thought the bugs would be healthy. Each chick got about 2 worms chopped up.
I read on starlingtalk.com that they should NOT eat worms, and I looked up "Gapeworm" from there....
Last night I was holding the chicks in my lap while watching tv, and one bird was sleeping, the other was begging for food. Well, I noticed the sleeping one was shaking. I thought he was just shivering so I covered him with my hand and cloth more. Well, his head started shaking more, as though there were something bothersome on it. Then he opened his mouth about 1/3 wide and stretched out his neck, apparently gasping for air. I got worried so I put them back in their "nest"....I put my head right next to the sicker bird, and I listened carefully while he gasped. There was a faint "haaargh" sound as he gasped. 
Lots of websites did say that those were all classic signs of Gapeworm....also I notice that when I feed the babies the sickly one stops eating about halfway through, then opens its mouth halfway and acts like it's begging for food, chirps, then refuses food when I offer it.
Another problem is that they have mites. Starlingtalk.com says that the mites are species-specific, so they won't transmit to other birds. I have 2 parakeets so hopefully they'll be safe. They were in the same room lat night, though. Both starlings are itching, but only slightly. I'm stopping over at Agway (farm supply store) and I'm going to get some kind of horse wormer....I read online that Invermectin is a good ingredient in horse wormer that will kill gapeworm if fed to a chicken....however, even a smudge might kill a starling, I'm guessing, because even though the percentage of Invermectin is about 1.87%, that might be too high.....Someone said to smear it on the animal, some say to feed it.
Anyway, what I'm feeding is basically a mush that I completely crushed using a mortar and pestle...I mixed applesauce (starlingtalk.com said to add that), high-protein canned dog food, Blue Seal adult cat food (high protein), cooked chicken, hard-boiled egg, and pulverized egg shell. Someone suggested to add crushed cuttlebone for calcium, and I have plenty of that but I'm not too sure about that.
I'm not feeding any store-bought bird formulas because I read that they aren't for birds like starlings....and on kaytee.com there is a warning that says "recall on Exact Baby Bird Hand Feeding Formula" which doesn't sound very good. Anyway, I appreciate your concern for the birds, and I'm hoping to hear back soon.
(Sorry for the long post....when I type, I type a lot)


----------



## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Aw, I hope they pull through!


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

As it turns out my imagination may have been on overdrive....
In the recent 3 feedings both birds have had a healthy appetite. One is visibly runty, always sleeping more than the other. The runty one's call for food is a lot more high-pitched and quieter. The strong chick is very loud and demanding....
I asked a question about the babies on Yahoo (this was like an hour after I got them) and someone suggested adding avian vitamins to their food. I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!!!! I have around 4 different vitamins lying around, and they're all liquid. I think I'll stick with "Avitron Liquid Vitamin Supplement for Birds" and the directions say "BIRDS: 2 drops per teaspoon, or 6 drops per tablespoon of water help provide bird with vitamins necessary for normal health and feathering"
It also gives directions for feeding other animals:
Small animals: Feed directly or add to food or water. Small animals usually like the taste
Rats, hamsters, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs: 3 drops daily
Mice: 1 drop daily
So I think it's a good idea to use this stuff.....there are a TON of vitamins in there.....for example, each vitamin amount is shown per IU:
A- 44 IU
D3- 6.6 IU
E- .071 IU
C- 2200 MCG
B1- 22 MCG
And the list goes on.....anyway, the babies are doing better. I don't think they have gapeworm, though I'll probably pick up some horse wormer anyway. One thing they DO need is something to kill mites. I'm finding them left and right!


----------



## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yea, all wild animals are full of parasites of all sorts. Usually you wanna vaccinate yourself too, at least with what I read about the baby dove I had. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

@ Painting Pintos. Well, you are surely doing your best by them. If I remember right, at the clinic (my 13 year old daughter volunteers more than I do), they feed starlings what they call "fonz gels". It's basically soaked dog or ferret food. If you want me to find out what is in them, I will, and you can make them yourself. We just chop up small pieces of it, and insert in gapping mouth. As far as calcium, all birds need that. Just take calcium pills of any kind, and crush, and sprinkle over food.

