Tips on raising a house sparrow?

Question

I have a 7 day old house sparrow. Before I get comments saying I shouldn't raise her please keep in mind that house sparrows are NOT protected by ANY laws, I could not find a rehaber that would take her.I work at petsmart where a guy came in with a baby sparrow, since I have raised starlings, squirrels, and robins I decided to take her. I've had her for almost 2 days and just want to make sure I'm getting everything right.I feed her dog food(pedigre) soaked in water, I heard baby parrot formula wasn't good for them since they need animal protien.When I'm home she eats every half hour, my mom feeds her while I'm at summer gym(it lasts 5 hours, she eats once)I know its a long time but so far shes doing ok, shes just very hungry when I get home.

I can take her to work with me and I keep her warm. I get up at 5(sometimes she wakes me up earlier) to feed her.

Her name is Nugget. Here is a pic. of her.

http://darastriktsuki.deviantart.com/art/nuggets-nest-91779111

Answer 1

I am not sure where you live but there are some rehabbers that will take them in (our group does) They are a non native, and they are not protected. I am not sure what your intentions are after you have raised it. It can be hard to release them if they have been raised by themselves. Basic rule is to never raise them alone.

I would recommend either Exact Hand feeding or Nutrastart (sp). We have taken in sparrows that have been hand raised on these formulas and they are fine, Fat, but fine. Supplement with either mealworms  you don't have to cut the heads off (I am sure you know that we are in a national mealworm shortage so they may be hard to come by or very expensive) or crickets which are better nutritionally. We take live crickets and drown them in water that has a Avian multivitamin mixed in. Feed a Cricket or two then formula each feeding. Try to be equal about it even as they get older.

Right now you can feed 30-45 min try not to stretch to 5 hours.  When he gets pin feathers you can stretch to every hour, 12-14 hours a day until he is self feeding. Multiply this by 20-30 birds and you know what I have to do now hehehe:). Just to let you know that this diet is not suitable for all birds. Just sparrows. Keep the little one on heat at all times his temp should be 102 degrees. Always make sure he is warm before you feed. Wean off of heat when he begins to feather out.

We take all of our hand fed babies everywhere because they have to be fed so often it is not good for them to get stretched out like that.

NEVER release them just because they can fly, you have to make sure they are completely eating on their own. Limit the human contact to only feeding, don't talk to it, and keep it in a separate room away from others, this will help keep it wild.

Answer 2

I do not have the answer to this, but I can direct you to a rehabber from Australia who does.  Go to YouTube and search for "Spoggy".  You will find videos of a rehabbed baby House Sparrow.  

Email them and you should be able to get some great advice.  Spoggy is one happy rehabbed - but pet - sparrow!