Please give advice! Here's the situation:
A week ago, my dad was leaving the house and found a white dove in the alley way! it had a big chunk of feathers ripped from its back and it cant use one of its feet. He immediately took it inside and put it in a pet carrier he had and gave it food and drink, and put antibiotic ointment on the patch of missing feathers. He says it was a little bloody but very wet, and obviously fulled out because there were no puncture wounds. The bird now has a veracious appetite and we let it fly around once per day and just today we saw her (or him) flex the toes on the unusable foot but it still drags. The feathers began growing back immediately and we've switched to vitamin E oil because we didn't want her to swallow ointment.
Since its a pure white dove and only seems marginally stressed when picked up we think it was a domesticated dove, but don't know what happened to it so that it ended up in our alley! We already love her and want to keep her (we've had many cockatiels before) but are unfamiliar with dove behavior. We're building her a cage tomorrow thats more wide than tall because she cant really perch on one foot. sometimes she seems very calm and sleepy but sometimes gets frightened and makes a little honking noise when picked up. She also coos if within the pet cage (I'm guessing she feels safest there?)
So theres the current situation and these are my questions:
How much should we handle her to make her feel at ease?
How soon should we get her another bird? My dad spends most of the day at home but I read that doves are very social, and also how is introduction usually handled?
Even though we've seen such great improvements in her injuries in just a week, is it better for her to be given to a rescue facility? Again, we love her and would love to keep her but also want whats best for her.
Thank you to anyone who responds! I've had a lot of pets but never a dove, so I want help on how best to treat her! Thank you again!!!
A week ago, my dad was leaving the house and found a white dove in the alley way! it had a big chunk of feathers ripped from its back and it cant use one of its feet. He immediately took it inside and put it in a pet carrier he had and gave it food and drink, and put antibiotic ointment on the patch of missing feathers. He says it was a little bloody but very wet, and obviously fulled out because there were no puncture wounds. The bird now has a veracious appetite and we let it fly around once per day and just today we saw her (or him) flex the toes on the unusable foot but it still drags. The feathers began growing back immediately and we've switched to vitamin E oil because we didn't want her to swallow ointment.
Since its a pure white dove and only seems marginally stressed when picked up we think it was a domesticated dove, but don't know what happened to it so that it ended up in our alley! We already love her and want to keep her (we've had many cockatiels before) but are unfamiliar with dove behavior. We're building her a cage tomorrow thats more wide than tall because she cant really perch on one foot. sometimes she seems very calm and sleepy but sometimes gets frightened and makes a little honking noise when picked up. She also coos if within the pet cage (I'm guessing she feels safest there?)
So theres the current situation and these are my questions:
How much should we handle her to make her feel at ease?
How soon should we get her another bird? My dad spends most of the day at home but I read that doves are very social, and also how is introduction usually handled?
Even though we've seen such great improvements in her injuries in just a week, is it better for her to be given to a rescue facility? Again, we love her and would love to keep her but also want whats best for her.
Thank you to anyone who responds! I've had a lot of pets but never a dove, so I want help on how best to treat her! Thank you again!!!
