# Baby tiel swallowed Tube, Need Help!



## angelaN

Ive got a 2 and a half month old baby cockatiel and I am still hand feeding him/her.. Im using a syringe with a 1 inch rubber tube and while im feeding him/her, it accidentally swallowed the rubber tube! 
Would the rubber tube be digested and the bird will be alright? 
What should I do? 
He swallowed about 5hours ago and he still seems alright..


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## Bird Junky

Sorry I cant help you with that one....No doubt the outcome
will be of interest. Please keep us informed.... Suggest you ring 
a vet for info.....B.J.


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## Loopy Lou

I think you should call a vet straightaway for advice, the bird won't be able to pass the tube and if left in there it will most likely cause blockage or infection.

Let us know how it goes?


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## roxy culver

Definitely take the baby to the vet. That tube wont be able to be digested.

Do you mind if I ask why the baby is still being handfed? Tiels usually wean around 8 weeks of age, although some are a little slower than others.


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## tielfan

Yes, you need to get to a vet ASAP. Foreign objects are relatively easy to extract while they're still in the crop. It's unlikely that an object as large as the tube would pass further along into the digestive tract, but smaller objects can do this which increases both the danger and the difficulty of solving the problem.

Here's an article about a cockatiel that swallowed a large diamond: http://web.archive.org/web/20100727122208/http://www.petpublishing.com/birdtimes/articles/grit.shtml Not quite the same as your case, but it describes the dangers and solutions to problems with swallowed objects. It's on archive.org so you might get some odd messages while the page loads, but if you wait it should get to the page eventually.


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## xNx

Good Luck :/


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## Erinsmom

How very scary......looking for update.........hopefully a good one!


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## angelaN

Hi all!! Thanks for replying my post 
Its been 24hrs since he swallowed the tube.. He looks fine, eating well and his poop looks normal.. Gonna bring him to the vet later in the afternoon to make sure that nothing is wrong and to put my heart at ease  

He is still begging for the formula food and i rang up the pet shop owner and he said to hand feed for another 2 weeks and introduce solid food at the same time


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## Erinsmom

angelaN said:


> Hi all!! Thanks for replying my post
> Its been 24hrs since he swallowed the tube.. He looks fine, eating well and his poop looks normal.. Gonna bring him to the vet later in the afternoon to make sure that nothing is wrong and to put my heart at ease
> 
> He is still begging for the formula food and i rang up the pet shop owner and he said to hand feed for another 2 weeks and introduce solid food at the same time



I am confused.....we just left the plastic tube?


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## xNx

Erinsmom said:


> I am confused.....we just left the plastic tube?


From a article that was linked to on here, i read it can be months before a bird will try and pass it out of it's system if it's not in the crop


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## Erinsmom

xNx said:


> From a article that was linked to on here, i read it can be months before a bird will try and pass it out of it's system if it's not in the crop


Still confused ....what does that have to do with not taking it out when it was in the crop and are you the poster?


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## roxy culver

Erinsmom, calm down. xNx was only trying to explain.

The OP was unable to remove the tube and so is going to be taking the baby to the vet. The other part of their post about feeding the baby was in response to the question I had asked earlier about why they were still handfeeding a ten week old tiel.


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## Erinsmom

roxy culver said:


> Erinsmom, calm down. xNx was only trying to explain.
> 
> The OP was unable to remove the tube and so is going to be taking the baby to the vet. The other part of their post about feeding the baby was in response to the question I had asked earlier about why they were still handfeeding a ten week old tiel.



I can assure you I am perfectly calm I was merely asking a question actually 2. That is allowed yes?

I am getting ready to hand feed my own babies in this manner and as with most posts I was seeking clarity so in case it happens to me I may know how to react. The waiting to take it to a vet I was curious as to why this was the chosen course. As I have never done it there is much I need to learn I THOUGHT that is what this forum was for

I am confused now by your repeated jumping on people who ask questions or maybe word things in a way you personally don't like. It makes for a very uncomfortable experience here as was pointed out just yesterday by another person. I am pretty sure I didn't break any rules( although lord knows it is hard to memorize them all) and I surely wasn't rude so I do not understand your NEED to chastise me or anyone else for that matter like a child.


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## roxy culver

> I am getting ready to hand feed my own babies in this manner and as with most posts I was seeking clarity so in case it happens to me I may know how to react. The waiting to take it to a vet I was curious as to why this was the chosen course. As I have never done it there is much I need to learn I THOUGHT that is what this forum was for
> 
> I am confused now by your repeated jumping on people who ask questions or maybe word things in a way you personally don't like. It makes for a very uncomfortable experience here as was pointed out just yesterday by another person. I am pretty sure I didn't break any rules( although lord knows it is hard to memorize them all) and I surely wasn't rude so I do not understand your NEED to chastise me or anyone else for that matter like a child.


