Oscar the WonderDove

[Feathers First Aviary]

A few months ago we were asked by a friend of ours that we know through dog rescue if we would be able to help rehome a dove sometime in the future. All she really said was that her ex husbands mother had a dove and her health has been declining and if something were to happen they would need to find a home for her dove oscar. Well, last week we got another call, the woman unfortunately had a stroke, she was in the hospital for three weeks and then ending up passing away after she was back home. My friend called me and told me what had happened and I told her I didn't know anyone looking for a dove off hand but I would be more than happy to take him and keep him until I could find a suitable home. Well, that was until I found out how old he was. She said that she got him a few years before she met her ex husband....in 1992! So he is probably about 25 years old!! She wasn't sure what kind of dove he was but I started doing research and found that most doves live anywhere from 10-15 years on average in captivity. Once I realized this I told her there is no way I'm going to rehome him and that we would just keep him so he could live out his golden years without being bounced around between homes unnecessarily. She just brought him over about an hour ago and he is a pied ringneck. His cage is way too small, he only has one dirty perch and is eating wild bird seed with no grit. She said the woman never really handled him but he is incredibly laid back, he sat on my lap and didn't seem afraid of us at all and made no attempt to try and get away. I'm not sure if he can fly, his wings are full but he hasn't tried to fly at all, I'm thinking that he was just kept in the cage so long that he probably hasn't flown for quite a few years. His nails were horribly overgrown, I snapped a few pics of his nails and then immediately trimmed them. The bottoms of his feet look a little sore so I'm going to set him up in a big parrot cage with some rope perches and landings. He is absolutely beautiful and really friendly although just looking at him he looks depressed. Seriously, I don't know any other way to explain it, he just looks a bit mopey and sad. I think he may be grieving from the loss of his owner, she may not have played with him or anything but she did care for him for over 20 years so I'm sure he was pretty attached to her.
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A picture of his nails before I cut them

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The bottoms of his feet are a bit pink, I think they may just be a tad sore from only having one wooden dowel perch.

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Another shot of his nails

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This was his longest nail, it was so long it was twisting and odd thing, there was no blood in it at all. I trimmed it back to only about 1/4" long and it's like the entire nail was dead. As I trimmed them they were actually breaking apart to dust. I think he needs some extra calcium in his diet.

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He sat on my lap for about a half hour

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He has beautiful pied markings

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I was taking pictures with the flash and it made him blink right as I took the picture. I don't want to upset him with more pictures right now so this is the best photo I have of his face.

All in all I think with a little TLC we can get him back into good condition. I know he is really old, I hope he settles in nicely and can make it at least a few more years, I've always had a soft spot for doves and pigeons, We've only had him about an hour and I already love the little guy :)

[spiritbird]

What a bittersweet story. If only Oscar could talk. He could not be with anyone better than your loving hands. Praying for you little dove, be strong, rest and eat.

[Feathers First Aviary]

I just upgraded his cage to a large cali cage. I put newspaper over the grate and gave him a little basket platform at the top along with rope perches, wooden perches, a swing and some toys. He also got a bird bath because his old water bowl was only about 2 inches wide, he probably hasn't been able to take a bath for awhile. I will be making him some flat landing perches as soon as I can as well, I just don't have any on hand since I don't have any other doves. I will also be picking up some grit for him, I know some people say they need it and others say they don't and it seems he probably hasn't had any for 20+ years so I guess they really don't need it but I figured it can't hurt to offer him some crushed oyster shell at least just as some added calcium. I also gave him a mineral block and cuttle bone but I honestly don't know if doves can eat that or not with the way their beaks are. All he has done is sit in one spot, occasionally blinking. He hasn't really moved at all other than looking around, I hope he starts eating and drinking soon. I posted a pic of his new cage on the facebook of the woman that brought him over and the original owners granddaughter commented and said she's known oscar since she was a kid so I asked her if he is normally this sedentary but she just said that it's been years since she's actually seen him.

