# Pet dove - very annoying behaviour....



## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

I have had this pet dove for about 4/5 years now - I wont get into why I have her because its such a long story and its 2:13am at the moment and I am ready for bed 

The problem I have had for a while now is she seems to go through stages of laying eggs. This isnt the problem its what leads up to it. At the moment she lives in my room (will get onto another question after this one) and has done since we done our best to heal her. Shes happy, sunbathes at the window, sits on my head when I am about, I have a little area on top of the wardrobe for her with a towel and a mirror that she lies on and plays in the mirror and also a bath that she loves going in quite often.

Now when she goes through this stage of laying eggs, for about a week or so before she lays it she wont leave me alone, constantly flying on me and when she does she then starts making that hooting sound and shaking her wings, I think its a mating call (but obviously I am not her mate). She starts doing this also at about 7am and wont stop which is a night mare because its like an alarm clock and I work late so dont get much sleep now. I dont mind it when she does her long calls but when she does teh short mating calls and starts shaking her wings its like she is in a trance, and does it no stop for ages and its very annoying.

Is there anything I can do to help her stop laying eggs? Will the mirror be causing any problems because I have budgees and I know the males get over excited when they start playing in the mirror. Or anything I can do to stop her behaving like this?

Also is there anything for her diet that I could get her to make it a bit more enjoyable? She loves flying over when I have a sandwhich and eating the bread, I give her peas and corn now and again but mainly she just has trill. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else she can have?

Finally onto the last question, she cant fly that well, she manages to get from 1 end of the room to the other, but if she ever gets a fright and flies to one end then tries to fly back she quickly ends up on the floor as she doesnt have the muscle strength to fly properly. At the moment she lives in my room, but are there alternatives? I hate the idea of putting her outside in some sort of aviary because of the cold weather... But would she enjoy it? She has lived in doors for years it would also be lonely for her and unless I found another injured dove that couldnt recover properly she would be in there on her own for a long time.

If anyone can help me answer any of these questions it would be greatly appreciated.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

You may not think you are her mate but she thinks you are.
In the US there is a shot the vets can give birds to keep them from laying and it lasts about 4-6 months. If you have an avian vet, you might ask to see if they have it.

You can give her leafy greens, whole grain bread, minced broccoli, and minced carrots.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*She thinks you are her mate*

It may be annoying (her behavior) but you chose to take care of this bird and it is natural for her to have a mate and to lay eggs.

I would never suggest anything to make her stop laying them.

I would suggest getting her a mate so that she can have a somewhat normal life.

Bill


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Littlebird just questioned the length of time the shot lasts and recalls that it only lasts 4-5 weeks.


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

jbangelfish said:


> It may be annoying (her behavior) but you chose to take care of this bird and it is natural for her to have a mate and to lay eggs.
> 
> I would never suggest anything to make her stop laying them.
> 
> ...


I would have no problem getting her a mate. She cant have a normal life outside as she was an injured bird and never fully recovered. But what happens if I get her a mate, I would have to get some sort of accomodation for them outside wouldnt I? Then if these mate what happens to the babies? Are they stuck in an aviary or can they go outside? I dont want to risk her escaping as she is not capable of lying properly and would be an easy target for the many cats and hawks around here.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*You could keep them inside or out*

That would be up to you. They will raise young, if you allow them to and you will need to find somewhere to sell them or give them away.

If it is a native species, you can let the young go into the wild.

You can also destroy the eggs which would not be alot different than what you are doing now. It may be alittle frustrating to the birds to never have young but they will be OK.

I consider it best to let them raise young and just deal with the consequences. These consequences can even put money in your pocket and at least pay the feed bill.

Bill


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

It sounds like true love for her.
I have 7 doves right now and they are loud. You can't stop that really. I'm building an aviary outside for them to play in. I had 8 doves but I just gave the loudest, loneliest, biggest cock away to a friend who has a girl dove. Her girl has not bonded with her so she is open to having an affair. Your girl has bonded so I'm not sure she wants a regular dove mate.
Morning = coo time. Evening = coo time. Music playing? Time to coo! I love them.  
They came from an aviary where they lived outside year round in what I would call a batting cage with a roof. No shelter other than nest boxes placed chest high where wind could cut right through the wire. When I became worried about asthma and wheeled the cage into the arizona room, the babies looked uncomfortable for a few days and now they seem happy. If you decide to make an outdoor pen for her, look at all the advice in the aviary section. You MUST follow it or risk losing your bird to predators.
I'm looking forward to having an egg from the happy couple so I can broaden the diversity of my flock's gene pool. She is a wild type.