When I was a kid, back in the 70's, I also found a baby bird, with no feathers. It's a long story, but basically, I read what I could (no internet back then) :-D People didn't know as much as they do today. The bird survived, but couldn't fly, or manage to eat on his own, so he was not releasable. I knew keeping him wasn't going to work, as we had cats in our house. I know now, his problems were related to a calcium deficiency. I gave him to the Milwaukee zoo as they had a big bird aviary. I had given my heart and sole to care for this bird for over six weeks. I woke up every few hours at night to feed him (now I know birds aren't fed at night by their parents). :lol: I told the zoo he couldn't eat on his own, and they didn't seem concerned. I went back to visit and was told "Oh, yeah, that bird couldn't eat on his own, he died (basically they let him starve). Diet is very important. I've never heard of this disease you're talking about. We release starlings out here in New Mexico, but they are not a protected species anywhere in the US. I say if you can rehab them, just release them yourself 

It is sad though what non-native birds have done to native bird populations. For that matter, cats are the worst for all birds!

Gwen


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

GwenInNM said:


> @ Painting Pintos. Well, you are surely doing your best by them. If I remember right, at the clinic (my 13 year old daughter volunteers more than I do), they feed starlings what they call "fonz gels". It's basically soaked dog or ferret food. If you want me to find out what is in them, I will, and you can make them yourself. We just chop up small pieces of it, and insert in gapping mouth. As far as calcium, all birds need that. Just take calcium pills of any kind, and crush, and sprinkle over food.
> 
> When I was a kid, back in the 70's, I also found a baby bird, with no feathers. It's a long story, but basically, I read what I could (no internet back then) :-D People didn't know as much as they do today. The bird survived, but couldn't fly, or manage to eat on his own, so he was not releasable. I knew keeping him wasn't going to work, as we had cats in our house. I know now, his problems were related to a calcium deficiency. I gave him to the Milwaukee zoo as they had a big bird aviary. I had given my heart and sole to care for this bird for over six weeks. I woke up every few hours at night to feed him (now I know birds aren't fed at night by their parents). :lol: I told the zoo he couldn't eat on his own, and they didn't seem concerned. I went back to visit and was told "Oh, yeah, that bird couldn't eat on his own, he died (basically they let him starve). Diet is very important. I've never heard of this disease you're talking about. We release starlings out here in New Mexico, but they are not a protected species anywhere in the US. I say if you can rehab them, just release them yourself
> 
> ...


Hmmm.....fonz gels, eh? Hehe I've never heard of that before! I'd love to have the ingredients, if you would be so kind to give them to me :thankyou:
I'll definitely be getting calcium pills....to the dollar store it is! Haha! Nah, I'll stop at Rite Aid tomorrow to get some. For now the crushed egg shell and cuttlebone should hold up.
That's so sad that your bird couldn't fly....eat...The poor thing! It does sound like a calcium problem to me. I'm allowed to keep the starlings because I learned online...that once you feed them for a dew days, the birds are used to being indoors because they don't have their mother to teach them everything. Sadly, they've imprinted on my already, but at least I can keep them safe from predators. Small comfort. 
I called my local (and a little less local one) wildlife rehabbers and they said because they have mites and other possible illnesses, it wouldn't be worth it to rehab the birds. WHY DOES EVERY REHABBER AROUND HERE WANT TO KILL THE BIRDS??? Auugh!
Anyway, you're right about cats being terrible for birds....I left the babies in the dining room for a few minutes, and my cat sat there right next to them and they weren't afraid!
I'll be keeping them in my room, though. Where the goldfish, budgies, and betta are.


