# I'm afraid of my dove injuring itself?!



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Not sure that this belonged in an emergency section or not but today and yesterday she's started doing this. Only happened so far after dinner. She's her usual self otherwise.
http://youtu.be/K7D8gC0vMb0 

I took her out to try to calm her down and turned off the lights and television. She's bent a few feathers.

I covered her cage.
It's as if she sees a ghost.

If anyone has any possible explanation or way to calm her down?
The video doesn't show the worst she's thrashing around and into cage bars.


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

From what I've heard from other sources it looks like he/she just wants out.
But it looks like she panics when she wants out? I wish I could get into her brain.
She has a bent covert feather on her left wing which she hasn't dealt with yet. Is this going to affect her much?

I've started covering her around 7-8ish so she gets Atleast 11hrs of sleep and wakes up when my mother comes home from work around 7:30am (she works nights but thank goodness the cooing doesn't disrupt her morning sleep or evening naps(good thing I didn't get a large parrot instead)).


----------



## kalel (Oct 14, 2008)

hello after watching the video it does look like she wants out. I don't think the bent feather will affect her much should just naturally fall off in the moult. Does she have anytime out of the cage at all?


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Yeah she does and will have more in the future. I'm cleaning up the basement and getting that ready for her as an exercise and training room. Also the place my mother works sometimes she can get free lumber but limited amounts. We have 10 6ft 2x4 planks so far and she said she might be able to get more tonight but doubts it. In the future we will be building a small outdoor aviary (or is it more like a run? I don't know nothin' about anything) where Dakota will still be supervised (dogs, crows, and possibly hawks are out there) but have more space to do whatever. She'll still live with us inside most of the time. We're also getting her a bigger cage probably next month. 

Speaking on the part about predators, my neighbor has this small to mid sized dog ( judging by sound, he was behind a fence and my Vision is borderline legally blind but he could probably see us). I took her cage out to enjoy the sun and fresh air on a day I thought was going to be nice and not drafty (although in mich the craftiness and weather in general changes so quickly) I was about to take her in when she was cold and complaining when that dog started barking mad. Dakota didn't even seem to flinch. She kept her cool better than I did.

Also it seems like she got the feather.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

How much time does she get out of the cage to fly and exercise? It's a long day in a cage all by yourself.


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> How much time does she get out of the cage to fly and exercise? It's a long day in a cage all by yourself.


A couple hours or more . She doesn't really exercise though or fly much even though she can fly and get some distance (clipped but molting, I've seen her fly a good distance when she would get out of her cage which was before she trusted me). If I don't try to entice her to walk/run around a bit she would either stare at her reflection in the glass door or the plastic around the poster board we use to block the kitchen, or preen herself/my arm. The only time she gets a workout is when it's time to go in (which I've thought about using to my advantage when it comes to getting her to exercise   but I'd prefer a more polite alternative. I think Dakota thinks of it as a game anyway as she only runs when I try to pick her up, otherwise she's fine around me (especially when I have food in my hand)). 

But like I said earlier my basement is getting prepped which means more frequent out time in a room I don't have to worry too much about setting up and setting back.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If you let her out later in the day, then just turn the lights out to darken the room, you wouldn't have to chase her. Most won't fly in the dark as they can't see. Just pick her up.


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> If you let her out later in the day, then just turn the lights out to darken the room, you wouldn't have to chase her. Most won't fly in the dark as they can't see. Just pick her up.


She doesn't really fly unless she's really scared and wants to get away. She just doesn't care to fly. I can grab her pretty quick though with or without light.


----------



## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Looks like she just wants more exercise. I'd give her more time out of the cage and I would definitely *not* clip her wings again. If you want her to be tamer, I would avoid grabbing her. Just get her to perch freely on your hand, without restraining her. The more time you spend with her when she out of the cage, the tamer she will get. Just let her walk around freely - don't chase her - let her come to you when she is ready. Do something calm like watch TV, work on the computer, read etc in the same room. But remember, she needs time to "explore" on her own so you can't expect her to sit with you all the time.

