[Chiki]

Hi everyone! I'm having this issue with my dove (Palomiti): she (or he, I'm not sure anymore) has started to rip pieces of newspaper I put on the cage floor. The thing is I put the newspaper directly in contact with her/his feet because I'm afraid she might break a toe with the cage floor bars.
Could it be she/he wants a nest? Maybe Palomiti is bored? Should I get some toys? I tried putting a feeder with very soft wood shaving, but I'm not sure if I should leave the two of them (the nest and the dove) unsupervised, she could eat that too and maybe get sick! On the other hand it's also bad if she/he eats the newspaper, because of the ink. I haven't seen her/him eating it yet, but someday he might! Anyway, could you give me some advice? Thanks!

Newspaper I took from Palomiti's cage:

Palomiti testing the new "nest":

P.S.: I forgot to tell you, Palomiti will "peck-n-shake" anything that gets her/his attention. Feathers (he/she gets especially violent with these), plastic bags I use as gloves when I'm picking up feces to take to the vet, bed sheets, anything!

 

[spirit wings]

my doves tore and played with paper from the bottom.. it is normal.. they like twine and things to mess with..

 

[Chiki]

I finally put in the "nest", she/he is bending the straws like MAD! You'll think I'm crazy but I tested it by chewing on one of the straws and seeing if it was hard or pointy (I know, I shouldn't have done that, but the vet told me he had cases of intoxication because of that newspaper thing, and Palomiti was starting to do it again, I had to think fast )

 

[spirit wings]

I finally put in the "nest", she/he is bending the straws like MAD! You'll think I'm crazy but I tested it by chewing on one of the straws and seeing if it was hard or pointy (I know, I shouldn't have done that, but the vet told me he had cases of intoxication because of that newspaper thing, and Palomiti was starting to do it again, I had to think fast )

I used unbleached paper towels so it was not an issue... but they torn them up faster than newpaper..

 

[Chiki]

That's a good idea, I don't know where I could buy that here in Argentina (I mean UNBLEACHED paper towels, I know where I can buy the regular ones ). Actually since I put the "nest" in the cage Palomiti stopped torning the paper and has a new hobby, twisting and bending the straws. He/She is entertained, I'm less worried. Win-win

 

[Chiki]

Loss-loss ¬¬
Yesterday I woke up and went to check on Palomiti, he was standing on the cage floor, doing some strange "belly dance", only with his crop! His feathers were all fluffy. I got really worried, especially since we found a baby eared dove on Saturday. I was taking all the prophylactic measures and all (the new baby was in a separate room, I changed clothes whenever I had to feed the baby, washed my hands with soap and the alcohol, etc), but maybe he had pick up some disease. I called the vet and he decided to start treatment for candida and canker.
This morning he was still all fluffly and stuff, so I tried offering him bread to see how sick he felt. He ate the bread with good apetite. Then my boyfriend called because he found (yet another) baby eared dove. I changed my clothes and went to pick the baby up. When I returned, I changed (AGAIN!) and went to check on Palomiti. He had vomited all the bread and tangled in the bread crums there were pieces of the material I had put for the nest, he had swallowed it! I felt so bad for using that, thinking it was safe!
I hope everything came out! I took the nest and all the little straws, and put some new food, he started eating like MAD! Poor baby!

I really hope he was able to take it all out! For future reference: Don't use this material!

 

[spirit wings]

oh no... Im not really sure what material you used for him to play or nest with..

what species of dove do you have?

 

[Chiki]

It was a very soft wood shaving, almost like paper. It doesn't hurt when you chew it, I didn't think he would swallow it whole!
He's an Eared Dove, you can see him in the pic above.

I feel like a lousy mother right now u.u