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

You know, Pirus....a mate doesn't have to be a MALE....she would likely bond with a female just as quickly and then there would be NO babies. You could get a very large flight cage for keeping them indoors and give them supervised out-time so you don't have so much poop mess. I don't advise taking a handicapped bird out side unless it is in a SECURE carrier so predators cannot harm her. She could easily live 10+ more years.....I would give her a companion of her own kind....you would both be happier.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Birds are not as fond of same sex*

They may even fight.

Over time, they may adjust to their situation but I would always recommend the opposite sex.

How would you like it if someone told you that you could have a mate as long as it was the same sex as yourself?

Birds intend to raise young and the only way that they can do this is by having a mate of the opposite sex.

Birds are known to "imprint" with a person but if you introduce them to a bird of their own kind, it does not usually take them long to forget about you as their mate and realize that they are in fact a bird.

Bill


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## philodice (Sep 30, 2007)

I disagree. I have a gay boy couple, and we see girl couples in doves and pigeons all the time. They don't seem to notice. I think that is a great idea, and they will make FAR less noise than a boy/girl couple.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Try giving them a choice*

And see what happens.

I have raised birds for over 50 years and have NEVER seen gay birds when given a choice.

I have nothing against gays, I have several gay friends.

Bill


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

There have been many posts on this forum about paired same-sex birds that are quite content with their lives. In this instance we are talking about a handicapped bird and I certainly don't recommend breeding such a hen. There are TOO MANY HOMELESS birds already in the world....we don't need to breed more unnecessarily. My advice still stands....get the hen another hen for a companion, I'm sure any creature on earth would rather share life with one of their own kind...even a same sex.....than to go through life either alone or bonded to something so totally different, like a human being. At least both hens will sit the eggs and give each other a break.....no human will do that. As for giving them a choice and they will go with opposite sex every time.....that's true.....that's nature!! But two hens will be much happier than a hen with a human mate.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

jbangelfish said:


> And see what happens.
> 
> I have raised birds for over 50 years and have NEVER seen gay birds when given a choice.
> 
> ...


Bill, Many of us have seen gay birds even when given a choice. My first two pigeons,25 years ago, were Ester and Miss Pidge. They remained a couple even after two cock birds joined our little coop. They remained together until Ester died 7 years later.


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

I actually had an injured dove of the same breed here last year, it was a female, she was not happy, fluffed herself up and wanted to attack, as did the young one.

My really tame budgee was actually happy with her and used to sit with her, sometimes even pecked her feet lol but she ignored the budgee really didnt ever harm him or anything. He has since passed away of old age 

This is a collard dove, they are quite new to the area we live in as it used to be mainly wood pigeons but over the last few years there have been loads of these collard doves appearing and are now very common here.










I would have no problem releasing the young into this area as our garden is always full of them as we put a lot of seed out in our garden, its a safe haven for blackbirds, robins, sparrows, doves, wood pigeon and them greedy starlings. There are plenty of trees about and bushes for them to nest in, I just hate living so close to the woods sometimes because them horrible hawks sometimes come into the residential area and kill the birds. I have had some horrible experiences with them in the past.

Would the bird be ok going out into the normal weather after living indoors for so many years? And are they happy being in an avary and not being able to move as much? This bird is never in any cage, my room is her room, I have had to donate my laptop to her as she decided it was hers and she loves sleeping on it at night now (the screen).

Are avairys expensive for a nice large one?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I think she would be ok if she had a mate she was happy with...one other than yourself. 
I really don't know how much it would be to build an aviary in England. Perhaps Cynthia could answer that question.


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

You said your room is her room......do you have a bare wall on one side of the room where you could build a screened in area about 6 feet wide ....floor to ceiling... and 30 inches from the back wall?? frame it out with 2x2 boards,...make sure you put in a door.....cover the frame with 1/2 inch hardware cloth and staple the wire to the frame...viola!!! you got an aviary and for only a little money.