As for sleep, 11 hours is probably too much. There's really no need to cover her cage. She will sleep when you do and "catch up" during the day when no one is home.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

At the end of the time out, she needs to go back in her cage. She isn't going to perch freely on a hand to go back in her cage. You need to pick her up to put her back in. Picking her up to do that won't hurt anything. Some birds will just go back in, but some won't.


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> At the end of the time out, she needs to go back in her cage. She isn't going to perch freely on a hand to go back in her cage. You need to pick her up to put her back in. Picking her up to do that won't hurt anything. Some birds will just go back in, but some won't.


Yeah she doesn't (or he doesn't) just go in freely. I've gotten better at picking her up and she is getting better about calming down after I do. I used to feel guilty picking her up like that but now I know her well enough and she knows me well enough that now it's more like a game we play. I've learned just not to stress it and how to pick her up quickly and comfortably. My mother is impatient and a little less gentle. She likes both of us but only willingly comes to the cage door for me.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

She'll get used to the fact that you will pick her up and put her back if she doesn't put herself back. That may get her to go in by herself eventually. Many birds do learn to go to their cage when you want them to. Some...................it's when they want to. LOL. Won't bother her. It's when you chase them all over the place to grab her, that scares them.


----------



## JoeA92 (Feb 11, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> She'll get used to the fact that you will pick her up and put her back if she doesn't put herself back. That may get her to go in by herself eventually. Many birds do learn to go to their cage when you want them to. Some...................it's when they want to. LOL. Won't bother her. It's when you chase them all over the place to grab her, that scares them.


Yeah I don't chase her, just nonchalantly follow her. I follow her anyway to keep an eye on her. 

As an update she or he seems to be doing better. Still a little energetic in the evening but much calmer after exercise

I heard about birds getting night frights, can anyone explain what those are? I hear her cooing lately around 4am or laughing around 12-2 (which she's my morning alarm clock, if I don't sleep I don't get sleep ) which I don't know if that's what it is but might explain some of the nervous evening behavior.


----------



## Lefty07 (Dec 30, 2009)

Good points! If you don't chase her but calmly grab her, to get her back in the cage, it's probably OK. I admit to occasionally grabbing mine, when they are sitting on eggs. Mine frequently lay infertile eggs on the bottom of the cage and sit on them - but I have to change the bottom paper periodically - so I do pick them up sometimes so I can change the paper. They accept it OK because they are already tame and there is no chasing.

Fortunately, my doves all return to their cages in the evening. But I am lucky in that I also have a large sunroom, with a tile floor and plants, that they can fly around in all day and not hurt anything. It would be different if I only had my house to let them fly in.


----------



## banndsand (Dec 5, 2013)

I'm not sure if this is the best description of a night fright, but mine has, once or twice, woken me up in the night by flapping around the cage frantically. I'd uncover his cage and there he was, gripping the bars and breathing like he'd just flown a marathon. Since then I leave the front of his cage uncovered at night, and he hasn't had an incident yet.

If your bird is just cooing, I'd guess that it's not a night fright, so much as a "hello, are you there?" Though I'm no expert on bird language.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

JoeA92 said:


> Yeah I don't chase her, just nonchalantly follow her. I follow her anyway to keep an eye on her.
> 
> As an update she or he seems to be doing better. Still a little energetic in the evening but much calmer after exercise
> 
> I heard about birds getting night frights, can anyone explain what those are? I hear her cooing lately around 4am or laughing around 12-2 (which she's my morning alarm clock, if I don't sleep I don't get sleep ) which I don't know if that's what it is but might explain some of the nervous evening behavior.


my male dove would coo at that hour of the morning too.... he had to go to a new home where he and his mate live on a conditioned sunporch away from sleeping humans. usually doves do best in pairs.


----------

