Hi,
About two months ago I got a new diamond dove. He was born and raised for 3-4 months by a breeder who - unfortunately - keeps his birds purely for the hobby and not for the animals themselves, handeling them quite roughly and keeping them in very small cages. As a result, I am having a harder time letting him settle in his new home than I had with my first dove (a very easygoing barbary dove). What would be my best course of action if my primary goal is to just be able to pick him up and set him in his cage without him flying away?
Some context of my situation:
I live in a house with roommates and three other birds (pyrrhura, cockatiel, barbary dove); I spend most of my time in my room. The three birds are able to be out of their cage for most of the time, in the living room. The cage of my diamond has been in the living room for about a month, and since a few weeks I've been bringing his cage with me when I'm working on my room, every day at exactly 9:00 until 12:00. On my room his cage is always open and he comes out almost every day, on a good day he even explores my room for a bit. I have been able to get him to step up my hand to return him to his cage without to much trouble, mainly because my room is quite manageble in size. I also pick him up once per hour or so just to get him used to being picked up. He is still quite skittish however, and I am not confident yet I will be able to reliably pick him up when he's out and about in our living room.
My goals are:
1) Getting him used to my barbary dove, as they will be sharing a large cage when my diamond is ready to be moved out of his temporary cage
2) Getting him as relaxed as possible when I'm around.
Is it best to leave the cage in my room at all times for stability's sake, even when I'm out, or is it better to move the cage from and to the living room, so he gets used to the other three birds? Is it a good idea to start introducing my two doves to eachother, even though my diamond still seems very skittish when I'm around? Do I only pick him up to move him to his cage or do I pick him up more often? Finally: what kind of treat works best for diamond doves?
Sorry for the long post, I hope you guys can help me :)
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ldxpxp/best_way_to_let_my_new_diamond_dove_settle_in/
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