New -2 birds - what does the future hold?

[FLINT]

Deaar Community,

I have 2 peachface that I love. One I have about 7 weeks the other 4. Both were 4 mo. when bought, they are kept in separate cages. The younger - buddy (yellow) follows the older Spiffy everywhere, never fight. They are both good to me and will sit on my finger. -- In short I am very happy.

Question: I am receiving contradictory information. A Borders book on taming & training - author was male - forget name I skimmed. SAID:
1) Love birds do not bond with humans like other birds
2) They revert to being wild easily
3) They will not let you touch them when they reach adulthood.
I feel like mine have bonded with me -- it even seems like they purr. Am I crazy -- will things change? If you have over a year with lovies let me know what the future holds. ---- Thank-you Flint

[tokameaki]

i am not an expert.....but i think it depends on the bird some bird will never let u touch them.....other will beg to to take them out to play with them.....

[romeoandjulietlovies06]

My lovies will be two in Feb. and i have had them since they were 12 weeks old. Just like yours they loved to sit on my shoulder when they were that young and they still do. I think that if you just keep spending time with them they will stay tame. Mine still come and sit on my shoulder and fingers they will clean my hair and give me kisses on the cheeks.

I also have a Quaker parrot and my lovies have bonded with people just as if not more then the Quaker. they love flying and meeting new people. Not meaning anything mean against the writer but in my opinion it doesn't sound like he has been blessed with owning a lovebird.

[wilkiecoco]

kiwi turns 3 this month, has been tame and a velcro birdie from the start (he was 4 months old when i got him) , and that hasn't changed. like miranda said, consistency is key. if you keep taking them out and interacting with them, they should remain tame.

sometimes during a molt, or with hormonal hens, they can go through testy moments, although that has not happened with kiwi. every lovie is different, but i don't think there is reason to assume, with daily interaction, that their bond with you will change. :)

[michael]

Question: I am receiving contradictory information. A Borders book on taming & training - author was male - forget name I skimmed. SAID:
1) Love birds do not bond with humans like other birds
2) They revert to being wild easily
3) They will not let you touch them when they reach adulthood.
I feel like mine have bonded with me -- it even seems like they purr. Am I crazy -- will things change? Flint

1) Quite frankly, I think they bond better than a few other birds :).
2) Partially true. But they sure do seem to come back in a hurry!
3) Well, the hens can be a bit touchy sometimes. Of course, mines a male and if you don't have yours hands on him, he's ready to be all over yours!

Will things change? They may change a little here and there, but as long as their happy most likely they'll just keep on purring away......Some of us call that "vibrating" :rofl:

[Janie]

Nothing the book says applies to my three lovie males. I'm sure the part about reverting back to the wild could happen if I ignored them for a couple of months. Honestly, I can't keep them off me. :whistle:

The best book I've read about lovebird behavior (also some genetic, breeding, etc. info.) is The Lovebird Handbook by Vera Appleyard.

[Z28Taxman]

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Question: I am receiving contradictory information. A Borders book on taming & training - author was male - forget name I skimmed. SAID:
1) Love birds do not bond with humans like other birds
2) They revert to being wild easily
3) They will not let you touch them when they reach adulthood.
I feel like mine have bonded with me -- it even seems like they purr. Am I crazy -- will things change? If you have over a year with lovies let me know what the future holds. ---- Thank-you Flint


1) Ditto couldn't be any more bonded to me if you welded him to my hand. :happy:
2) He doesn't have a wild bone in his body.
3) Ditto is 5 years old and if I don't touch him he gets mad at me and will rub his head on my fingers to get his scritches.

It doesn't sound like the author of this book spent much time at all with lovebirds. Now not all will be like my little guy but they certainly are better than described in the book you quoted.

Keep paying attention to them and they'll likely keep paying attention to you.:happy:

[cp.lovebird]

I got my lovebirds on April 30, 1994 and I think they were probably just over 8 weeks old. They were a bonded pair who raised 2 clutches of 3 chicks each. The female would sit on my shoulder a bit and step up and then pretty much did her own thing. She passed away at the end of November. The male bird was always more friendly with me and would sit on my shoulder longer and give me little nibbles and step up. Now that his mate is gone, he even lets me scratch the back of his head! So, in his older adulthood, he is letting me touch him even more! He seems to be bonding to me now instead of his mate. They never reverted to being wild even if I didn't let them out and handle them as often for a while. I am not an expert but it seems to have to do with the birds' individual personalities and perhaps gender as well as the human interaction with them.

Enjoy your new birds!

[FLINT]

I thank-you all for taking the time to respond. Miranda and Janie it is especially good to hear that your multiple birds are still loving. I had heard wonderful things about lovies -- I know he couldn't be right. - It was a book on all parrots -- the only other person who spoke poorly of lovies was an employee at Petco -- but I wrote it off to the manner in which they treated the lovies. --- Vibrating, thanks Flint

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto does the purring thing when he's really happy. I can even hear him when he does it snuggled up to my ear. :happy:

[Janie]

Flint, let me add this: Oliver was already 7 when I adopted him so I had little to do with his already sweet disposition. I got Big Boi and Shy (clutch mates and brothers) when they were 9 - 10 weeks old and while they had been hand fed and were very tame and friendly to the breeder and her daughter, it did take them some time to learn to trust me and accept me as part of their flock. Had I not handled them and played with them several times a day for the first month, I'm sure they would have turned wild regarding human interaction. They would have been perfectly happy if I'd left them alone with just each other. Matter of fact, I had to "work" with them separately to get them to pay attention to me instead of each other. It did help that they had been handled from the time they were 10 days old so I didn't have to wait for them to get used to a human holding and petting them.

That being said, if you shower them with love and attention, my experience has been that they will return that love and attention. :)

[gigi]

my gigi is two, she was hand raised but ive only had her since october (a friend of my mothers was rehoming her). she wont let me handle her - she hates fingers and hands - but shell come to me when i ask her "up up up" but only onto my arm. she likes to sit on me at all times also. just no hands! thats the rule. except about early evening... thats when she cuddles up to me and wants me to pet her. shell nudge me until i do. its very sweet.