Expert: Julia Booth - 6/12/2008

Question
Hi, I've been taking care of a baby starling for about a week. I'm pretty sure the mother abandoned it, because it wasn't thriving because I found two other babies who were fledglings (which I left on the ground, and the mother has been feeding).
Anyway, my bird has been doing really well, it's feathers are growing super fast, he's flapping his wings. I followed a recipe for food I found on starlingtalk.com I believe, and feed him every half hour. He was pooping like a maniac, but today he has only pooped once. His underbelly is still pink and kind of see through, and when I was changing the tissue in his nest I notices a white part in between his intestines, and I don't know if that was there before, or started today. Basically, I'm afraid his intestines exploded or something. If you could tell me if theres a whitish organ that may be what I'm seeing, or if you think his intestines actually exploded and I should take him to a vet.

Answer
I'm not sure I understand. You think he has some kind of bowel obstruction? I'd wait it out and see how regular he is over the next 12 hours or so. Understand that birds are not like humans in that they don't have "pee" and "poo" -their digestive system is much less complex. Although, at the rate he's being fed, he should be putting out more. If you don't see any change in the 12 hour period, I'd seek out a vet that treats bird. You might have to call around where you live because they aren't that common.

Sorry I couldn't help you more,

Julia