sick diamond dove
Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:00 pm
Hello again, everyone!
I am sorry to report that I think I may have a sick diamond dove. She's not really eating or drinking much today, at least not as far as I've seen. She's been kind of "spazzy" in her neck and wings, and she seems very weak and sickly to where she will allow me to hold her, when that's actually a little unusual because she's not as used to me as my other dove, and its been hard to work with her because she's not as trusting and tame as my other dove more or less started out as, and she's just naturally a little more skittish than my other dove. She'll still move around and try to fly away from me when she gets the energy, but for the most part, she's pretty weak. And unless I put her up on one of the perches or in their nest, she just sits at the bottom of the cage, looking all sleepy, spazzy, weak, and pitiful.
I have made an appointment with the vet, but the soonest I could get her in was Wednesday at 9 in the morning. Is there anything I can do to help her feel better and keep her alive until then? Like birdie vitamins or something?
Also, my other diamond dove, who lives in the same cage of course and is also a female, has been kind of bullying and attacking my sick dove. She used to that to her when I had just bought her from the pet store and put her in with the first dove because she wasn't used to sharing her space with another bird and she also just wasn't used to her new cage-mate yet. But she soon grew out of that and became the best of friends with the new and currently sick dove, and I haven't seen her do that again until just now. (Just to clarify and hopefully make things less confusing, my currently sick dove is named Scarlett, and my other dove that I have had for a long time and who has a rather bossy little attitude is named Charlotte). Whether Scarlett is minding her own business on the floor or on a perch or taking a much deserved turn in the nest (Charlotte likes to hog it), Charlotte will push her around and push her off or push her out, even while Scarlett is just trying to rest on the floor. I even think there is a little blood on Scarlett's eye from Charlotte attacking her.
I have now removed Charlotte from the cage and temporarily placed her in one of the finches' spare cages. But do you think Charlotte would have had something to do with Scarlett's illness? Do you think it relates to an obsession over possessing the nest? Should I take out the nest? Or buy another one so that they can each have their own?
Basically what I'm asking here is; What might be causing this kind of behavior in Charlotte, and what do I do to solve the problem and get my doves to live peacefully together again?
Please let me know, and thank you in advance for your time and advice!
I am sorry to report that I think I may have a sick diamond dove. She's not really eating or drinking much today, at least not as far as I've seen. She's been kind of "spazzy" in her neck and wings, and she seems very weak and sickly to where she will allow me to hold her, when that's actually a little unusual because she's not as used to me as my other dove, and its been hard to work with her because she's not as trusting and tame as my other dove more or less started out as, and she's just naturally a little more skittish than my other dove. She'll still move around and try to fly away from me when she gets the energy, but for the most part, she's pretty weak. And unless I put her up on one of the perches or in their nest, she just sits at the bottom of the cage, looking all sleepy, spazzy, weak, and pitiful.
I have made an appointment with the vet, but the soonest I could get her in was Wednesday at 9 in the morning. Is there anything I can do to help her feel better and keep her alive until then? Like birdie vitamins or something?
Also, my other diamond dove, who lives in the same cage of course and is also a female, has been kind of bullying and attacking my sick dove. She used to that to her when I had just bought her from the pet store and put her in with the first dove because she wasn't used to sharing her space with another bird and she also just wasn't used to her new cage-mate yet. But she soon grew out of that and became the best of friends with the new and currently sick dove, and I haven't seen her do that again until just now. (Just to clarify and hopefully make things less confusing, my currently sick dove is named Scarlett, and my other dove that I have had for a long time and who has a rather bossy little attitude is named Charlotte). Whether Scarlett is minding her own business on the floor or on a perch or taking a much deserved turn in the nest (Charlotte likes to hog it), Charlotte will push her around and push her off or push her out, even while Scarlett is just trying to rest on the floor. I even think there is a little blood on Scarlett's eye from Charlotte attacking her.
I have now removed Charlotte from the cage and temporarily placed her in one of the finches' spare cages. But do you think Charlotte would have had something to do with Scarlett's illness? Do you think it relates to an obsession over possessing the nest? Should I take out the nest? Or buy another one so that they can each have their own?
Basically what I'm asking here is; What might be causing this kind of behavior in Charlotte, and what do I do to solve the problem and get my doves to live peacefully together again?
Please let me know, and thank you in advance for your time and advice!