# Ringneck Dove and Rock Pigeon



## shadowdove23 (Jun 27, 2012)

Hello everyone!

I have had a Male Ringneck Dove, named Milkshake, for about three months. He is about nine months old. He is extremely close to me, and anyone who comes over to the house, even if it's their first time visiting. He lets be bathe him, he eats from my hand, tries to mate with anything and everything he can, and is a really happy dove. The only thing that bothers me is that during the day, when I'm at school for about seven hours, he is stuck in his cage and probably feeling lonely. He is currently in a 36 x 36 x 36 cage in the corner of my room, and is allowed out of his cage for about nine hours every day.

A good friend of my family, Paul, has come into possession of a Rock Pigeon (it's an incredibly long, sad story that I will not write so as to save some time and reading.) The Rock pigeon, named Julia, had a broken wing, and was not healed correctly (no splint) so now the wing is slightly ingrown. Flight is possible, but looks difficult for her. Anyhow, part of the long story, Paul needs to get rid of her in about a week and he doesn't have anyone to take her. She comes with a cage that could fit in the opposite side of my room in the corner, and would be about 6 feet from Milkshake's cage and they would be allowed to see each other when I'm not home and maybe talk. I would love to have this bird, and allow her free-flight when I'm home with Milkshake. 

Here's the problem. This Rock Pigeon is much larger than Milkshake which scares me a little. She is extremely friendly to people, much like Milkshake, but I am afraid of how they will act together. If they're never allowed in the same cage, and all of their time together is supervised, would this be possible? They are of the opposite sex which I think helps because normally male and male doesn't work out well. I would really like to be able to provide a home for this bird that has never really been shown one, and I would love for Milkshake to at least be able to "see" another bird, as he is our only companion animal. 

Thanks for all of your advice and comments and I would appreciate any and all ideas!


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

I think it will work out just fine as long as they don't have to share a cage and their time out is supervised. 
I have doves and pigeons and they don't bother each other. But at least in the beginning don't leave them out at the same time alone (unsupervised). If you have to put one of them up in the cage and you can alternate their time out, if you are not there.


Reti


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