# Diamond Dove Diet - Eating Only Millet?



## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

Hello Folks,

*Background Info:*

So I have two diamond doves, a male and a female, and I can't tell if they are eating anything other than the millet in their food bowl. The female was housed alone for a while until I got her a mate, they aren't quite 'bonded' yet but they are becoming more tolerant of each other. After introducing them both to a new cage she finally doesn't attack him anymore. He isn't quite there yet with the whole courting thing. He doesn't display or bow coo yet but his eye ring is much larger than hers and he does tremble in her presence when he starts to make a few coos at her. She makes the same coos as he does but in a slightly lower volume. I think he's just young and needs a little bit before he fully matures. 

*Anyway:*

Both of them seem to only be interested in the white millet in their diet. It's the only seed type that I can visually see is absent after a day or two in their bowl. Whenever I fill the bowl up (everyday for the most part), they go over and start throwing the seeds everywhere, all over the cage floor and surrounding area. Once they've dug out all the seeds they were after they'll examine the cage floor for the seeds they want and then after that they'll peck here and there but mostly seem uninterested. Typically there is still a lot of leftover food that they won't even touch or think about eating. After a week the floor is pretty littered with food and I clean it out. It seems like an extremely wasteful process and I am worried their nutrition is suffering because of it. I don't wait more than a day or two to add more food because I'm terrified they'd starve before trying something new. I never fill their bowl to the brim, I usually only fill it 1/4th of the way up so that they aren't knocking out and wasting so much food each day. Their food bowl is big enough for three birds to comfortably sit in so 1/4th is still plenty of food. 

The stuff I'm feeding them is Kaytee Forti-Diet parakeet food. 

Here's a link for exact ingredients:
(http://www.petmountain.com/product/...kaytee-forti-diet-egg-cite-parakeet-food.html)

I know people have weighed their birds in the past to determine if they are malnourished but both my birds are as fast as lightening and I don't really own a scale. They aren't as fat as I've seen some diamond doves in stores before nor are they particularly skinny, they seem to be normal weight and are both very active and alert on a daily basis. They also have access to grey grit everyday and I've seen the female eat it quite often. The male I've only had for about a month and I haven't noticed him trying any yet. 

Thoughts? Opinions? All help is greatly appreciated!

Eric

Here are some pictures of them: The male is the whiter one.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I would get millet sprays and let them work harder to get it ( like in the wild)offer the other seeds and grains in a food dish. You can give the millet sprays a few days a week and secure to the cage near a perch or low to the floor but off the floor. I would look into offering Harrison's high potency fine a round very small pellet that is all organic to offer in the feed dish to cover what grains and seeds lack, calcium being one. Also, over feeding makes for picky eaters, with bigger birds I offer feed and do not add anymore until it is almost gone. But with these little guys you may want to not deprive them too long. Because of their metabolism ,being a small more fragile bird than say a pigeon.

Also a feed dish that has a smaller opening can keep them from scattering it as much,an homemade one can be a cleaned out small butter tub, turn it upside down and cut a hole in the bottom about the size of a silver dollar, offer feed in that almost full, they can sling it it but it stays in the tub. Those throw away used for left overs plastic ware works good too


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## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

Spray millet sounds like a good idea, I'll definitely check it out next time I'm at the pet store. As for Harrisons High Potency Fine, are you sure Harrisons High Potency Superfine might not be a better idea because of it's tiny size? The diamond doves seem reluctant to eat anything bigger than millet so I figure the superfine might be a better bet (as it may be roughly the same size as the millet). It's hard to gauge the grain size based on the stock images though. 

*Side-note: *Although if I do order the fine and it's too big for the diamonds I'd imagine giving some to my ringneck wouldn't be the worst idea right? She's currently eating Kaytee dove fortified daily diet. (http://www.petco.com/product/5460/Kaytee-Supreme-Daily-Blend-Dove-Food.aspx) The picture on the bag I use is of a ringneck though, not a diamond dove. 

I agree with being careful about letting their food source dwindle for too long. My ringneck dove and my pigeons were a bit picky at first when I kept their bowls full. Now that I feed the pigeons once a day and wait for the ringneck to finish his bowl after a day or two, I've cut waste back almost completely for them. The longest I've given the diamond doves is two days (with plenty of non-millet food still in their bowls) and they only seemed to peck a little here and there. I don't watch them 24 / 7 though and they are reluctant to eat in front of me so it's hard to figure out what they're doing. I just know that when the bowl is full and my back is turned I can hear them shifting around for food loudly and then towards the end of the day or the next day I only hear them pecking around every so often at the floor. 

The tub food bowl sounds like a good idea. I'll also have to look into doing that too. 

Thanks for the info!

Eric


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## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

your doves look in good condition. I give mine blue maw, egg food, white perilla and plenty of grit which they enjoy with the mixed millets. A bit of greens such as basil and cabbage is also good for them if they recognise it as food.


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## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

kalel said:


> your doves look in good condition. I give mine blue maw, egg food, white perilla and plenty of grit which they enjoy with the mixed millets. A bit of greens such as basil and cabbage is also good for them if they recognise it as food.


Awesome, thank you! Does the grit have to be specifically for diamond doves? I have been giving all my birds pigeon-grit but the diamond doves don't seem as interested as the pigeons or my ringneck dove. My ringneck isn't over the moon with the grit but she'll peck through it from time to time and slowly it dwindles down but the diamond doves barely touch it at all. I've seen the female shift through it on a few occasions which leads me to believe she does use it from time to time but I've never seen the male go near it. 

Thanks again for the info!

Eric


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## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

No I just use a columbine pickstone like on here.
http://www.junglegold.com/orlux-pic-bloc-350g-p-253.html
http://www.junglegold.com/colombine-pickstone-p-320.html
My birds peck at both and eat both, but the pic bloc is softer so easier for them to break up.


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## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

Gotcha, Thanks for the info / links!

Eric


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## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

I give linseed to my dove in addition to his usual seed mix; he was sick for a very long time and it has bulked him up a lot.


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## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

I'll definitely have to get some and add it to their mix. Do you recommend not adding more food until they've finished what they already have? I feel like that would help diversify their diet and save seeds. I'm just worried about them starving themselves rather than eating what is presented to them.

Eric


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## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

I'm not sure, I over feed I think. I change the seed if I think its soiled, or at least once a week otherwise.

My dove gets a canary seed mix, mainly millet and grit, and I mix this with a seed mix called `canary tonic' - it adds brown and black seeds, wild grass seeds, and linseed. In the canary tonic mix, he likes the black seeds that look like poppy seeds, and the linseed the best. Millet is his favourite of course, but he didn't start to bulk up until I gave linseed.

I haven't tried limiting pigeon or dove food to get them to eat everything.


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## Szulptist (Jul 19, 2014)

I appreciate your insights. I suppose I'll find out if the linseed will work once I pick some up. Thanks again for all the info!

Eric


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