# Thinking of getting a diamond dove



## Wgahles (Dec 31, 2016)

Hello, I am new to this site. I have been thinking for a long time about getting a diamond dove. My local family owned pet supply finally has them. But I am a bit cautious about diving into a new pet right now. Also we have two cats. We have a cockatiel they don't bother although they look at him occasionally. They can't really bget at him and don't try. I have been trying to find a proper sized cage and want it to be perfect. Having a bit of trouble although found one on the Walmart site that seems like it would be fine for a single small bird. Others seem to like it. On the dove websites there is almost too much info! Do I use a heating lamp or not? What kind of nesting material etc... Any help is appreciated...


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## Dotty (Nov 4, 2016)

Wgahles said:


> Hello, I am new to this site. I have been thinking for a long time about getting a diamond dove. My local family owned pet supply finally has them. But I am a bit cautious about diving into a new pet right now. Also we have two cats. We have a cockatiel they don't bother although they look at him occasionally. They can't really bget at him and don't try. I have been trying to find a proper sized cage and want it to be perfect. Having a bit of trouble although found one on the Walmart site that seems like it would be fine for a single small bird. Others seem to like it. On the dove websites there is almost too much info! Do I use a heating lamp or not? What kind of nesting material etc... Any help is appreciated...



If you get a diamond dove just make sure the cats or parrot can't get to it. Both can harm the diamond dove and doves are very fragile. Even if your cats and parrot are friendly accidents can happen.

For cages-I think a medium sized cage would be good. Not too small. But if you can afford a bigger cage and have enough space then its better.

Yeah its good to have heating lamp. They can warm up after a bath and if its cold.

For nesting material use something non-absorbent. such as Sisal, Extra-Long Coconut fiber*, Bermuda Grass and Orchard Grass (the latter two are actually made for rabbits, guinea pigs, etc, and can be found in just about any store with pet supplies).

For food give them high quality bird seed with calcium and supplements/probotics /vitamins. Sunshine is good for birds. Birds who are the house all day need either vitamin D in oral form or you can just give them some sunshine.

Also I suggest you get a tame one if you want a cuddly one. Diamond doves that have not been tamed by humans tend to be very flighty and skittish. Doves need time to trust you and it can take a lot of time to just get them to sit and eat from your hand. Also they don't like being petted or held unless they are tame.

If you don't have the option to get a tame one you can buy a bonded pair that will produce offspring. You can handle the babies and socialize them.

Make sure to give them flight time so they can exercise.

some nice sites-http://www.diamonddove.info/index.html
http://diamonddoves.webs.com/


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

As was mentioned, getting sun is important, but living where it gets cold during winter doesn't allow you to put the bird outside in the sunlight, so a calcium/D3 supplement would be good. Something like CalciBoost. Window glass and window screens block out most of the needed rays, so just putting the bird in a sunny window doesn't work.


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