# Nesting male concerns



## IijanPijon (Jul 8, 2013)

I have a single male pigeon who is quite attached to me. I have been making preparations to sell my current home and I have an open house every day this coming week. Today he unexpectedly started to nest in his empty bathing dish. This would normally not be a problem however I cannot be in the home to take care of him. His nesting phase goes like this: he sits in a box or bowl until I let him out. When he makes a huge dump, I know he's trying to nest and provide ample materials. He starts to build but stops, eats, and sits some more. Sometimes he will come out on his own but he prefers to guard the nest. If he's been in there for hours on end, I have to provoke him with coos to get him to come out- only then will he let out a couple big smelly poops, eat, play, and drink.

Here is my stupid queston. Will he poop and eat on his own if I'm not here? It might seem petty but I'm worried. I was busy all day and only popped my head in to check on him. When I let him out, he pooped 6 or 7 times just in a few minutes. 1 was almost all water and a few were big and smelly. A relative will be here to check on him but won't be able to handle him. He attacks other people and if forced out of the cage wouldn't act naturally like he does with me. 

Also, is there any scented plug in I can leave in the room with him? He really stinks up the room when nesting and I unfortunately do have to leave him here for 3 of the open house days.


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## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Big poops are totally normal in nesting pigeons and doves, whether they really have fertile eggs or not. They "hold it" I guess so they don't have to leave the nest while incubating (or else, so they don't poop *in* the nest). Nothing to worry about. It's perfectly normal for them to suddenly have a lot of poops when you first let them out of the cage, after sitting on a nest for a while. Also, he *will* definitely poop on his own, whether you let him out or not. So don't worry about that.

As for the smell, there's not too much you can do - other than change the paper in the cage every morning before you leave the house. A scented plug in the room would probably be OK, at least for the 3 open house days. I just wouldn't put it too close to the cage so that it makes him sick. But the same room should be OK, especially if the door is open for ventilation.


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