# Proud newbie, and a Noisy male ringneck dove



## mana122 (Jun 20, 2009)

Hey, everyone. I'm brand new to the forum, and brand new to pet Doves as well. A woman was selling her two lovely birds as her child is now old enough to start banging o nthe cage and scaring the birds.

I took the pretty things off her hands, and am so excited about them!

They're a male and female ringneck. Even though they just moved, they have healthy appetites ( though she had them on a parakeet mix... I'm going to start introducing some wild bird seed in there too, and see how that goes), and I think the female ( decidedly named Hope) is about to start laying eggs... eep~!

Now, I have a few concerns: The male (currently unnamed) is awfully noisy, cooing, bowing, and laughing ( and I love it, don't get me wrong!) but my neighbors may start objecting. Is there a way to calm him down a bit, and show his love for his mate in a slightly softer tone?

Also, what are some good, healthy treats for the birds? I've read dark greens, hard boiled eggs mushed up (with shells) and shredded cheese among other things. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Mana122 and welcome to Pigeon-Talk! Ringneck doves are wonderful birds, and I know you will greatly enjoy them.

There isn't much you can do about the male vocalizing and strutting his stuff. Hopefully the neighbors won't mind.

Doves and pigeons usually love to bathe so provide them with a bath pan a couple of times a week. This will help keep them parasite free and keep the feathers in excellent condition. A small cat litter box or even a cake pan will work for a bath tub.

We would love to see some pictures of your new family members if you are able to post some.

Terry


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

yes the male can be annoying in time, it was with me I will have to admit. watching tv and talking on the phone became hard to do, so now I have three hens and one coos a bit and not loud so it is perfect, when hen lays and they take turns sitting the eggs the cooing will lesson, untill the next time in which the cooing comes back full force. my birds don't know what a bath is!...they are special that way so I have to give them one, never thought that would ever happen as my pigeons are water freaks, I guess they just have never had one before they came to my house. anyway, you may want to get some ear plugs, but other than that they are gentle pretty creatures, and can be so cute to watch. you will want to get you a dove mix feed/seed from the pet store for the doves, all the things you mentiond are good. and the high calcium grit needs to be in there too, kaytee makes one for smaller birds that is good for doves.


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## mana122 (Jun 20, 2009)

Arg! it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to work nights, but he keeps me up by cooing in two tones without pause... it's driving me crazy! I can't wear ear plugs, because I have to hear my phone incase of an emergency at work. Any suggestions to calm him down, or do I have to give away the male already?


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## mana122 (Jun 20, 2009)

I'd like to say he's not just cooing, iether. he's practically crowing. It;'s /very/ loud.... Arg! Help!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

mana122 said:


> I'd like to say he's not just cooing, iether. he's practically crowing. It;'s /very/ loud.... Arg! Help!


sorry there is nothing you can do, I know exactly how you feel. some male doves have louder cooings than others, all of them have their own coo call, some are not as loud as others. you may try covering the cage at night to keep it dark, he may stop then, but mine would coo untill i turned off all the lights in the house, even the tv light was enough for him to start cooing all over again, sometimes I would count 20 coo calls at a time....to be honest it was really hard to take after awhile, I think having two or three hens is the ticket.


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## mana122 (Jun 20, 2009)

I really can't keep more than the two birds. Can I separate them? My only solution may be to give him away, but I'd like to keep the hen.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

mana122 said:


> I really can't keep more than the two birds. Can I separate them? My only solution may be to give him away, but I'd like to keep the hen.


unfortunatly doves do not do well as single birds, she would need a mate, whether that is another hen or a male bird, perhaps someone would be willing to trade a hen for a male, that is the only thing I can think of. try covering the cage with a dark sheet, see if that helps.


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

yeah, ringnecks are surprisingly loud for such lovely little things.... we have 6 that we inherited when a science center needed to place them. I have pigeons, and they are very quiet by comparison! 

The doves do quiet down somewhat when it is dark, although I have to admit that they occasionally break out into loud, inexplicable cooing/crowing at 2 a.m., when no light is present at all. They go crazy if the tv is on. 

Everyone in our household has gotten quite used to it, and they rarely even annoy us mildly now, but it took a bit of acclimating on our end. Once in a while, one will break out with a new noise that makes us all laugh.

If you have a mated pair, please don't separate them --- they generally mate for life, and would be better off adopted out together. If you do that and then still want a bird, pigeons are much quieter in general and make terrific pets. Even they can coo quite a bit, but it doesn't have the volume or piercing quality that the doves have.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

How about wearing ear plugs and keeping your phone on vibrate next to your pillow? 

They will be quiet when covered generally. . .but you can't cover them all day and then let them up at night as they need sunlight to be healthy. A lot of the cooing settles down once there are eggs. Much of the cooing and courting is done before the eggs come, and then they both settle down and take over sitting on the eggs, which takes precedence over the ridiculous amount of cooing the male does.  But they will still make some noise. Good luck!


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