Today’s video is sponsored by Scoggy. Hi, today’s video is going to be the first of hopefully many pigeon care videos in 2024. I wanted to start things simple. So today we’re just going to be going over a very basic pros and cons list for having a pet pigeon. I know that a lot of people who are watching this video right now or that watch my videos in general want pet pigeon. I’m hoping that this video will help guide people as to whether or not they should actually have a pet pigeon or they should just watch my videos. Pigeons are a lot of responsibility and having a pet pigeon is kind of an entire lifestyle change. So this video is gonna be talking about that. My hope is that by talking about the pros and cons of having a pet pigeon, people will see the realities of having a pet pigeon and then can make a more educated determination of whether or not they want to have a hidden for themselves. So we’re going to start off this list with the cons.
The first con of owning a pet pigeon is how dusty and dirty they are. You have to clean up poop, you have to clean up their seed, you have to clean up their dander and you have to clean up their feathers. The poop is probably the biggest one that people will recognize, especially people who are familiar with city cities. Pigeon poop gets everywhere. Pet pigeon poop is a lot different than pigeon poop that you’ll see in like cities and stuff. It’s a lot easier to clean than city pigeon poop. I won’t get into that in this video, but trust me, it’s different. But you still have to clean it. And if you have a female pigeon, you’re gonna have to clean a lot of it when they’re nesting and it smells horrible. Pigeons are not super stinky and animals, but you have to keep up with it because obviously if you have poop sitting around, it’s gonna stink. If you have a pet pigeon, the dust is crazy and you’re gonna need to have an air purifier, especially if you have allergies. Honestly, if you have severe allergies, I just don’t recommend a pigeon at all. So if dust and filth and all of that, which is honestly, every animal is gonna be like that. But if you can’t handle the dust or the cleaning of the poop that you’ll have to do daily, if you can’t afford an air purifier and just switch out the filters and all that, stay away from pigeons because they are a messy animal.
While we’re on the topic of how expensive air purifiers are, let’s talk about vets. Oh, my God, it is so hard to find a vet for a pet pigeon. And a lot of people can’t just flat out. I’m very lucky that I found a vet for kettle. But finding a vet is only half the battle. The second half of the battle is paying for the vet. To give you an example of what you might have to deal with, cattle at one point was at risk for having a respiratory infection. I can’t speak. Birds are pretty prone to getting respiratory infections. So it’s kind of something that you have to keep up with and make sure that, you know, it’s handled. Took her to the vet. She had to get some like medicine and stuff. The Bill was $800. Kettle was $12. So vet care is gonna be a big hurdle across. I would honestly recommend finding a vet before you find your pet pigeon. If you can’t find a vet that’s near you and if you don’t think of that you can afford to get of it, don’t get a pigeon.
Speaking of things that are hard to find, pigeon care items unless you get them online, which a lot of people do, are super hard to find. I’m lucky enough to live near a place that sells pigeon stuff. It’s literally a pigeon store. It’s where I bought kettle. It’s where I’ve gotten basically everything for her besides the cage, which I got from Walmart. I can make a video about pigeon care items online and stuff, but I would recommend just doing your own research with buying things online. There’s always the risk of stuff being missed in the shipping process. Buying pigeon stuff, buying their food, buying their grit, buying like oyster shells and things like that can be really tricky because pigeons are not a very popular pet. You can’t go to the pet store and buy pigeon food a lot of the time. And if you can, it’s, this is the set, same scenario with the vet. Find a place to buy your food and your grit and everything that you’ll need for your pigeon before you buy the pigeon. And if you have a lot of trouble finding the things that you need for your pigeon and you have trouble getting it to you. It might be best to just get a different animal.
This next con is specifically with female birds lay eggs. I’m sure you guys know that by now. I would hope that if you are watching this video, you know that birds lay eggs, female pigeons lay eggs whether or not they have another bird mate. And a lot of the time, if you have a single bird like I do, your pigeon will think that you are their mate and they will lay eggs for you.
Laying eggs comes with a lot of risk. They can get egg bound. They’ll start molting. They’ll lose a lot of Calcium. With a female bird, you really have to keep up with their health and you really have to monitor them with this whole egg laying thing.
Every time kettle lays eggs, I am extremely anxious waiting for her to lay both of her eggs, because pigeons lay two eggs. Waiting for her to lay both of her eggs so that I know that she’s not egg bound. And even then, you have to help them when they’re sitting on them. You have to make sure they’re eating. It’s a lot of work and it’s even more work for the pigeon. So honestly, if you are getting a pigeon, I would recommend getting a mail just so that you can avoid the whole egg laying thing.
Obviously, different birds have different needs and it can be just as difficult to have a male as it can be to have a female. And I mean, there are issues that male birds have that female birds might not. But generally speaking, you have to be very careful with female birds. And if you can’t keep up with the care that a female bird needs, it’s probably best to not get one. It’s better for you because you won’t be stressed, and it’s better for them because they won’t die.
While we’re on the topic of care and upkeep, companionship is a huge part of pigeon care. Right now, kettle is in her cage, but most of the time she’s with me. If you have multiple birds, then you can probably leave them for longer times unattended and by themselves. But if you have a single bird, you are that bird’s mate, you are that bird’s company, you’re there, everything, really. You have to be their best friend. You have to be their companion. You have to be their caregiver. They rely on you and you have to be around for them. They will want your company and they will be happiest and healthiest with your company. And if you can’t provide that kind of companionship, it might be best to either not have a pigeon or to at least get more than one engine, which is more work.
Basically, what I’m saying is you have to be there for your bird if they’re your only bird. And if you have two birds so that they have each other, you’re going to have more work because you have more birds to take care of.
