Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 My husband has just bought home what we think (identified from a bird book) is a Little Owl. Hubby thinks he has a broken leg. We have him sitting in a large box with a snuggly blanket and read that they normally eat bugs like spiders worms etc. But not sure what else to do with him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 I found one once that had a broken wing and i just took it to DOC and they fixed it up and it survived just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 cool, piccy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 awww.. call DOC, call them now! they will be happy and thankful. just keep him happy and don't fuss over him until they collect him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Its like 7pm is anyone gonna be in the Doc office? I don't even know where the local Doc office is.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Googled.. ringing and outside office hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 try emailing owlcatraz in Shannon near Palmerston North If nothing else, they will be bale to advise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 does he have function in both feet? put in cardboard box with a towel to grip onto put in dark plce, ring department of conversation in the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 One leg/foot just seems to be dangling there, the other appears to be alright, but hubby hasn't seen him grip with either foot. He's just lying down, appears to be sleeping now that he's in the box. This morning when he was found he was tangled up in a truck aerial behind the visor. He doesn't think that he has been hit by the truck but perhaps just landed on the truck and slipped down and got himself stuck and in the process of trying to free himself has broken his leg/foot. When he was found my husband him, he managed to get the bird unstuck but then the bird flew away and landed near a fence. He remained there the entire day and when my husband went back to see if he was still there, he was. He was crouching at that time, my husband picked him up then the bird tried to fly away. We rang the emergency DOC number, they advised to keep him in a warm, dark place for the night and drop him off to the DOC office in the morning. Fingers crossed he survives the night! Tried to get hubby to take a pic but he's not too keen to disturb him too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 sometimes they get struck by the airpressure in front of the truck this dislocates their pelvis and immobilises the feet and tail leh sounds like broken vets or doc in the morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 make sure there is food at night, cause he won't be sleeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 sometimes best not to feed if they need an operation the next day most predatory birds won't feed in a stress situation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pufferfishnz Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 an update please?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Last night hubby went out and caught a spider and stuck it in the box... not sure if the owl ate it though. Its possible it ran away. :lol: We gave him some water in a little shallow dish as per DOC's instructions. And he is still alive this morning, hubby says he's looking very alert and made some clicking noises when he lifted the lid of the box to check on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 the clicking noise is a warning to leave me alone good luck and i hope it makes it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 the clicking noise is a warning to leave me alone Thats what hubby said too. Unfortunately, the news is not good. The lady @ DOC had a look at him, checked him over and said that he was probably in a lot of pain, as if he was feeling better he would be trying to attack and bite anyone that came near him. She was able to put her finger right on his beak and said that she shouldn't be able to do that. She said his leg was completely broken in half and the break was quite high up the leg. In her opinion she thought it would be best if he was euthanised. She did give me the option of taking him back to see if we could get him better ourselves and said if we opted to do that, that we would have to handfeed him mince with cat fur on it. She didn't think there was much chance of a successful recovery and in the end I decided to leave the little fella with her and she would euthanise him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 sad but the best option in the circumstances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 That's a bummer, but stuff like this happens occasionally in the wild. Owls are fascinating birds of prey, and im sure he was happier with you guys than stuck to some truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah it was a bummer. Both my husband and I are real animal lovers and he in particular really likes birds. So it was really cool to see an owl up close. He had gorgeous eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 They do have gorgeous eyes. I remember once I went into the clinic very early one morning and looked in a covered cage where two huge yellow eyes from a great horned owl just stared at me as if they saw into my soul. Very chilling. Btw, very dismayed that the DOC person said to feed mince. I can't tell you the number of fully body xrays I have seen of raptors who have been fed only mince and nearly evrey bone in their body is broken from lack of calcium. Would have been better for them to offer you some pinkies or at least tell you about supplementation so that bone had a chance of healing. Hmmm, for that matter I am dismayed that she would suggest a layperson take home and nurse a bird of prey...is it just me or is that not only inhumane, but also irresponsible in terms of imprinting and the potential for human injury? :roll: Maybe it is just me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 just because people wear a uniform it doesn't mean they have the knowledge is it just me or is that not only inhumane, but also irresponsible in terms of imprinting and the potential for human injury? Maybe it is just me.... with a broken leg yes inhumane, older bird not much chance of imprinting too much, a jab from some talons can be painful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 21, 2010 Report Share Posted April 21, 2010 I had a pet maggie and went to the local butcher and asked for mince without preservative and he said it was not legal to put preservative in mince. Went home and fed maggie who did a volcanic spew all over the kitchen floor. Went back and had a chat and watched him mince a bit of prime steak for me. Added calcium powder and a happy maggie. Malachite green goes clear with SO2 which is the preservative they sometimes add, even if they are not supposed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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