Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi all I am a vet tech I run a resuce of sorts here in maryland . one of the more interesting animals that i have had come in recently was a baby crow i am assuming possibally a raven sort of difficult to tell at his young age . any way i have hand raised him since very young he is now a fledgeling and is doing great his name is crackers and boy does he love to eat i had him on you basic handfeeding formula from exacta . but i was wondering now that he is starting to eat solid food what would you all reccomend in the classes i took they never discussed specific diets for certain birds just went of handfeeding releaseing and basic care of small mammles birds and reptiles and the basic laws of the state concerning certain animals . they don't exactly sell a crow diet and he dose not like the food my other birds ( quaker , teils , keets , fiches) eat any suggestions would be helpful right now he comes up and takes stuff off my plate cooked veggies , some meet loves mash patatos things like that . any way thanks for your time .
amy

this is crackers now

Wow, pretty bird! Looks like a crow, not a raven. Guess he did well on the Exact -- we always mixed in puppy food for our babies, most of the softbills like crows need much more fat and protein than parrots do, as the parents would be feeding a lot of insects and animal matter. Especially crows. I used to volunteer at a bird-only rehab facility and still raise orphans from time to time. Are you planning on releasing this guy? Crows normally bond rather heavily to their hand-feeders, especially when raised alone, we used to be very careful with crows -- raised them in groups if possible, kept handling to a minimum etc. Raising babies by myself, I've gone in the other direction and handled them bunches and then kind of "participated" in their release -- went outside with them, helped show them where they could find food. I've never raised a crow that way, just starlings and blue jays, but it seemed to work well enough. The starlings joined flocks of wild babies about their age and seemed to do very well. The blue jays I lost track of gradually, I can only hope they joined up with other jays farther away, since I don't get so many jays right near the house.

ANYWAY, sorry I get a little carried away! Crows can/will/should eat just about anything, they are omnivores much the same as people. They do need more protein / animal matter than some birds, like parrots. Dog food will do, mealworms, we always fed ours pinkie mice but that's not to everyone's taste. That's in addition to fruits, veggies, whatever else your bird likes, maybe try softbill/mynah pellets, that sort of thing.

There's a crows mailing list on yahoo lists -- I forget the exact URL but if you go to groups.yahoo.com and do a search for "pet crows" it should pull it up. They would be able to help you out with diet and care tips.

Good luck with your bird, I'm jealous! I've never had the opportunity to raise a crow but they're some of my all-time favorite birds, I'd love to do it.

- Lara