And my last con is just general bird lifestyle changes. There’s a lot of things that you can’t do with a pet pigeon and just pet birds in general. The biggest changes have to do with the bird’s respiratory system. They have very sensitive respiratory systems. You can’t have candles around them. You can’t wear perfume around them. You can’t have any kind of like air fresheners, nothing like that. You can’t use non stick cookware. You can’t really use harsh chemicals to clean your home with besides the stuff with their respiratory system terms, all those things that you can have, you also probably shouldn’t have other animals that will eat your bird. If you have a pet cat and you have a pet pigeon, things are not gonna go well for you.
I’m sorry. I mean, there are scenarios where cats and birds get along, but I think it’s a very bad idea. All it takes is one scratch from a cat to kill a bird because of the infection that they can get from that to end the cons list.
All I’m saying is there’s a lot of things that you have to change and you have to sacrifice in order to have a healthy, happy pet pigeon. And my question to you is, can you handle that? And are you willing to sacrifice what you need to have a pet pigeon? If the answer is yes, great. And you’re just like me and you have a pet pigeon or you’re gonna get a pet pigeon. And that’s awesome. But it’s also fine if you can’t do that. I mean, you can enjoy pigeons and you can watch videos about pigeons and you can love pigeons. Even the outdoor, like feral pigeons, you can still love them without having one living with you. I think it’s okay to admire animals that you can’t necessarily have anyway. Enough cons. Let’s talk about the pros. The first and the largest is the companionship. I love kettle. She’s my best friend and she does basically everything with me besides like shower and some people even do that with their pigeons. I just take two hot of showers. So, you know, pigeons are a great companion. They’re awesome friends. I mean, they’re basically a dog except this big. Speaking of dogs, comparatively to a lot of pets, pigeons are pretty quiet. And I know it’s funny of me to say considering she’s been very loud in a lot of my videos. I mean, thereby no means silent, but they’re a lot more quiet than a barking dog or a screaming parrot.
Another pro with pigeons is that they’re trainable. I’ve only ever harnessed, trained kettle, which is very minimal and, you know, not that exciting. But there’s so many things that pigeons can do that they can be trained to do. I’ll link a video that I made with one of my friends in the description about like the history of pigeons and like some of the training things that have happened with pigeons. It’s really cool. I mean, they can be like toilet train and everything. It’s crazy what you can do with the pigeon. So that’s a pretty cool pro that I really haven’t taken any advantage of yet.
A pro with pigeons compared to like a parrot or like a dog is that their bytes are relatively safe. I mean, kettle has bitten my hands more times than I can count and I have never bled or anything from that. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt. It does hurt. A pigeon bite feels like someone pinching your skin pretty hard. But kettle is pretty weak, so it’s never broken my skin. However, she has poked my eyes before on accent when she was trying to preen my face. So that’s something you have to watch out for. I mean, theoretically, you could lose an eye to a pigeon in the same way that you can lose a finger to a parrot. Obviously, you have to be careful around any animal that can bite. And they all can, by the way, but it’s a lot safer to be bitten by a pigeon than it is to be bitten by a parrot. I think I moved closer. I was like leaning forward this whole time. So I’m sorry if I got uncomfortably close to you. But anyway, let’s talk about toys now.
The next Pro that’s also related to parrots are the toys that pigeons can use. Pigeons can’t shoot through things in the same way that parrots can, so they can have a wider selection of toys than a parrot can. Pigeons can also use mirrors as toys, but parrots are not able to. It’s kind of a pro. It’s kind of just like a little fun fact.
Honestly, the last pro that I have today is a little controversial. So forgive me if this starts hot, but you can pet pigeons. You can pet them on the back and on the head. With parrots, I believe you’re only supposed to pet them on the head. But with pigeons, they’re not going to have the same hormonal issues that a parent would from physical contact. There are people who disagree with that, and I think that’s fine. I think everyone should do what they think is best for their bird. If you think petting your pigeon is giving them some kind of issue, then of course, by all means, don’t pet them. But my opinion and my experience is that petting a pigeon is beneficial, especially if you only have one bird. I think it’s necessary if you only have one bird. And that’s something that you can’t do with parrots. You can’t really pet them in the same way that you would pet a pigeon or like a cat or a dog, it’s a little more hands off with carrots. But with pigeons, you know, I pet cuddle all day long. But like I said, a lot of people will disagree with that, and that’s okay. Everyone’s just trying to do their best and that’s fine.
But yeah, that’s my pros and cons list. If you think there’s anything that I missed, feel free to tell me in the comments and maybe I’ll make a part too. I think that could be pretty cool. I have all my social media and like my linktree and stuff, LinkedIn, the description. So if you’re interested in that, go check it out.
Before I leave, though, there’s one thing I want to talk about, and it’s right here in the background. Today’s video is sponsored by scoggy, and it’s this giant stuffed animal in the background. But they also make mini versions. Let me show you. Here he is. I’m looking at myself. Nothing right now, so don’t judge me. I’m not making eye contact. But here he is, eh? Skagi is the company that is sponsoring today’s video. They make these giant stuffed animals and they have a lot of different designs. I mean, basically any animal that you like, they probably have as a giant or mini skuggy. They’re really cute. You can buy clothes for them. There’s a lot of options when it comes to these giant stuffed animals, and I really like them. If you wanna get one for yourself, I have a link in my bio and it will give you a little bit of a discount and then I’ll get a commission from your sale.
I moved the camera, so sorry, it’s not the same anymore. But that was my pros and cons list. If there’s anything that you think I forgot or I didn’t mention, leave it in the comments and maybe I’ll make a part 2 of Pigeon Pros and cons. I think that would be cool. Anyway, thank you for watching this video and thank you, scoggy, for sponsoring this video. And I’ll see you guys later. Bye.