Pigeons are becoming more popular pets—but with as many good things as you hear, you may wonder what the cons are. Are there circumstances that would make keeping a pigeon difficult for you that nobody has told you about? We will do our best to outline these things in this document.

Things to Keep in Mind

• Pigeons are incredibly dusty birds: if you have a pre-existing respiratory condition, allergies, or asthma, you may not be able to handle the dust, even with an air filter.
• Keeping a single pigeon means that the bond between you and the bird will almost certainly become pair-bonded one. This means the bird will view you as its mate, with mate activities to be expected—including things the bird will view as sexual like mounting. If this makes you uncomfortable, pigeons may not be for you. This is not something that can be fully discouraged/removed from their makeup. It's just how pigeons are.
• Are you going to move countries soon? Are you going to go to college within the next couple of years? It may not be a good time to get a pigeon. It may be best to wait until your life is stable. Moving pigeons across international borders can be quite hard.
• Pigeons are messy pets. You may think you can get around it, that you can lifehack it so there's barely any mess. Let's be clear! You simply cannot avoid the mess. You will need to clean a lot. If mess bothers you—especially a bird that has zero guarantees of being trained to poop in one location—pigeons may not be for you. Additionally, pigeon pants can only be worn for a maximum of three hours and need an equal amount of time off. Consider if you can handle this.
• Are you a party animal? Consumed with your work? If you are never home, a pigeon may not be for you. Pigeons are social creatures and need time to hang out, as well as at least 4 hours a day out of their cage.
• Male pigeons (and some females) can be quite bitey. These bites are not nearly as strong as parrot bites but can still sting. This is part of their courtship and playing—if you aren't okay with a bird who will never be guaranteed not to bite, a pigeon probably isn't for you.
• Do you expect a pet you bring home to be immediately comfortable and part of the family? This might not work out well with pigeons. They need patience to bond and this can take months. This holds for any bird, either rescues or birds from breeders.
• Do you have no money for vet visits? Do you have zero avian vets nearby? Have you checked to see if any vets will see pigeons nearby? If you can't provide vet care, it's ill-advised to get a pigeon. When birds get sick, they hide that illness until they are so ill that they no longer can hide it - which means they are on death's door and in need of immediate help. You can track illness in to your bird - a freak biological incident can happen. You need to have your ducks in a row before the unthinkable happens—at some point, you will need to see a vet. It's recommended to take them for a yearly checkup.
• Pigeons are generally one-person pets, not family pets. They will bond strongly with the person they spend the most time with, and they are unlikely to want to be touched by anyone else. Keep this in mind.
• Are you enamoured with the idea of sharing your food with your pigeon and having a conversation with them? That's parrots! Not pigeons! Please feed pigeons only grains and legumes.
• You cannot discipline pigeons. You can try to teach them that you don't like a behaviour, and you can discourage behaviour with positive/negative reinforcement (the negative being stuff like ignoring behaviours you don't like), but if you can't offer patience to them, a pigeon probably isn't for you.
• Pigeons are much less noisy than parrots—MUCH less noisy. But not everybody may be okay with the noise they do make. You should expose yourself to their noise in person or through video to see if they're for you. Doves are significantly louder than pigeons.
• Do you have other pets? Can you keep them separate from the pigeon? Pigeons should not be in free contact even with other birds like ringneck or diamond doves, nor any parrots, and certainly not dogs or cats. If they are kept caged in the same room as other animals, will those animals be able to deal with the dust pigeons produce?

Pigeon Pairs

Some people figure they can get two pigeons and solve the problem of having a lonely bored pigeon—let's address some possible challenges there.

• Are you ready to rehome a pigeon that is not compatible if you get them from two different buyers? Or even rehome a pair of pigeons that came as a pair? Sometimes birds just won't get along and you will need to rehome one of them.
• Additionally, pairs still need time outside of their cage, at least 4 hours a day like a single pigeon.
• Can you clean up the mess inside the cage and out of two birds?