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Common Grackle as a Housepet

SandraK

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Birdbabe

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Hi, thanks for helping him! Mealworms, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, small crickets, little bit of seed, if hes unable to eat himself, you can drown the insects and feed him from some tweezers,,he looks young and may just need a few days to recover..hope hes ok.
 

Jazzitup

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Update on grumpy grackle:

Thanks for the help!
He slept in late this morning. When I brought him outside he wouldn't even stand, but after a breakfast of some egg, he looks like he has a lot more energy! Finally standing and stretching his wings and all, but he will not fly.
I've let him spend the day outside of the carrier, just chilling in the yard but he refuses to walk around or move from wherever I leave him. He prefers to stay clinging to my glove when I pick him up to check him or at least move him to a clean, shady patch of grass, and no bird has come to feed him as far as I can see. I'm thinking he may have been abandoned, as the only birds who came near him today were some rowdy robins who paid him no mind. He'll be back inside in the carrier tonight as well, since it's supposed to rain.
Any thoughts to the best way I can help him at this point since mama bird is nowhere to be found?
(First picture is before breakfast; second picture is from a few hours later)
 

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Birdbabe

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Ummm, I think you got a friend...:heart:
 

SandraK

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Update on grumpy grackle:

Thanks for the help!
He slept in late this morning. When I brought him outside he wouldn't even stand, but after a breakfast of some egg, he looks like he has a lot more energy! Finally standing and stretching his wings and all, but he will not fly.
I've let him spend the day outside of the carrier, just chilling in the yard but he refuses to walk around or move from wherever I leave him. He prefers to stay clinging to my glove when I pick him up to check him or at least move him to a clean, shady patch of grass, and no bird has come to feed him as far as I can see. I'm thinking he may have been abandoned, as the only birds who came near him today were some rowdy robins who paid him no mind. He'll be back inside in the carrier tonight as well, since it's supposed to rain.
Any thoughts to the best way I can help him at this point since mama bird is nowhere to be found?
(First picture is before breakfast; second picture is from a few hours later)
For some reason wild baby birds always do look grumpy but Grumpy seems to have taken a liking to his new mum.
 

Dartman

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He may be your new ugly feathered kid I think. Feed him and keep him safe and see how he progresses but he'll probably imprint on you and decide your moma and to be trusted and loved for the rest of his life. We raised a barely feathered female house finch we rescued from a crow and she grew up happy and healthy after bonding with us. Her name was Beeper and she sang the songs of her people and loved us in her way and played with the toys we gave her. She lived for a happy year and a half till she got a chill that eventually took her out:(
 

Jazzitup

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A sad update:
Came home from work today to find Grumpy had passed away. He didn't want to wake up this morning and didn't want to eat. He turned away from the food and tucked his head away to go back to sleep so I figured he needed more rest to sleep off the shock.
Left work early because I didn't want to leave him for too long, and came home to see he had passed when I was gone. I think it may have been from the shock or from some internal injury that I couldn't see. I hope I gave him a comfortable space and enough love while he was with me, and wish I could have done more for him. :darkcloud:
 

Dartman

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You did the best you could and like said he was safe and seemed to like you and your help. They are fragile creatures and it doesn't always work out the way we hope but you made his short life much better. Never give up trying to help little beings that need it, thank you for trying. :bluhug:
 

SandraK

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You did your best and kept the little guy warm, safe and but a higher power called him to Rainbow Bridge. I know there's at least another young grackle waiting there for him; I'd found one that I think was hit by a car and couldn't be saved. :sadhug2::sadhug2:
 

fashionfobie

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Oh I am so sorry for you loss. Thank you for helping the little guy out. It is always hard when it is out of our hands.

:sadhug2::sadhug2::sadhug2:

I had a sick feral pigeon land in my yard. She just sat there for hours, not leaving. I decided to see what was up. She had a very very bad infestation of parasitic louse flies. She was so weak. I brought her in treated her with a topical avian insect treatment. I offered her all she could eat and fresh water in a clean setting. But the flies had already done their damage. She passed away the next day. It really sucks when we can't do enough.
 

