Need some help, new Diamond Dove owner here!

[MellyBelly]

Hey everyone!

 

A week ago from today I went to a local pet shop here called Bird Cage with the interest of picking up a diamond dove. My first ever pet bird

The store worker gave me some information on what cage and food I should have, and told me it was mandatory that I buy two. So I got all that taken care of.

I now have two, seriously scared out of their mind doves. I can't go near their cage or offer my hand inside without them running in terror and hurting themselves running into the cage bars. I don't think they were worked with at all in that pet shop, so from what I can tell I'm dealing with pretty much wild birds.

 

I don't know where to start on getting them to realize I'm not trying to hurt them. When the male gets tired sometimes he will step up on my finger for a couple seconds, but once he realizes its my hand hes back to running away. The female wants nothing to do with me completely. I'm scared to try working with them on the small room technique I read up on, because when I have one out it will start breathing really fast and hard and go still, and I dont feel like I'm making any progress.

 

Is there anyone out there who could offer me some advice so that I can relax these scared birds? All they do all day is sit in a fluffy ball and stay still, and they rarely coo

[SRSeedBurners]

Well, I have fantail pigeons that are related to doves and my first bird was a wild caught baby pigeon...

 

 

We were given two fantails because the owner no longer wanted to take care of them and they were living in a small box which I couldn't just leave them there. I built a small 8'x8' aviary onto our barn where they now live and have since hatched out two identical babies that look just like mom & pop. Anyway, they are as wild as you describe your doves. I worked with them for a while and seemed to make some progress with the male but the female is still very flighty and will only get near me when I start withholding food which I do at times because they get so fat they can't fly anymore. I finally gave up taming them and just let them be wild pigeons.

 

Your birds will need persistent messing with and I would advise withholding their food just a bit to get them eating out of your hands. That's what I did to get mine to come around. Pigeons/doves aren't like parrots that need free feeding, fliers and pigeon fanciers DO NOT offer free feed for these types of birds, they WILL overeat to their own detriment. Professional pigeon keepers usually only feed as much as the brood will eat in 5-10 minutes and then no more for the rest of the day. I don't advise that for pets, only trained fliers if you know what you're doing. But for birds you're trying to settle, 2-3 times a day offer them as much as they will eat out of a pan with your hands in the pan....and then transition to feeding from your palms. You might want to find a good pigeon mix too, pigeons/doves like whole kernels, not chopped kernels and you have to provide a grit for them as well.

 

Check out 'Pigeon Talk' over at pigeons.biz. It's a very old forum, which I've been a member on for a while. They know ever damned thing about pigeons, rock doves etc..... This is really a parrot forum and specific to African Greys.

[MellyBelly]

Thank you so much! Seriously!

I'll head over to that forum.

I just took their bowl of food out, I'm really glad you told me. The lady working at the pet store seemed to have no knowledge of them other than the fact they need a partner.

I love your story about the fantails, you seem to know and care alot about birds

[Greywings]

Do remember that both

doves and Pigeons are dinner for many animals and birds of prey so my recommendation is not to push them for contact. Give them some time to see you are not a threat you need to go slowly and win their trust. Food is a strong motivator but so is sitting quietly next to their cage and talking softly to them.