The dove and the pigs - long (but sweet) post

[VoodooJoint]

Something strange is happening...

I have a rescued turtle dove named Jim. When I rescued Jim he was clutching onto a backyard trellis with another dove (Emily) with several cats at the bottom eagerly watching their every move. As far as I can figure they were released at a wedding, couldn't fly well and landed in that yard...luckily they made it out of reach of the cats.

Jim and Emily (I actually had no idea if they were boy/girl or girl/girl...at least one girl cause they would lay eggs but never hatched any-thank goodness) stayed with me and they have a large cage in my living room. They would coo often, laugh and in the mornings they would crow.

A couple of months ago Emily died. She got Salmonella poisoning (she was always a horrible cage bottom pecker)...despite vet treatment she didn't make it.

Jim stopped cooing. Since Emily died he has hardly made a peep. I have been trying to get him to bond with me but he shows no interest in me at all. I have been keeping my eye out for another dove to rescue and have been considering rehoming him somewhere where he can be around other doves. It saddens me to see him mourning Emily for so long.

Recently I moved our GP cage to a new location right under Jim's cage. I added the loft to the cage and figured the GPs wouldn't mind the occational feather floating into their cage not to mention they are now right next to the huge glass doors and can get plenty of sun and see the backyard (like Jim can).

I noticed right away that Jim was spending a lot of time near the edge of his cage looking down at the GPs. Every time Daisy and Dilly (the GPs) move Jim leaps to the side of the cage to watch them.

Suddenly 2 days ago Jim started cooing again.

He is active again and making most of his old sounds. He watches the pigs and coos to them sometimes.

It seems strange that of all things Gps would bring him out of his shell. I'm thinking that if the GPs make Jim happy then I don't need to find him a new home. I would hate to lose him...I love him. I will still be keeping my eye out for a dove pal to rescue but for now he seems content with his piggie neighbors.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

That is such a sweet story with a nice happy ending. I hope the piggers continue to bring Jim more out of his shell. I imagine he was very lonely after losing Emily and now has the pigs to somewhat keep him company (well where he can watch them all day and night).

 

[emithebug]

Maybe he was sad and depressed and lonely, but then he saw the pigs, and now he's going, "What the... heck? "

XD I don't know. But I'm happy that he's getting better =)

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Oh! What a sweet story! I love to hear stuff like that.

How do you care for doves? What kind of cage do you have?

 

[VoodooJoint]

As far as dove care my dove has a largish cage. I would like bigger bit don't really have the room and doves are not terribly active birds anyway. The cage I have is about 3'w x 2'd x 3'h.

Jim is given opportunity everyday to come out of his cage as I open the big main door, but he rarely comes out. I force him out about once a week and put him on the natural branch perch I have outside his cage. Occationally he flies to another perch I have for him and a few times he has taken a lap around the room but normally he stays put.

Jim gets fed dove mix (mixed with finch seed) He gets daily fruits and veggies and about once a week I offer him live food (mealworms, earthworms, etc..) he picks what he wants to eat.

He has a constant supply of grit a 6"x4"x4"t nesting box that they used to lay their eggs in and now Jim sometimes sits in.

He has a range of perches from ground level to up high so he can choose where he wants to sit. He also gets a pan with water in his cage 2xs a week to bath in if he wants.

The drinking water gets changed 1-2 times a day. The pan at the bottom gets emptied daily and the cage is scrubbed 1-2 times a month.

He has a few toys but he never plays with them. He seem to take enjoyment in people watching and now GP watching...he obviously likes the Gps better. He also likes to peck at the plastic wrap I have around the bottom third of his cage. I have it there because Jim also likes to play with his seed by throwing it around when he flaps his wings feathers go all over the house.

I have heard that doves will readily bond with people and become quite tame. Emily was always more tame then Jim and would sit on my finger but Jim never liked me touching him.

 

[kat_0521]

Maybe he hears the piggies purring, and thinks it's cooing.

VERY cute story Voo! So glad that he's happier now!

 

[suzilovespiggie]

What a sweet story. I am a sucker for stories like this. Has anybody ever read
"Chicken Soup for Animals"? It is so nice you have a happy ending. I hope you find another Emily for Jim, than he can truly have a friend.

 

[CavySpirit]

Great story. Thanks for sharing...

 

[citronsoul]

That's a lovely story. I guess there are no boundaries to the comfort that guinea pigs can give.

 

[lindsey's boys]

Cute story.

 

[DocDolittle]

Aww, that's was such a cute story! I'm so happy it worked out for them. Are the pigs confused by the strange noises coming from above their cage?

 

[VoodooJoint]

The GPs seem to not even notice he is there. I figure it's only a matter of time before Jim decides to hop down and investigate them close up. If he does I'll try to get pictures.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

That's such a great story Voodoo! Seems Jim is happier.

 

[My Baby Mu]

Thats a cute story! You should give us a picture of him.

 

[VoodooJoint]

As I expected would eventually happen Jim flew down into the GP cage today

I put Jim on his perch outside the cage and he sat there for a while watching the GPs. When I came back into the room about 20 minutes later Jim was no longer on his perch. I looked around the room and didn't see him. When I stepped closer to the cage, there he was, sitting in the main cage beak to nose with Dilly.

Eventually Daisy came over to investigate the intruder. She sniffed then stamped her feet and threw her nose in the air challenging Jim.

Jim, who obviously doesn't speak Guinea pig, ignored her and Daisy wandered off.

He spent the whole day in with the girls. The GPs didn't seem to mind or be frightened of Jim. They went about their normal routine and I even saw Dilly nudge Jim out of the way so she could go up the tube to the hay loft. Jim sampled GP poo and pellets. He seemed to like the pellets better.

Eventually I put his pan of bath water in the GP cage so he could bathe in there if he wanted. He happily splashed around and took his bath. The girls weren’t too thrilled with the water splashing on them so they moved up to the hay loft to give Jim his privacy.

Strangely enough after his day hanging out with the girls Jim did something he never did before. When I gently reached in to take him out of the cage he perched on my finger calmly and let me put him back in his cage. He has never willingly allowed me to touch him before.

I took some pictures and a few movies of Jim with the girls. Unfortunatly they didn't end up where I thought I filed them, so I will try to hunt them down in the computer and post them later.

 

[RubyPiggie2]

That's so CUTE! Seems Jim really loves the girls... Are you going to keep letting him in there? Sounds like they don't mind him at all.

 

[VoodooJoint]

I can't see the harm in it, so I guess I'll keep letting him visit.

No one got agressive or scared and Jim can fly back out at any time. In fact at one point during the day I moved him to the top of the cage side on the loft. After a few minutes he flew right back into the cage again.

I don't think the girls enjoyed the flapping wings as he came down and landed but they got over it pretty fast. If they want to avoid Jim the cage is big enough to do it and they have the 2 lofts and plenty of hidey houses to retreat to.

 

[Zeander]

Aww, that's a great story. It's so cool how animals bond to eachother.


Unfortunatly, we just lost one of our doves too. We think a snake ate her. We have had our pair for a very, very long time. I'm going to make our survivor a C cage (cube, no corplast) hopefully on Mondy.

 

[VoodooJoint]

I found the pictures. Now if Slap (or someone would send me that website so I can upload the movies we will be in business.

Here is Jim and Dilly checking each other out and one of Jim

 

[Slap Maxwell]

Aw, sounds like he is doing so well. I am so happy. Can't wait to see the movie! (broken link removed)