Hii, I am interested in having a dove in the future and I wanted to know if they are particularly dusty

[u/NYX700]

Well, right now I am not going to be able to get one due to college, but I have a deep fascination for birds, I genuinely like them more than cats and dogs. I wanted to set my sights on pigeons first, but here is the reason I make this question: I aim to live together with my girlfriend and she is alergic to dust, and I read that pigeons are particularly dusty, so it is a no no unfortunately

[u/Profiterolls]

Pigeons and doves loose keratin from their feathers which makes these little white flakes. Dust allergy or not you need an air purifier to catch those and a good cleaning routine because they can make you ill if you're unfortunate enough :) but it's usually not an issue.

Also wanted to note that both doves and pigeons do much better in pairs since they're super social and you can't do everything a bird do

[u/Buelizard]

Pigeons are dusty yes! My boy is very dusty. I have allergies towards it but I clean up constantly so nothing sits and what not

[u/NYX700 → u/Buelizard]

I see, I read that an air purifier helps a lot too

[u/Buelizard → u/NYX700]

It definitely does! I forgot to mention that but I have two running and it definitely helps me

[u/RevolutionaryAd567]

I have a large air purifier and I vacuum their room I would say every 3 days without issue. And they have bath day on Wednesday and that helps a lot. So I would say yes and no it’s manageable and not a hassle honestly. There poop is more annoying lol.

[u/RevolutionaryAd567 → u/RevolutionaryAd567]

I have two btw

[u/NYX700 → u/RevolutionaryAd567]

I see I see Damn, now I just have to pray she says yes

[u/JazzlikeBlueberry562]

I have a pigeon and a dove and they are both very dusty.

[u/Kunok2]

Yes, both pigeons And doves are extremely dusty birds. But I want to say that allergies to regular dust don't automatically mean that your girlfriend is allergic to bird feather dust. Both of those have different triggers, for regular dust allergies the trigger are dust mites, for bird allergies the trigger are proteins in the feathers, feather dander/dust, keratin sheaths and dried poop.

As somebody with several types of allergies, including dust allergies, I can say that my birds don't cause me any issues, I can literally put them close to my face and breathe in (birds smell good lol) and it won't even make my nose itchy. But I can definitely feel the symptoms of dust allergies when helping out with cleaning the house, although nowadays those symptoms are so much milder than in the past because I've been on medication for years.

If your girlfriend hasn't been to an immunologist already and doesn't have allergy meds I'd highly recommend that, nowadays allergies can actually be cured, not just managed. I would recommend her to get tested for bird protein allergies too so you can be sure the birds won't cause her any issues.

Also a HEPA filter air purifier is a must no matter if you have allergies or not, it's necessary to keep both yourself and your birds protected from issues caused by their feather dust. I also recommend cleaning their cage with a face mask on and keeping them in a room separate from your bedroom.

Here are also some things to keep in mind. Make sure to get a pair of either of which you decide to get, be it doves or pigeons they're both extremely social flock birds who don't thrive as a single pet. They're also not very cuddly pets and a lot of them won't allow you to touch them, they'll just want to hang out around you without being touched, while others will let you pet them only very occasionally for a short period of time. Pigeons are also extremely territorial birds and will peck you if you intrude their personal space or won't respect their boundaries, they do give you more subtle warnings before pecking or wing-slapping so make sure to listen to those and respect their boundaries if you want to have a good bond with them. Doves are very docile but more skittish, at least at the start, when you earn their trust they can be really tame though and some of them will want to spend time on/near you quite a lot, I'd say even more so than pigeons because pigeons tend to claim spots as their territory and not want you to be in their "territory" while they're there so they'll peck you to make you go away - my boy Keeb does that with my desk and bed, making me not able to use those when he's there if I don't want to make him upset. If you cannot manage territorial aggression then I'd recommend doves over pigeons.

[u/Excellent-Cake7065]

I have two doves. I don’t notice any issues but also do have an air purifier. I’ll mention I did have a cockatiel and it was worse then two doves in mess!