The misadventures of my friend the Scrub Jay Blue - During a long three year recovery from spinal surgery and Encephalitis, Blue came into my life. I was outside my parent’s house when crows attacked a nest. They took the babies and ate them. Blue fell at my foot. He was fresh out of the egg, a day old at most. I called every animal rescue service, they told me to let him die. The parents abandoned him. I decided to rescue him. Blue saved my life too.
This video shows Blue playing ball. This has now become his favorite pass time. That was his training and in two days, he has learned to hit each ball in order, and then he gets them back. He also plays with them by himself, which is great when no one is home. He is even learning their colors, which surprised me, you can teach an old Jay a new trick.
Water
Dry Cat Food
Hard Boiled Egg Yolk
Mix and liquefy. Feed with a feeder or small spoon if necessary. As babies they eat every 30 minutes. This will slow as they mature.A good diet –
Mix and liquefy the following as directed below
Water
Exact
Dry Cat Food
Hard Boiled Egg Yolk
Meal worms
Boiled carrots, very soft
Mix the product EXACT with crushed up dry cat food. 70% exact 15% % cat food; add 15% egg yolk, hard-boiled. . Crush the cat food up very fine. Use good cat food, no fancy flavored moist treats -- regular cat food. Add water until it is like watery oatmeal. This is not exact in percentages. As babies protein is key but the veggies are too.
You can also add
Crushed up meal worms
Boiled carrots, very soft
For Adults and Babies -
Additionally for babies and adults you can buy Baby food, plain liquid veggies and fruit mixed with water only. Do not use any with additives. I use Beechnut brand. Blue loves and often acts like a baby when we feed him these nutritional treats. Some of the many ones we use are
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Pears
And nearly any veggie or fruit they make. Just make sure it has only liquefied vegetables and water only. Yellow veggies are great for the eyes. The most common ailment is eye problems in adult scrubs, as Blue can attest. As an Adult Blue gets a assortment of nuts which he needs for hiding and eating.
A bored bird is a sad bird. Toys and lots of stuff to hide and places to hide them are very important.
Protein and vegetables are key.
6 comments:
I am very surprised that you could teach a Jay to perform tricks. Love the music.
Scrub jays can learn more then people think. before Blue got older and lost his eye sight in one eye, he did some really wild tricks. They love to learn. They love to be busy, to teach them its all about repetition,like a dog, but, you can teach an old jay new tricks. Blue has gotten 30X better at playing ball, that was him learning in the video. Now he asks to play.
Were going to shoot from a better angle and do a new one later.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
Tim, Blues caretaker
WOW! What a wonderful thing, it is nice to see a human improve an animals life. So often it is the other way around. This was beautiful to watch and very up lifting.
Talking Eye
Thank you Talking Eye, I like that name.
I am not sure we improved his life over the life of a wild bird, but, since that was not possible, we have tried to give him the best life we can, and I think we have. He is a happy bird, despite not being able to be a free bird. Today, he was gently singing to himself, and doing little baby sounds and flapping his wings, like he was a month old. He does that when he is very happy and content. The balls have added a whole new way for him to have fun, even when were not home or busy, he practices. It amazes me he can learn so quickly,faster then any dog I have known. He knows when he hits the all the balls off his cage, he gets them back, and a treat. So now, every morning he is all excited to PLAY BALL!
Thanks again
Tim
i just found a baby scrub jay, it is getting feathers if that helps to tell how old it is and i'm not sure where to go from here. i read your info on what to feed it... great help thank you, but what is Exact and what kind of feeder would i be loooking for? thanks for all the help!
Jacquie,
Exact is a baby food formula for baby birds. If you poke around the site you will find two articles you should read, "What do I do if I find a Jay in need of help" and some others about care and making the decision to keep the bird. or not.
They get there water from food, the eat nearly every half hour, but that slows as they mature. If you work, if you cant have a bird flying around your house, or if you do not have the time, its best to take it to animal rescue. Please e-mail me. thatoldbookstore@hotmail.com
I have the flue so bare with my response time. If you can find his parents, try and release him to them as fast as possible. Once in your care for long, they can never be released.
Hope this helps. Tim
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