Advise for my new Tweetie kiki lovebird

[MariefromCanada]

Good afternoon

On saturday I purcharsed an untammed lovebird from a pet shop and I would like to have any advise on how to make him trust me. I know it will take time but any stories you can share with me would be greatly appreciated. :)

I talk to him on a daily basis but believe me he is not afraid of bitting my fingers if I get to close to his cage.

thank you :happy:

[momo]

congrats on your new baby.

If you sift through the behaviour and taming section of the forum you will find many many issues and stories with people taming their babies.

though you must keep in mind that there is a chance that maybe your lovebird wont be as tame as you would like it to be, because they all have different personalities. something I am coming to grips with... as my baby elmo although he is progressing.. i think he likes to amuse himself rather than play with me.

the only thing on your side is time.. you have to get your new baby to trust you.. some say the younger they are the easier it is.. and the older they are the "harder" it is to tame them.. though there are always exceptions to this rule of course.. ive found dont force your lovebird to do anything it doesn't want to do. millet is a god send... its like heroin for birds.. without the bad side effects.. elmo will do anything for millet.. his love for millet is more important than his fear of me.

small milestones.. such as when he begins to grind his beak. (this means they are happy and content) , see them as accomplishments because they are.

for a few days i tried the grab and hold against chest method, although elmo would calm down after a while, i found this made him more scared when i put my hand in the cage, so now, as i stay at home studying, i study beside him, read him my textbooks.. which has put him to sleep on occasions..

[MariefromCanada]

Hi Momo

thank you for your answer.

Yes, kiki did grind his beek yesterday and matter of fact, yesterday as I was preparing supper, kiki starting chirping away like no tomorrow. When I arrived in the living room, he was on the top of his cage ! spreading his wings.

I was so happy and later on I tried encouraging him to come out again of his cage but he wouldn't.

I am making small progress with him. He lets me touch his beek and doesn't try to bite my hands when I change his water and food.

However, If I put my hands near him to encourage him to come on my hands, he's gonna bite me. Maybe I am trying to hard

[momo]

i think the fact you can touch his beak is FANTASTIC.. with elmo its touch and go.. if hes incredibly sleepy he will tolerate some sort of touching.. but early morning hes alert and there will be no touching.

in regards to encouraging him to come near your hands, the way I got elmo ok with having my hands just IN the cage.. I would open the door and leave my hand in the door and after he screamed and protested and climbed to the highest point of the cage and realised my hands weren't moving at all. he would calm down, and I would move my hands just closer in once. and then pull it out. id do this for about 30 minutes each time.

isnt beak grinding the cutest thing in the whole world hehehe.

I'm new to the bird companion as well, though I have read ALOT on this forum and there are so many wise people, I have learnt so much. but if he spread out his wings on the top of his cage. I think that means he's saying.. THIS IS MY CAGE!...

its all baby steps with birds. they are alot smarter than the golden retriever.. when you earn a birds trust.. cause its taken soo much.. the reward seems so much better than earning the trust of a dog... though dont get me wrong I LOVE DOGS..

I would say get some millet.. this was the big ice breaker with elmo and myself.. He will eat it with me holding it. Its all about establishing that your hands arent evil.

[MariefromCanada]

I tried it yesterday and holly cow he had a huge fit. He got quite close to my hand but I got really scared of him bitting me. I don't trust him yet so I can understand as to why he wouldn't trust me either.

I decided to put a band aid around my finger to approach him but he bit me, hard !!! but after a while, nothing happened. I ended our session on a positive note by talking to him, playing with him and touching his beak. he allows me to do that and he started being OK with me touching his feet.

As far as the millet, I placed a branch in his cage but maybe I should try to place a piece in my hands. I'm really scared because the trust is not there yet.

[momo]

One thing I've learnt is.. sometimes they can sense our fear esp when it comes to them biting us.. Have you been bitten yet?.. after the first twenty bites my pain tolerance has risen hahaha.

the bites are painful but it isnt going to kill you.. i know its hard.. you just gotta show them that biting gets them no where.. one tip i will share is.. sometimes elmo bites me in the fleshy areas of my hands.. when i say to him stop and keep my hand approx where it bitten.. i slowly turn my finger, so the part where he bites and it doesnt hurt is closer.. because i know he will strike again.. *sigh*.. so it becomes less painful.. after many bites you will realise what parts of your hand hurt and what dont. cause if you jerk your hand away after its being bitten, it re-enforces the fact that biting makes our hands go away and thus giving them what they want.

if your lovebird is a baby it wont be that painful but i think its when they're adult it can be painful... but no pain no gain unfortunately.. he's only biting out of fear.. which is understandable..

the fact that you can touch his feet.. keep doing that.. start with small strokes and make them just tiny bits bigger so you get to his stomach.. he may end up stepping up on your finger.. and ta-duh he has stepped up.. keep saying up when you stroke his belly to train him word wise what getting up is..
though i have read some females dont like it.. but as we are unsure of the sex of your baby.. one way to find out ;)

after a while you will be able to read your babies body language.. when he is about to bite.. i know elmo will open his beak as a warning sign and if i dont stop he will then strike.

i know its hard and i am also sick of hearing it and saying it to myself btu its soo true.. its just time... just working baby steps with your baby.

if he is eating millet, from my experience, as long as he knows what it is, you can generally tell this by having the millet piece DEMOLISHED.. when elmo realised it was edible and yummy.. i was left with this tiny piece of shell of what the millet was hahahah.

.. i would take the piece out of the cage and only give it to him when you are having interaction time. so then he knows he gets birdy junk food when he plays with you. i initially started with an inch piece and held it with the tips of my fingers and pointed it towards him. i had to chase him a little with him around his cage until he was fed of with running and bit it, then realising it was millet.. i would let him eat a bit from the top and then i would stop readjust my fingers and move it a little bit more closer towards the tip.. first time I let him demolish the whole piece.. when he realises when you have the millet and no longer runs away from your hands i then cut a smaller piece and repeated everything.. so now he takes the tiniest pieces from my finger tips.. though I am trying to work on him eating it from the palm of my hand.

[lemonypickett]

It took Eddie 3 weeks in a new place to really settle in. Be patient, take baby steps.