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

I really must go to bed now lol i said an hour and a half ago I would and I am still up studying this fourm.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Amazing, I guess*

But hens sit on the eggs overnight while the males sit on them during the day. This is when the hen gets to go out to eat and to excercise.

If you have two hens, who will decide when to take care of the eggs?

Two females can certainly learn to get along and so can two males but it is not natural for them and I've never seen an instance that they would actually choose otherwise. You say you have so be it.

I still would not change my advice either so we'll leave it up to the bird owner.

The fact that a bird has sustained an injury and does not fly very well does not make it a bad breeder. This is not a genetic problem.

Many birds are pinioned and are used for breeders. It allows breeders of game birds and waterfowl to keep them in large open topped pens and they are unable to fly for their entire lives. It does not make them any less viable as breeding stock. It is a man made injury and somewhat of a cruel one but it is the practice of many large scale breeders. One method is to burn the tip of the wing off with a soldering iron or similar hot tool and another is to cut the tendon that enables them to extend their wing. I have never done it nor will I ever.

There may be a lot of birds in need of homes, I guess I don't really know. I do know that many breeds of birds are quite marketable and many people either earn their living by raising them or at least supplementing their income with the proceeds.

Crossbred birds would not be so marketable much like crossbred dogs or cats and breeding them for any purpose other than just to have and watch as your own would probably be irresponsible.

Bill


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

Good night...pleasant dreams.


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

little bird said:


> You said your room is her room......do you have a bare wall on one side of the room where you could build a screened in area about 6 feet wide ....floor to ceiling... and 30 inches from the back wall?? frame it out with 2x2 boards,...make sure you put in a door.....cover the frame with 1/2 inch hardware cloth and staple the wire to the frame...viola!!! you got an aviary and for only a little money.


I dont want her locked up, I dont like the idea of them being in a cage. I have budgees (only 2 left) 1 is on her way out through old age and when she goes the younger one will go to my auntys who has a lot of them. I wont be buying no more because I am sick of the heart ache you suffer each time one dies. Having her locked up in a cage wouldnt sort the noise problem anyway. 

The budgees have their own room at the moment, when that room is clear I hope to move her downstairs, I will move my pc down there and make a little office so that I spend a lot of time with her still, but this way at least I get to have some sleep!!


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

jbangelfish said:


> But hens sit on the eggs overnight while the males sit on them during the day. This is when the hen gets to go out to eat and to excercise.
> 
> If you have two hens, who will decide when to take care of the eggs?
> 
> ...


One thing is, when she lays the eggs, she is not bothered about them, she will lay 1 then discard it then a few days lay antoher and ignore that one too, then thats it she wont lay eggs for a while then will go through the same cycle.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

She definitely thinks you are her mate. This can be tricky, I have one pigeon who thinks she is my mate, but I finally successfully got her to choose a pigeon male as her "other" mate. When I would be around she ignored him completely , but otherwise mated with him and was quite happy with him until he passed away last winter. Now she is stuck on me again and I am trying to play cupid to get her to mate with a pigeon again.

You mentioned she liked the budgie; maybe get her a companion bird such as that to keep her company--as long as she isn't aggressive towards it. I have had many different bird "pairings" with different species....once even a dove who was in love with a tiny golf ball-sized button quail. Of course, that was a "through the wire" affair. She would probably respond well to a male dove once he began courting her, even though she most likely doesn't think of herself as a dove or know she is a dove. She undoubtedly thinks she is a person and that's why she has chosen you as her mate. This is very, very typical behavior of doves and pigeons. I think the idea of building a small flight cage in the house is great, and what I would suggest. I also think she would be happy with another female as her companion, but of course it depends on each individual dove. As for babies, if you take the egg away the day it is laid, it hasn't began growing the baby yet before it is incubated by the parents. Many of us use "dummy" (fake) eggs or simply boil the laid ones the day they are laid and replace. 

