It’s been about almost a month since the new addition to the dovey family has arrived and I’m back again to seek more advice! 

The new guy (Popo!) is actually an oddity! I didn’t expect it, but my colleague who brought him in says he is a ringneck dove and pigeon hybrid - he’s actually quite a bit bulkier than my existing Eurasian Collared dove (Piwi), making me quite worried having him as a friend for her! But he came in such a pitiful state - head feathers plucked (apparently he was housed with other hybrid males), droppings and gunk covering his underside and feet, having lived all his life in a tiny cage - my husband and I didn’t have the heart to send him back. He’s completed his quarantine period quite ok - does not seem ill (though he seems to get winded when trying to fly and starts making squeaking noises mid flight, and is very, very noobie at it!) and seemed to be free of any mites or lice.

Except….. yesterday, after having dried off from the third bath he’s received so far (kept washing him to rid him of that gunk that refuses to go and aid his feather regrowth), I thought I saw….. some insect crawl under his feathers. I quickly tried to find it, but it was gone! Wondering if he secretly has some lice, even though I see no red or black dust under him!

And so my question - how does one safely remove lice, if this could be that, from a dove? Are there some natural effective alternatives that would not be dangerous for him? Could apple cider in water help? Or…. this thing people here seem to call magnesium ‘pinky’? Or ought I sit tight, not hyper-react, and not do anything for now?



Question about possible bugs (based on seeing a ninja shadow of… something) on a dove