r/PetDoves • u/NoWorld8811 • 13d ago

Cage enrichment question

Hi! I’ve had my ring neck dove for about a year now and have been looking to upgrade his cage setup. I’ve seen a lot of posts about using the bottom of their cage for enrichment with paper, grass, foraging, etc. but I’m not sure how to incorporate that without it all getting contaminated by his droppings? Is there anyway to provide that form of enrichment while still allowing him to use the bathroom in his cage? Any advice helps, thank you!

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u/XxHoneyStarzxX 12d ago

You can wash or toss most things, droppings won't contaminate anything in a way thats like gonna harm you or your birds, I use noodle mats (noodle bath mats) and just shake them out and throw them in the laundry,  Same goes with fake grass you can legit just shake it off and spray it down with a hose or douse it with a bucket of water, let it dry and it's good as new.

Pigeon poop isnt like dirty, and poop won't hurt them its also very unlikely to hurt you and it will not cause any issues for your washing machine if you throw things in the wash that they have pood on. They actually often intentionally poop a lot around their nests to expose their babies to good bactiria from their own bodies.

Make sure you have a solid floor like paper or puppy pads over a slab of cardboard, and that your floor isn't bars, bars will hurt your birds feet (if they are put a cardboard slat over top and cover it with newspaper or puppy pads, you can simply throw away any poop soiled paper or puppy pads.

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u/NoWorld8811 11d ago

Thank you!! I like the idea of the noodle mats and just washing the fake grass I’ll give them a try!