Even though she doesn't recognize herself as a bird, she will respond to other birds eventually. So you have a few options.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

jbangelfish said:


> But hens sit on the eggs overnight while the males sit on them during the day. This is when the hen gets to go out to eat and to excercise.
> 
> If you have two hens, who will decide when to take care of the eggs?
> 
> ...


The hens take turns incubating eggs just like a male/female couple would do. The difference is there are often 4 eggs.
I don't think the poster of this thread wants to go into the breeding business.
There is a tremendous burden to find enough good homes for all the needy birds already around.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Our Poppet loves John, even though she only sees him one weekend a fortnight. She shares a very large aviary with feral pigeons, homers and wood pigeons but none of them caught her/his eye (we have had no eggs). She will preen his fingers but will attack me. She gets very offended when we try to introduce other doves into the aviary and attacks them.

We have a second, small aviary for crippled doves (the ferals will attack them) and a wood pigeon that falls on his back and can't get back on his feet (the ferals attack him). We got that from Morley Aviaries. It is 8ft long and 4 ft wide, 6ft high. We bought it to use as a release aviary but then the doves arrived. It is underwired, so rats can't get in.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40jsxHTcRRw


Cynthia


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

The very first thing you can do imediately is take out the mirror. That is the first thing triggering it right there. Don't let her have another on back or have anything that she can see her reflection in.

Cindy


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I don't really don't have anything to add about helping the dove. But 

I agree that some hens will not mate with any bird you introduce them to, they are picky and sometimes it takes time-there has to be an attraction. I also agree that birds should have a choice as to which bird they mate with. However, there are birds that will mate with the same gender, doesn't matter how many birds you give them access to. A friend of mine had two male pigeons that mated with each other, and happily raised several rounds of baby pigeons for him-they made great surrogate parents.


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

Have just took the mirror away, I feel horrible now she doesnt look pleased!! Is looking over at me as if to say, give me my bloody mirror back!

Does anyone have any suggestions for anything I can give the bird to keep her entertained? Toys etc?


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

I would definitely give her a companion who looks just like her...she will think that the ''dove in the mirror'' finally joined her in the area. I think you will have no trouble introducing a dove mate. I would still suggest you keep them in a screened area in your room or give them a whole room to themselves. They love to defend their area and if you give them the free range in your room....YOU will soon be most UNwelcome.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Pirus said:


> Have just took the mirror away, I feel horrible now she doesnt look pleased!! Is looking over at me as if to say, give me my bloody mirror back!
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions for anything I can give the bird to keep her entertained? Toys etc?


I would give the mirror back and think over your options rather than react to all of our suggestions so quickly. She doesn't understand why it has been taken away and she has the whole day alone without company.


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## little bird (Aug 11, 2006)

Pirus...Charis is correct.....you will probably end up with a dozen suggestions before long and you need to study each and figure if it is right for your bird. I, too, would leave her mirror until you can give her something to replace it in her life, she will be so stressed to suddenly lose her ''friend''.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Hard to say*



Pirus said:


> I actually had an injured dove of the same breed here last year, it was a female, she was not happy, fluffed herself up and wanted to attack, as did the young one.
> 
> My really tame budgee was actually happy with her and used to sit with her, sometimes even pecked her feet lol but she ignored the budgee really didnt ever harm him or anything. He has since passed away of old age
> 
> ...


There is no real way to know if the bird would survive in the wild. It should find birds of it's own kind (we call them ringneck doves in the US) and follow their lead to forage and probably find a mate.

If you did release the bird, I would not recommend doing so except during favorable weather conditions. If the bird has become very tame, it may not do well in the wild and would look to people for it's food etc.

I would think you could build a nice flight cage for a modest sum. There are too many variables to set a price though. When caging a bird outdoors, you always have to consider the predators in your area, such as neighborhood cats, raccoons and whatever you have. If the cage is not strong enough to keep them out, the bird will not last long.

Bill


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

Shes not alone, I work on the pc from home so I am always in the room with her she has calmed down a bit since I took the mirror away, she just sits on my head or my shoulder and has a lie down. She doesnt look stressed or too bothered now. 

I think its my mum who is the "mate" really and not me. It used to be me but I went away to the usa for a few months, when I came back she was kind of shocked at who I was and even attacked me a few times. If my mum walks in the room she swoops down on her straight away, her pupils go tiny also and makes that squarking noise when she lands.

