Here's my official first pet dove, we think he's a boy.

So a little back story, I am a vet tech and one of the docs i work with sees birds (mostly wild birds, not pets) and people drop off injured birds at work. So this little fella was found at a park unable to fly and i fostered him for a weekend since he needed injectable meds and we have no staff to do it at work during weekends (hospital is closed) He had spots where he had wounds and bald spots, which are now healed and growing feathers.

After awhile, i officially decided to adopt and take care of him. Since the doc said he looked very well after the weekend i had him and he kept asking me if im taking him. Lol

So here we are now, he is currently molting and it scared me cause i thought he's sick but after seeing some posts here i guess its normal.

I am learning so much about him and doves of his kind in general but if you guys have any tips or advice for a new dove owner i am down to soak my brain with info. Lol

Also, if he looks like a she, please let me know. I am having trouble sexing Snowflake because of it being white.

Thank you if you made it this far. ❤️

Can anyone offer any advice?
My sweet girl Phoebe is very interested in nest building, we have plenty of materials for her. However she won’t stop trying to build it on my partners head 😭 at first it was cute but she just won’t stop all day. We have tried to encourage her to build elsewhere by putting sticks etc in other places she likes to perch/ in her cage. (She free flies all day but does have a cage). Any tips would be greatly appreciated ☺️

This is Nina bird. She is my heart.

Hello,

I've had a male Collared Dove since late may, but just recently I got another one, who is most likely a female.

They live in a 106 x 69 x 77 dog crate. From what I saw it is a bit under the recommended size, but most of the days I let them roam free in my room for several hours, so they don't sit in it 24/7.

There's one question I have. Do you think this setup is okay? I'm attaching photos of how it looks but just to point out, they have:

- Three metal bowls (seed mix, grit, water)

- Soft blanket flooring from which I clean droppings everyday

- Two branch perches attached to the walls

- One wooden platform with a blanket on it

- Elevated nest with a soft pillowcase inside

- Foraging basket with toys and sprays

- A metal swing with a wooden base

Soon they will also have a bowl with calcium, but I just ordered, so I am waiting for it to arrive.

ALSO they usually have a big bathing bowl but for now the female has wounded her head and the vet told me to take it away for now.

Hello everyone. I joined this group after finding a baby white-winged dove on the ground. I couldn’t locate his nest, so I took it upon myself to raise him. I’ve had birds before, but this little guy was so special. I became attached to him almost immediately. He needed frequent feedings as a baby, and I loved watching his little wing shakes whenever he ate.
As he grew up, he became my little companion. He was always perched on my head or shoulders, or sitting on my computer while I studied. Then he learned to sing and dance, and waking up to his little songs became one of my favorite parts of the day. He came into my life during a really difficult time and meant the world to me. I thought we would have so much more time together.
I had a 12-hour clinical on Saturday, and when I came home, he had passed away. I’m completely devastated. His seeds are still scattered everywhere, and there are even little droppings stuck to some of my furniture. All these tiny traces of him are still here, but he isn’t. I can’t imagine how quiet the mornings will be or how I’m supposed to get used to studying without him beside me.
His body is currently in the freezer because I haven’t been able to decide what to do. I can’t bring myself to bury him, and I don’t want to cremate him. His feathers were so soft and beautiful, and he had that lovely little bird smell. It breaks my heart knowing I’ll never get to hold him close and sniff him again.
I want to make a beautiful memorial for him, but I don’t know where to start or who to reach out to. Trying to look things up myself has been too painful. I appreciate taxidermy, but I don’t know whether seeing my own baby that way would be comforting or too difficult.
If anyone has ideas for a gentle, meaningful way to remember him, or would like to share what they’ve done for their own birds, I would really appreciate it. He was such a special little soul, and I just want to do something that feels right for him.

so im honestly not sure how much food to offer or anything like that. i usually fill their bowls a bit and sprinkle a little around for them to find every few days. but i feel like my Eurasian collared dove is getting chunky!! obviously i dont want this, i worry im overfeeding but i try not to. do i feed just a meal a day? how do I portion their food? im newer to birds.

BTW we ended up getting blue a friend so... meet honey!! i actually found a dove breeder 3 hrs away from me and was able to make the drive!

also today is cleaning day. until theyre more hand trained i do weekly cleans not daily spot cleans to lower stress, thats why theres so much poop on that stick, thats her poop stick.

I adopted two rescue ring necked doves several weeks ago. They came from a hoarding situation in which they were in a small cage with ~16 other birds.