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His eyes aren't always closed like that, he just blinks everytime the camera flashes so it catches him with his eyes half closed.

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This was his old cage

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his old cage next to his new cage, much bigger! I hate how tall this cage is compared to wide but it's the biggest thing I have right now, I had no idea what kind of cage he was in or even what kind of dove he was until he got here so I couldn't prepare too much for his arrival unfortunately.

[coltfire]

lets all pray Oscar comes good for you and lives a few more years, he is in good hands now.

[spiritbird]

Have you thought of playing some music for him?

[Debra]

He's beautiful. Thank you for taking him in and giving him a great home for his remaining years.

[Honesty]

Oscar certainly has the best person looking after him! You are a very caring and lovely person Sara:)

[spiritbird]

Any updates Sara?

[Feathers First Aviary]

Oscar is doing great! He still isn't super active but I'm not sure if that's just because of his age or maybe because he was just used to living in such a small cage for over 20 years. He still just stays on the bottom of his cage, I haven't seen him perch on anything except the side of his food bowl which he insists on sitting on with his butt hanging right over the food :th_naughty: But he has gotten a lot more comfortable with us, he really surprised me today when Nick opened his cage, held his hand in front of him and said "step up" and he hopped right on his hand! I couldn't believe it! This old bird can learn new tricks! :th_tongue2: He walked over to me and I held my hand up and and he walked from Nick's hand to mine :) He seems a lot calmer with us already and he's only been here 2 days! I really hope we can get his activity level up, his cage seems so bare compared to our other birds' cages, he has a couple toys but I don't want to load it up with a bunch of stuff and make him feel uncomfortable. We got him some grit today and I want to pick up some timothy hay to weave through the cage bars and scatter around, I know the ringneck I had years ago loved carefully carrying pieces of hay around the cage and placing them in their CORRECT places(guess I didn't know how to decorate, dove style). All in all though he seems to be doing well. Once he settles in a bit more I want to start working on some wing exercises with him, as of now he really doesn't flap his wings, ever... He really makes no attempt to fly, he even slid off of me earlier today, onto the couch and didn't flap once! It was kind of strange, I don't know if it's because he's old or because he has just gotten a bit lazy over the years sitting in that little cage, I don't know if he even had enough room to flap in there but I really doubt it and flying was definitely out of the question. It just seems weird because I have met some really old parrots and they didn't act elderly, you would never know how old they were by looking at them. I wish I could find someone else that has had doves reach this age to know what's normal and what's not. But anyway, here are some pictures I took earlier today...

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You can see his nails are a bit funky from being so overgrown but at least they are a reasonable length now. His legs are a bit dry as well so i'm thinking about applying some coconut oil a couple times a day, I'll probably start that sometime this weekend, I've been trying to stress him as little as possible, he's lived with the same woman since the late eighties/early nineties and then all in the past two weeks he went to my friends sons house and then finally to mine and then when he got here I put him in a new cage. I really didn't want to switch cages on him so soon but I couldn't stand to see him in that little cockatiel cage any longer(I wouldn't even put a tiel in it but the bar spacing would be too big for anything smaller so I guess it was probably marketed for tiels.)

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so handsome!

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I think he looks like a seagull up close!

I wish he wasn't so old, I'd like to get him a friend, I know most people keep dove's in groups but I doubt he'd enjoy the company of another bird after being alone all these years, especially a youngin' that's going to be running laps around him. :'(

[spiritbird]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you have made significant progress with him. You go Oscar!!

[Blancaej]

Oscar is beautiful. I am so glad you took him in.

[Abigal7]

Oscar is so cute. I think it is great that you are giving him a home. The tiel size cage at least gives Oscar the ability to move around. My work place has a big aviary with song birds and I notice their doves spend more time on the aviary floor while the finches fly around and land on the perches or go into the nests.