# Wild baby dove is active at night and grit poop



## Pelusita (Mar 21, 2021)

I was going to make this post in the wild and feral pigeons forum but since my dove is not native to north america, I think the post belongs here. Also, sorry for my bad english, its not my mothertongue but I will try my best haha

Okay lets get started.
A month ago or so I rescued Nino, a 13 days old dove (zenaida auriculata). He was and is a very happy and active baby. He is doing great. He is now 1 month and three weeks old, or so. He already learnt how to find food and water (Im planning to release him, dont worry about that, I'm an online volunteer at a bird refugee and I know when the bird is domesticated or not, but anyways Nino is going to be released with other doves at the refugee <3) But there are two things that are concerning me.

He practice his flying in a secure place. But at night he seems to be really active and he starts trying to fly in his cage, he makes a lot of sound and wake up the whole family, he will kill us from a heart attack! hahaha What is happening to him? He wasnt like that when he was a baby. He needs more hours outside the cage? Even if Im a volunteer at the bird refugee, he is the first baby that Im raising, the theory and the practice are two different things!

The other thing is that I started giving him grit two days ago. His poop changed when I started with the grit, is that normal? I know that poop changes depending on what the bird eats, but I dont know if I should continue with the grit. They are not watery (or maybe just a liiiiitle more watery than usual) and they still have a nice form but the color is a lighter brown, and sometimes is a really dark green poop. Urates look nice and white. I dont see any undigested seed or grit.
He eats seeds and his poops usually are brown-dark brown. I'm not worried at all because he is really happy and active, flying all around, but I want to learn more! 

Also here you have a picture of this little boy <3


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Pigeons and doves prefer to sleep in a high spot off the ground at night for safety reasons. Maybe he feels insecure in the cage when it gets dark and that's why he is getting more active. Put the cage on a cupboard and see if there's an improvement. Otherwise let him out to choose his own sleeping spot.

Grit will change the dropping. They need grit for digestion and it also contains essential minerals they need. You can add some apple cider vinegar to his drinking water twice a week. 5 ml acv to 1 litre of water. Keeps the good gut bacteria in place.


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## Pelusita (Mar 21, 2021)

Marina B said:


> Pigeons and doves prefer to sleep in a high spot off the ground at night for safety reasons. Maybe he feels insecure in the cage when it gets dark and that's why he is getting more active. Put the cage on a cupboard and see if there's an improvement. Otherwise let him out to choose his own sleeping spot.
> 
> Grit will change the dropping. They need grit for digestion and it also contains essential minerals they need. You can add some apple cider vinegar to his drinking water twice a week. 5 ml acv to 1 litre of water. Keeps the good gut bacteria in place.


Sadly I cant let him out. It was really hard to convince my mom to have him until his release and I have a dog. So I only let him out in the bathroom from 10 am to 4-5 pm, when my mom isnt at home and I can supervise him and my pet. Also my room is insecure for a bird, he is still young and his flight is better each day but not good enough yet, he can hurt himself because he would fly in the dark. My friend's bird did that and he got hurt in the head, Im afraid that the same thing will happen to Nino if I let him out in the darkness😭 The cage is in a high place and he even have a branch inside it but he just doesnt sleep or he wakes up suddenly. He have some soft light (that helped to calm him down a little) but he stills try to fly. The other day he actually slept a lot so I dont know why he sometimes sleeps and sometimes he doesnt

Thank you about the grit and the vinegar tip!


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