# Taming ferals.



## Technobot (Oct 11, 2008)

Well, i was wondering about taming a feral pidge, and winning it over so to speak by offering it good food, water, warm comfy place to live, and grooming (comes a little later) the only thing is the pidgey would have to be kept indoors for some time till it becomes used to you and understands your benign nature.

I've caught skinks and lizards, geckos in the past and tamed them, once they realised i had no intent to prey upon them, they become very easy to handle, though i never was good at keeping lizards, i would have to let them go before they get lost.
speaking of which i lost a Verraux's Skink last week, I'm still sad about it since i think it may have died in the bathroom drain.

I know that lizards are different to Birds in terms of trauma, memory, trust, and bonding, for one thing lizards don't suffer shock attacks, and that makes sense, since they often drop their tail when attacked and escape.

But yeah, this is for now just a theory.

as we all know Pigeons need to fly to keep in a good mood, taming a feral is possible and not really cruelty, since i would be talking about capturing the kind of ones that hang around poor environments, don't eat well, smell like a bird cage and have poor epidermal health and dander.
in other words i see nothing wrong with taming a feral pigeon if the standard of living you offer it greatly outweighs its former life style.
I discourage capturing birds that have been wild all their life, and that are getting along just fine and perfectly healthy and happy.


----------



## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Taming a pigeon seemed easy. Give them food and they go crazy. Those ferals are unlike other wild birds. Pigeons seemed to be people friendly. Wild birds usually are so cautious.

Are you thinking of catching ferals to take care of? How about adopting those lost pigeons from a rehab sites or animal shelter? I think that if no one claims them (as in animal shelter) or no one adopts them, those birds may have been euthanize.


----------



## Technobot (Oct 11, 2008)

well more like catching a feral to adopt as a pet.
but i think its only okay to do that if the pigeons current lifestyle isn't very healthy for it ie
eating junk food scraps in a food court.

are there any east coast Australian shelters for pigeons?


----------



## Michael J Buden (Oct 23, 2008)

I would be interested to know how you get on. In my experience once a bird is about 6 months and older teaching it to be calm etc is a very hard if not impossible task to do.
Food and no food I think is the answer. My mad hatters ate out of my hand when this was practised but never became tame.

Wish you luck.


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

We don't recommend people catching healthy happy feral pigeons just to keep as pets. They are God's creatures, and although many are living in not the best conditions, many are happy and healthy. We do not object to helping lost or hungry or injured birds, we always give them a helping hand. Pigeons also live in flocks and it is in their best interest to do so. They find protection in numbers and also are very socail birds.

You could help a handicapped bird in need of a home. They do get tame after some time, feeding them from your hand is one sure way to become best friends. I have several hand raised birds, from day one, (not by choice, the mom deserted them) They are very much pets and fly to my shoulder, even though they live with other birds that are not so tame. But once I bring out some peanuts, they all act like tame/pet birds .


----------



## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

I would definitely discourage anyone from catching a feral pigeon to keep as a 'pet'. They do have a kind of affinity with humans, which your native pigeons and doves probably do not, but they are still wild birds in most ways. 

It is unfortunate that the pigeons usually have a short life span and many just don't get sufficient natural diet or the right conditions to keep them very healthy, but I would not catch one unless it was obviously sick or injured and unable to survive without help. 

There may be exceptions, I guess, but my experience is that ferals generally don't get tame. I have had numerous pigeons in due to illness, needing to be isolated, or whatever and none of them has become 'tame'.

I have had three, temporary residents until they can go in our unreleasables aviary, for several weeks but though perfectly tolerant and unafraid most of the time, will freak out somewhat if I put a hand near them. I'm in and out, cleaning up after them, changing theri bedding and food etc., and they have plenty of indoor free time, but they are (and will remain) 'wild' pigeons with a pigeon's outlook on everything.

The other thing, of course, is that an adult pigeon introduced into a household will not really be 'happy' on his/her own - they are social birds and like to have other pigeons around. 

John


----------



## tuxedobaby (Sep 9, 2008)

we have a flock of feral who we feed and care for,some are pretty tame and hand feed and come close to us,knowing our voices,i would not capture any unless for medical reason,if it was poorly etc,they like to be in a group so i think it is best to leave them be,by all means look after them but i think they prefer the wild


----------

