# Normal fledgling dove behavior?



## mandie3385 (Jul 1, 2018)

Hey guys, 

We have a white-winged fledgling dove named Norman. (pics below). He came to us by accident and we're trying to do the best we can. I'm just looking for experienced opinions - I know it's hard to tell from an online post what's really normal or not. 


I'm estimating he's about 14-16 days old based on online photos of other fledgling doves. He's got all of his feathers, but the ones on his head and neck and under his wings are still pin-curled mostly. 


He's eating between 3-5 times a day Kaytee exact formula and just recently got interested in pecking at the mixing bowl and eating from the bowl instead of the syringe. He'll still likes the syringe but he's started pecking at the formula and eating it. He's also started lightly pecking at my keyboard on my laptop, my fingers, the table when he's eating. So I began mixing in a small pinch of Kaytee Finch Seed mix to see if he's interested. He picks them up and has maybe only swallowed one small seed.
Is this pecking normal at such a young age? 


He can fly from the sofa to other low places and truly hates his cage so he only goes in only at night and stays on my shoulder or perched on various areas around the sofa all day. I worry about him keeping warm at night so I put a heating pad under a towel on the bottom of his cage and cover it with light, soft blankets so he doesn't get too cold. My house gets to about 72 degrees at night and I don't want him to get a draft. Would the heating pad and blankets be enough or too much? He seems to stay on the perch all night instead of resting on the warm towel below. I only put the heating pad under half of the towel so he had a space if he wants to cool down but he never goes there, he just stays on the perch the whole night and poops. 
Is this normally how they sleep?

He whistles a lot before and after eating and just generally throughout the day whether I talk to him or not. It doesn't sound like an adult dove coo - it's definitely like a tiny whistle - really faint, airy, and high-pitched and you almost can't hear him at all if the TV is on. For a fledgling, is "talking" or whistling that much normal? 


Is his activity normal for his age? He just sits and perches most of the day on my shoulder, my head, my knee, the dining room table or on the high sofa cushion next to my head. He watches my screen and sits on or next to my hands when I type. He sits on or next to my hands when I write in my notebook. He attempts to fly short and small distances. 

I'm really worried about future days when I cannot be home with him. 

What's the best age/way to introduce a dove friend? I'm worried he will get lonely when I have to start a new schedule at work. I'll be out of the house for 2 days a week for 8-10 hours. That won't start until August so I'm hoping in 4 weeks he'll be weaned enough to feed himself during the day.

The first pic is him pecking the laptop as I type this. 
The others are to see his size.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

It all sounds like normal baby dove behaviour. They make the whistle sound to comunicate with their parents. If he looks fluffed up at night on his perch (cold), then rather remove the perch and let him sleep on the heating pad. Put a small mirror next to the pad, they love to see their own reflection and that is where he will probably sleeps. Always leave seeds with him in a small bowl, and you can play with the seeds to encourage him to start eating. Do the same with a small bowl of water to encourage him to start drinking.

How old was he when you got him? Sometimes they get human imprinted and won't adapt easily to other doves. Wait another six weeks or so and then get a female dove and see how things go. Then you must introduce them slowly to each other, first keep both in seperate cages next to each other and after a couple of days let them out.


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