Tamed vs Untamed

[LoveBugs]

Is it just me... or have you guys noticed that your tamed babies tend to be more aggressive than your untamed ones?

It seems to me as though PP is pretty mean to me and is very hard headed, doing what SHE wants because she knows I will never hurt her and even when she is being mean, I will still cater to her needs, where as Lily listens more and is much more curious to what I am doing, although she is scared to death of me.

Also it seems as all the stereotype about Masked Lovies vs. Peach is the completely opposite with my two babies. My masked one is the aggressive one, whereas my peach is skittish and shy.

Anyone else have similiar experiences or stories to tell?!

[Cooper]

I only have the one bird, a masked lovebird. As it was my first experience with birds, I didn't know how tame he should be. The vet thought Cooper was fairly tame yet he will not hesitate in trying to get a piece out of your fingers if they are too close to his cage.

I would say that Cooper is tame (I can hold him on my finger and he will step up to my finger from a "neutral" area, hangs out on my shoulder and even sometimes lets my pet his head) but is very aggressive when it comes to his cage and playgym (you need to be quick when changing those food dishes).

[bellarains]

Bela being my handfed lovie gets very nippy when I try to put anything in or take anthing out of his cage. Lacey was two years old when I got her and she doesn't pay my any attention at all when I am in the cage. I don't know if Lacey counts though as she literally does not know how to bite. She can beak you, and give the slightest of nips, but she has never bitten.

The one thing I have noticed is that I can not hand feed Bela or he will nip at my fingers. The only thing I have been able to feed him is sugar snap peas, and those he gladly will let me open, so he can get the pea out. Lacey however will eat almost anything from my hand.

Well, those are my observations on tamed-vs-untamed, or I might should say, handraised-vs-parent raised :)

[Janie]

I have an older bird that I adopted two years ago. He was definitely parent raised when the original owner bought him and he came from a PetSmart type store. For some reason, he is laid back beyond belief and the sweetest little bird. I've just added two more, DNA'd male siblings, and they were hand fed. Since they are together, it's hard to tell exactly how they'll react to me in the future. Right now (they are still in quarantine) I can reach into the cage and drag them out, :lol, and they do not bite but, they are young and I expect they'll go through those stages. At this point, they definitely would rather I leave them alone since they have each other and I understand that but, :lol, I do not leave them alone! Hopefully, they'll let me be a minor part of their flock. I think that all birds, hand raised or parent raised, have their own personalities and there is no way to be sure how they'll react to us humans that love them so much! :)

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto isn't aggressive at all. My niece (10 years old) can even reach in the cage and he'll hop right onto her hand. He did that the first time she came over. :cool:

As long as you don't try and keep him from getting to me when he wants you're fine.

[Janie]

As long as you don't try and keep him from getting to me when he wants you're fine.

Dave, DITTO, so to speak! :D Oliver is the same way! :)