They are timid and won't let me get near them. They won't eat anything I hand them. They even shake sometimes. I want to let them out of the cage but I haven't yet because I'm worried I won't be able to catch them to get them back in, or that I'll upset them more. Luckily their cage is big, but still:(

I got spray millet and they still won't come closer when I hold it out. This week is the first week I've seen them really foraging and/or playing though so that is some progress overall.

Any advice would be amazing

As I was sliding in the tray that holds the paper below my birds' cage, my dove's leg slipped between the floor bars, got caught by the tray and snapped in half. (See X-ray photo)

I rushed him to the vet's office. Eight hours and $900 later, they were able to put his leg in a splint, and they told me that although he'll likely recover enough to continue his life as a pet, he probably will never be able to walk the same way again.

I wanted to make this post as a warning to the community. When you're sliding in your cage's paper tray, make sure you do it very slowly so your birds' legs and toes don't get caught!

Also, if your birds have leg bands, watch out that there are no spaces between the bars or their accessories where their leg bands can get caught. The vet told me that's another common way that small birds break their legs when they thrash around trying to escape.

I wanted to ask, has this ever happened to anyone else here? I feel like it's a very poor design that most bird cage's trays go right up to the floor bars with no gap.

Are there any other frustrating or dangerous cage designs or bird accessories that you've seen and had to replace or DIY a solution to?

Edit: Brevity/Clarity

10/19/26 Edit Edit: Wow, thank you everyone for the support and advice. I was blown away by how many people commented and offered advice and encouragement. Thanks for sharing your stories and solutions and helping me with mine.

Jokes aside, whats going on with my ringneck dove? He never made that sound that long, maybe only once when he sneezes. Is he having a super loong sneeze attack? Hes currently molting

I just got a new pet dove two days ago, and basically ever since we put him in his new home he has not stopped cooing. While we are home, while we try talking to him, even all night long. He coos 24 hours a day. We even have a camera on him to watch when we aren't home and he is STILL cooing. Is he just scared in his new home? Is there anything we can do to reduce the cooing to reasonable amounts? We cover him at night, he has no mirrors, and he is not bonded. He is getting no sleep because of the cooing.

Please let me know!

Edit- He has stopped cooing at night now that he's settled in!

hey everyone! this is bluey, my diamond dove. i rescued him from a coworker a little bit ago (they definitely didn't know how to care for him, as they only got one dove and he was in a really small cage). i know they're very social creatures, but unfortunately my living situation doesn't allow me to get another dove, as im going to be moving soon and i won't have the space. so he really needs a new home with other diamonds. im located in NJ but im willing to travel out of state to meet somebody if need be. if anyone even remotely nearby has an open spot in their diamond dove flock, please consider this sweet boy. he's super talkative and spunky and i feel awful that i can't give him the proper environment to thrive in.

Just some info I found this guy 20 days ago give or take and I’ve been taking care of them (I thought it was a pigeon but I’m assuming it’s a dove now) one of his eyes seems enlarged if functions normally but I’m slightly concerned

Kevin wants to build a nest, she loves her pink socks to lay down but I haven't found a proper material for her to build one. Already tried with small sticks ( didn't like them) tried with yarn (fail) . She has tried building a nest with my hair so that might be a clue. Anyone with an inca dove that can help us please? 🥹

Thanks!!

Hi, I had 4 diamond doves, unfortunately I just learnt one of them has died during the night inside the cage. I'm personally not home, but my mother and I think he might have died from physical trauma. He struggled to fly because of his missing feathers and not being used to flying since his previous owner kept him in a small cage. We think he might have knocked himself hard on something.

He had gone to the vet not too long before and everything was fine, so we don't think it's disease related. However since, the dove he was paired with isn't reacting, it has just been sitting at the bottom of the cage, and I'm so scared he lets himself die. What could I do to help him?

To note, I have another pair in the cage with him, and my mother did tell me one of them was sitting right next to him for a while. I'm just so scared to lose another one, he hasn't been reactive to being touched either

EDIT: My mother has made me aware the other dove unfortunately passed away too shortly after. I think he unfortunately couldn't endure his partner's death. I'll make sure to monitor the other surviving pair

Hi! Looking for some input hopefully from someone who has experience with owning both. I am choosing between either a ring neck or old German owl pigeon. Either would be DNA confirmed female, and very tame. Both breeders tame their babies young. But I can't decide which would fit best for me. Do either of them have a difference in temperament? Are either more territorial than the other when nesting? How loud are female doves vs female pigeons? Tell me all the things!