Margaret914

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So glad to find all of you! "My" grackle isn't mine at all, but has claimed my backyard and rules it from the top of an abandoned playscape. One of his feet is crippled, but he's just fine otherwise. I named him "Louie" because I was reading the great Louis Armstrong's biography when I first saw him and learned yesterday that, in Mexico, the name for all grackles is "Negro Luis," so I see I'm on the right track! I've moved from California to a place near Austin, Texas to be close to my son and these are the first Great Tail Grackles I've ever seen. They are much reviled here (there's even a T shirt depicting one stealing someone's corn chip!), but I think Louie is lovely! Since I began feeding him, I've seen other birds of which I had only heard tell: Blue Jays, Cardinals, and all sorts of birds I can't identify! SO cool!
I'm feeding them all Kaytee wild bird food and "GoGetUm" pigeon food - any other suggestions? Gotta keep that grackle happy!!! :D
 

fashionfobie

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Welcome to the forum @Margaret914 :fairy:
We are happy you are here too!

I don't have any advice on the grackle diet. I hope someone chimes in soon.
 

Haleyf1024

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I hope it is okay to dig up this ancient thread!!
I have a common grackle that was pushed out of his nest (in front of my mother riding the lawnmower) in April before his eyes were open and he has been with us ever since. I do believe he is here to stay permanently, he has spent 1 night outside about a month ago and it was traumatic for him. Although he knows how to hunt and forage for food (we did teach him) when he came back the next morning he was dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted. He flew to our feet and basically fell asleep on my foot right there. Ever since this ordeal he stays very close and gets nervous when we walk away from him unless he is in his cage. Does anyone know of any good white papers/research papers to learn more about their dietary needs (protein content, plant matter, fruit or veggie preferences, etc), growth charts, behaviors in captivity or in the wild? He is being fed Zupreem fruit blend, roudybush crumbles, Blessings bugs-n-fruit insecrivore diet, mealworms, black soldier fly larvae, cricket, grasshopper, silkworm larvae, and obviously whatever he sees us eating. Wild strawberries are his absolute favorite! My only issue is that ever since getting his adult feathers on his head last week, he has been biting everything and everyone. Not in an aggressive way, but in a curious and I-want-to-chew way. But, it hurts. Does this indicate a nutrient deficiency (like horses licking hands because they need more salt)? Is it just him going through a curious/angsty teenage phase? Is he trying to sharpen or grind his beak down?
 

Ali

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Just in case she no longer follows this thread, I am going to tag @Birdbabe for you. Our resident wild bird rescuer! :)
 

Birdbabe

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Hes probably showing his sassy side..you could teach him "no bite" when he does it ..
 
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Maryellen

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Hes probably showing his sassy side..you could teach him "no bite" when he does it ..
Hi I need to know about getting a permit to keep a common Grackle as a pet. Hoping you can help.
 

Pinecone

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Hello,

Last summer I rescued a young common grackle who has become ensconced in our home. I don't know if anyone here has a pet grackle, but he is really delightful, at times a bit screechy but very sweet. He is approaching one year old and is very tame. He flies free in a large 8 X 15 room with 12' ceilings and occasionally in the rest of our house. I have him on a softbill diet of various brands (Zupreem, Orlux, Unibird), feed him meal worms, fresh fruit and a few veggies, and the odd treat of a peanut and bread. He has an avian vet and is in very good health, although his beak tends to scissor a bit, so he get regular trims.

Since February 11 he has gained some weight, from 142 g to 155g. Do you think he is getting a bit too big or just coming to maturation?

Two things I'd like to accomplish with him are to get him to let me pet him. He will pet and kiss me and braid my hair and sit on my head and shoulders, but he does not like to be stroked or handled. And I would also like to train him to go to the bathroom exclusively in his cage, rather than anywhere he pleases! Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thank you,
Lula



Right now I am feeding my grackle a mixture of canned kitten food and 20% protein poultry feed that I already have on hand for my chickens and peacocks. I soak the poultry feed pellets in water and mix the kitten food in so its a mash. My grackle is fully-feathered now so I think I should begin incorporating a more "adult" type of food, but the information available online regarding grackles as pets is quite limited. Would you mind sharing exactly which foods you purchased for yours?

Also, how do you teach him not to nip at you?
 

Shezbug

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Right now I am feeding my grackle a mixture of canned kitten food and 20% protein poultry feed that I already have on hand for my chickens and peacocks. I soak the poultry feed pellets in water and mix the kitten food in so its a mash. My grackle is fully-feathered now so I think I should begin incorporating a more "adult" type of food, but the information available online regarding grackles as pets is quite limited. Would you mind sharing exactly which foods you purchased for yours?

Also, how do you teach him not to nip at you?
The member you tagged has not visited here since 2014 unfortunately, you might be best to start your own thread. I'll tag @Birdbabe in the hopes she might get the notification and be able to offer some help but she also has not visited here for some time now.
 
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