I am just a human perch for her lol


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

jbangelfish said:


> There is no real way to know if the bird would survive in the wild. It should find birds of it's own kind (we call them ringneck doves in the US) and follow their lead to forage and probably find a mate.
> 
> If you did release the bird, I would not recommend doing so except during favorable weather conditions. If the bird has become very tame, it may not do well in the wild and would look to people for it's food etc.
> 
> ...


The bird is far too tame to be released, we have had her for 4 or 5 years now and her past injuries (broken beak and damaged right wing) means she is not a good flyer and she struggles eating certain things. When she rips bits of bread off my sandwhich she struggles getting it into her mouth.

I have no problem with the bird staying here or for me to be its companion, I was just wondering if anything could be done to prevent the laying of eggs and the mating calls but if not then I will have to deal with it.

She will get her own room when the old budgee passes away and the young one moves to my auntys with all her budgees. 

We dont have foxes or racoons here, just cats and hawks, we have a dog who gets on well with the birds and hates cats so if a cat is in the garden she chases them off, next door on either side also has dogs so you dont see the cats in our garden very often, we also have 3 of them sonic sound cat deterrants.

Its clear she is going to lay eggs soon, do they like to build nests during this time as I could get some things to put down so she can start building one or would this be a bad idea?


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*They like to build a nest*

The male usually brings small twigs or pieces of hay, straw or something similar. You will have to be the male and provide these things for her. If you just put them near the nest site, she will pick them up and arrange them the way that she wants. It's good therapy.

Bill


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

Peace at last  shes laid an egg.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Pirus said:


> Peace at last  shes laid an egg.


LOL...that's fabulous news!


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

The other thing you can do is put rubber bouncy balls in her cage to help occupy her time and also white balled up paper that she can play with nothing styrofoam though Cat toys are a big #1 hit in my house with my girly pigeons and they love to toss them around their cages. The only reason why I mentioned taking the mirror away is because with parrots especially parakeets they will bond to their little buddy in the mirror and start laying eggs. Like others said try different things and go from there. If they don't work out you can always take them away. 

Cindy


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

naturegirl said:


> The other thing you can do is put rubber bouncy balls in her cage to help occupy her time and also white balled up paper that she can play with nothing styrofoam though Cat toys are a big #1 hit in my house with my girly pigeons and they love to toss them around their cages. The only reason why I mentioned taking the mirror away is because with parrots especially parakeets they will bond to their little buddy in the mirror and start laying eggs. Like others said try different things and go from there. If they don't work out you can always take them away.
> 
> Cindy


Cindy, she doesn't live in a cage. She has the freedom of the bedroom. Do you think she would play with the balls or toys if they were just placed in the place she roosts most often?


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## Jojopotato (Mar 28, 2008)

Very interesting post....

I have a dove and when I first got her she bonded with my budgie.. They were friends. I dont believe you can honestly call birds of the same sex gay.. I mean they bond and become companions aka friends.. 

Anyways I have that by placing other birds, I have a dove, a pigeon and two budgies together they become a flock. Do they breed its possible for the dove and Pigeon too and its also possible for the budgies providing they are of different sex..

as for the egg laying, my dove is sitting on one egg right now, in my plant as a matter of fact and is quite content.. I think letting her raise one batch of young is a good idea, but I also think that taking the eggs from her and placing dummy eggs in their place is a good thing..

Oh and my dove sits on her egg, night and day, because she has no one else to sit with her... She leaves the nest to feed and exercise but for the most part is sitting on the nest...

Get your dove a friend or introduce her to your budgies.. Birds like the company. 

Just my two cents...


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## Pirus (Apr 13, 2008)

I have 2 budgies left, the one that got on with her died of old age 

1 is really old and scared of anything or anyone the other one is quite similar. It went from buying budgees to raise as pets to buying them as i felt sorry for them and they ended up being quiet anti social.

The pigeon and dove are in the same room together.

I am hoping they get along, if they do I can get them a nice aviry outside.


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## Jojopotato (Mar 28, 2008)

Sounds like a great plan I hope they do get along....


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