----------



## BettaGirl290 (Jul 29, 2010)

They're sooo cute! The only thing now I can get other then fish is a hamster, and thats when I keep my room clean for a whole month :S


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

BettaGirl290 said:


> They're sooo cute! The only thing now I can get other then fish is a hamster, and thats when I keep my room clean for a whole month :S


I HATE it when my parents make me do that!! That's how my sister got her cat, and that's how I got my goldfish....except we had to keep our rooms clean for 6 months. Haha good luck with a hamster though! Hamsterhideout.com has an amazing hamster forum....you should register! I'm registered even though I don't have a hamster xD


----------



## Lizzie the Badger (Jun 12, 2012)

I wish starlings weren't invasive in America. I agree though they are beautiful and intelligent! They are way better than house sparrows in my opinion.

You should see the things they (starlings and house sparrows) can do to bluebirds and purple martins not mention other birds and nests


----------



## GwenInNM (Feb 2, 2011)

Hmmm.....fonz gels, eh? Hehe I've never heard of that before! I'd love to have the ingredients, if you would be so kind to give them to me :thankyou:
Read more: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/finless-friends/my-new-baby-starlings-103868/page3/#ixzz1xbBBFTUi

Okay, here it is: You can cut this recipe in half if you want. 1cup ferret or kitten food (dry) 
3T dry egg white, 3/4T of powder calcium, 1 jar strained baby food (chicken or turkey)
3 packages of unflavored gelatin, 1/8t of bird vitamins

Add 1.5 cups of boiling water to dry ferret/kitten food and let soak for 20 minutes. Blend to liquify (you want a think liquid). Add baby food and other ingredients (not the gelatin)

In a seperate bowl, dissolve gelatin in 1/3 cups cold water, let sit for 2 minutes. Than you microwave that for about 1 minute (don't let it boil over). Add that to other mix and blend again to liquid. It will "set" and become something you can cut up small pieces to feed to birds. 

It is good for 2 days in refrig. You may want to freeze much of this and defrost as you need it.

Good luck! This is the fonz gel recipe for Starlings.

Gwen 
​


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

GwenInNM said:


> Hmmm.....fonz gels, eh? Hehe I've never heard of that before! I'd love to have the ingredients, if you would be so kind to give them to me :thankyou:
> Read more: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/finless-friends/my-new-baby-starlings-103868/page3/#ixzz1xbBBFTUi
> 
> Okay, here it is: You can cut this recipe in half if you want. 1cup ferret or kitten food (dry)
> ...


Thanks so much! I'm definitely going to use this. I'm going shopping tomorrow so I'll go pick up the ingredients (well, only ferret food, baby food, and calcium)
I'm sure the babies will like it a lot more than what I'm feeding them! Hehe I cannot even begin to say how happy you just made me ^______^


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Oh, and as an update...
I've made a vlog about the starlings for Youtube....it's uploading right now. An 8 minute video, but it's gonna take 73 minutes to upload....grrr!!! YOUTUBE, Y U NO UPLOAD FASTER 
Anyway, I'm glad the babies are gaining more of an appetite every day....they're certainly growing, and they're getting more belly feathers. Their wings are still totally in pinfeathers, though.


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B1I3jPHBn0&list=UUc5DkMFDw9eAmvXbZFYsG8A&index=1&feature=plcp
That's today's vlog update
I'll upload another tomorrow!


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBeSwDt5rdQ&list=UUc5DkMFDw9eAmvXbZFYsG8A&index=1&feature=plcp
And here's the most recent video of them, taken an hour ago. Make sure you read the description!


----------



## Karebear13 (Jan 23, 2012)

They are so cute.. they look so much bigger now glad they didn't have that disease


----------



## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Karebear13 said:


> They are so cute.. they look so much bigger now glad they didn't have that disease


Yup...they're adorable ^_^ Hehe yeah I didn't even realize how big they had gotten until I compared videos....and they're getting hefty too, a lot heavier than when I first got them!


----------