That is completely understandable and I was not jumping on you in any way, I was only trying to help. Removing a swallowed tube from a baby's crop can be very dangerous as the crop is very easy to puncture and damage. You shouldn't have to worry about this if you are going to be using a syringe and not a tube. A tube prevents aspiration but sometimes things like this can happen as well. Its best to let a vet do this and since the baby wasn't having any issues with breathing or eating, it was OK to take the baby to a regular vet. I was in no way trying to upset you, just explaining. Handfeeding can be scary but so worth it at the same time.


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## tielfan

> I am getting ready to hand feed my own babies in this manner


I would recommend that you do ordinary syringe feeding instead of tube feeding. Syringe feeding is more natural. Tube feeding (aka gavage feeding) bypasses the natural feeding response including swallowing, and deposits the food directly into the crop. It's a form of force feeding and it takes all control of the feeding process away from the baby.

Tube feeding is faster than syringe feeding so it's a common practice in "birdie mills" where the breeder is trying to crank out the maximum number of babies so they'll make more money. Quality breeders don't use this technique unless there is some medical issue that requires it.

We're off topic for this thread now, so if you'd like to talk about this some more it would be best to start a new thread. I don't know why the OP in this thread was using tube feeding, but I would guess that this is how the breeder fed the baby so the OP had to use the technique that the baby was accustomed to.

If I can make a suggestion... when you think someone is being rude, perhaps it would be helpful to try re-reading their post to see if their words can be taken a different way.  I'm the first to admit that things can get a little out of hand around here sometimes, but roxy culver is one of the most consistently polite people on the admin/mod team. It was surprising to hear someone say that she repeatedly jumps on people, and I think you misunderstood her intentions.

P.S. She may have misunderstood your intentions too - your "I'm confused" posts didn't sound agitated to me. Communication is always imperfect and with written communication especially we don't always interpret the tone correctly, so it's guaranteed that misunderstandings will occur sometimes. It's always easier to straighten things out when everyone keeps their cool, so that's a good goal for all of us.


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## tielfan

How is the baby doing? Were you able to get it to the vet and get the tube removed?



> From a article that was linked to on here, i read it can be months before a bird will try and pass it out of it's system if it's not in the crop


I need to clarify something. I didn't post the link to send the message that it was OK to leave the tube in there, it was to provide a discussion by a vet on the hazards of swallowed foreign objects. The feeding tube is not the sort of object that would pass out of the crop easily, and if it did pass on it would probably block the digestive tract and cause death. If it remains in the crop it's going to cause problems, and there's a risk that the grinding action of the crop might eventually start breaking it up into pieces that could travel "downstream" and cause blockages.


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## Erinsmom

tielfan said:


> I would recommend that you do ordinary syringe feeding instead of tube feeding. Syringe feeding is more natural. Tube feeding (aka gavage feeding) bypasses the natural feeding response including swallowing, and deposits the food directly into the crop. It's a form of force feeding and it takes all control of the feeding process away from the baby.
> 
> Tube feeding is faster than syringe feeding so it's a common practice in "birdie mills" where the breeder is trying to crank out the maximum number of babies so they'll make more money. Quality breeders don't use this technique unless there is some medical issue that requires it.
> 
> We're off topic for this thread now, so if you'd like to talk about this some more it would be best to start a new thread. I don't know why the OP in this thread was using tube feeding, but I would guess that this is how the breeder fed the baby so the OP had to use the technique that the baby was accustomed to.
> 
> If I can make a suggestion... when you think someone is being rude, perhaps it would be helpful to try re-reading their post to see if their words can be taken a different way. I'm the first to admit that things can get a little out of hand around here sometimes, but roxy culver is one of the most consistently polite people on the admin/mod team. It was surprising to hear someone say that she repeatedly jumps on people, and I think you misunderstood her intentions.
> 
> P.S. She may have misunderstood your intentions too - your "I'm confused" posts didn't sound agitated to me. Communication is always imperfect and with written communication especially we don't always interpret the tone correctly, so it's guaranteed that misunderstandings will occur sometimes. It's always easier to straighten things out when everyone keeps their cool, so that's a good goal for all of us.



I re-read it 3 times before deciding to even respond. Starting a reply with "calm down" is pretty clear as to your intentions. No tone needed. I am a grown woman who in no way was rude or demeaning or condescending and I EXPECT to be treated in the same fashion. When you butt into a conversation chastizing another adult to calm down how you can describe that as anything BUT rude is beyond my comprehension.

See I assumed when the original poster said this it was meant as the little piece of tube on the end of the syringe which a breeder did show me to use not to stick it down into the crop but mearly to give them something a little softer to bang up against when bobbing.

Also I NEVER meant or said I thought anyone but a vet to take it out. I was mearly asking what would be the reason for leaving it in. AGAIN trying to learn something.

I suggest you all take your own suggestion and re-read what YOU WRITE ( and other moderators) and think about how that can be taken by people who are not in your "circle" and may not have your knowledge or expertise. I am sure explaining things a million times over as new people ask the same old questions over and over can get annoying but if it starts to effect how new people perceive this board because of your snarky responses maybe its time for a break. Or not and keep running new people off.

I am not going to start a new thread and if you really wanted to deal with this you could of messaged me instead of posting this for all to see and yet your not even the one whom I was responding to. Yet you feel a need to tell me to next time re-read CALM DOWN a few times and try and imagine what a total stranger meant by that type of response to someone who wasn't even talking to her. 

MMMM and we wonder why these issues are popping up?


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## xNx

People need to calm down, speaking for the whole forum generally as well; things should be taken in a light hearted manner.

This is the internet, people's responses will be how you perceive them to be. Don't jump to conclusions, most people are on here to get help or try and help others out.


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## tielfan

Erinsmom, I'm sorry that my post upset you. It's clear that you are sensitive and easily offended. Unfortunately I'm not very good at predicting when a very sensitive person will react negatively to well-intended comments so it will probably be impossible for me to avoid stepping on your toes again in the future.



> This is the internet, people's responses will be how you perceive them to be.


I would put that as "sometimes people's responses are perceived in a way that they didn't intend". If somebody told me to calm down when I wasn't actually upset, I would assume that they misinterpreted my post and would respond with something along the lines of "Don't worry, I'm not upset. What I was trying to say was...." Most people don't see that sort of thing as something to get upset about; miscommunications like this are a minor everyday occurrence and they're easy to fix.

It's the moderators' job to keep things running smoothly on the forum including trying to calm someone down if they think that person is getting upset. When someone makes a private complaint, it's appropriate to deal with it privately. If someone makes a complaint on the public forum it's appropriate to deal with it there, especially when the person responding to the complaint is trying to restore a peaceful atmosphere without scolding or punishing anyone. Anyone who perceives my posts on this thread as criticism or an attack are reading something into it that simply isn't there. 

My apologies to the OP for hijacking your thread. I'm going to hijack it a little more now since there are issues with feeding tubes that could use some more discussion, and it's somewhat related to your problem. Tube feeding is typically used for gavage feeding (direct deposit into the crop). It's possible to use the tube in other ways but this is dangerous, as the OP learned the hard way. Our most experienced breeder (srtiels) agrees that it's dangerous in this collage:









It seems like the tubing that caused the OP's problem was flexible tubing rather than the harder types. srtiels uses flexible tubing for gavage feeding or crop flushes, not for ordinary feeding:









Her photo album at http://s525.photobucket.com/albums/...more/Other birds/Hand Feeding tools and info/ has 20 more informational collages on handfeeding tools so it's definitely worth a look.

I have never heard of a baby bird injuring itself by bobbing against the short plastic tip that's built into a syringe. Some of the feeding tubes aren't any softer than the ordinary syringe tip, and it seems to me that a flexible tube bouncing around in the babies mouth would be hard to control and an aspiration hazard. My opinion is that standard syringe feeding without adding a special tip is the safest and easiest way to feed.


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## bjknight93

I just wanted to remind everyone that if a conversation is happening in a public thread, then it is anybody's and everybody's business. That is how a forum is set up. So, that said, it is impossible for people to "butt in" on a public conversation. If a conversation is not in a private message, then it is everyone's conversation and everyone has a right to say something in the public conversations.

And, as always, reading typed conversation can be misinterpreted because you cannot hear a tone of voice. It is different than talking on the phone or face-to-face communication. Now while that is obvious, what is not obvious to some people is the fact that there is a tone in writing. The problem with this is that some people do not know how to present their tone in writing...which leads to misinterpretations. If you are writing something that could be misinterpreted for a different tone than you intend, then it helps to specify with a closing sentence that tells or represents the tone that you have written you message in.

Anything and everything I have written here was not harrassing, chastizing, or meant to ruffle anybody's feathers. It was to remind people how things can be misinterpreted here on the forum..it was written completely in a calming manner and meant to settle the peace.



Now, if there are any topics here other than the original topic that anyone wants to discuss..*please start a new thread in the correct forum.* Thank you.:thumbu:


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## mjothira

angelaN said:


> Ive got a 2 and a half month old baby cockatiel and I am still hand feeding him/her.. Im using a syringe with a 1 inch rubber tube and while im feeding him/her, it accidentally swallowed the rubber tube!
> Would the rubber tube be digested and the bird will be alright?
> What should I do?
> He swallowed about 5hours ago and he still seems alright..


Hi Angela,
My bird had swallowed the tube same as your case, Its just 5 hours since it swalloded, please let me know what happened to your bird, Would be great if you can reply at the earliest


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## BHAVISH

mjothira said:


> Hi Angela,
> My bird had swallowed the tube same as your case, Its just 5 hours since it swalloded, please let me know what happened to your bird, Would be great if you can reply at the earliest


Hi Angela will the cockatiel be alright because my cockatiel swallow the valve


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## Saroja

angelaN said:


> Ive got a 2 and a half month old baby cockatiel and I am still hand feeding him/her.. Im using a syringe with a 1 inch rubber tube and while im feeding him/her, it accidentally swallowed the rubber tube!
> Would the rubber tube be digested and the bird will be alright?
> What should I do?
> He swallowed about 5hours ago and he still seems alright..


Hi angela my baby cockatiel just swallowed a rubber tube just as yours. Any updates about your case. Is yourbird ok


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