Need help training my mom's bird...

[Leia1138]

My cousin gave my mom one of her lovebirds after her canary Wu died. At first my mom seemed fairly excited about the idea of having her own bird since I already have a cockatiel (who is really more my dad's bird cuz the bird hates me) and I have my lovebird Saphira who adores me. Well, after my cousin left that weekend my mom never took the lovebird, Rogue, out of her cage. Not once. To make things worse Rogue never learned how to 'step up' or that human fingers don't taste very good. I knew if my mom didn't try to teach Rogue not to bite or to step up soon she wouldn't be very friendly but I figured I shouldn't be the one to teach her since she was after all my mom's bird. Fast forward 2 weeks to today when I finally decided enough was enough. In 2 weeks Rogue had not once left her cage and my mom hadn't tried to train her so I decided to take on the task. Problem is Rogue doesn't want to be taught. When I take her out and let her sit on my finger she will fly away every time I try to get her to step up. She's more jumpy than Saphira is and doesn't trust me yet, but I don't want to help gain her trust by just letting her sit on my shoulder when she hasn't learned 'step up' yet.
Any ideas to gain Rogue's trust so she'll cooperate some more?

[kimsbirds]

Kudos to you for taking on the responsibility !:)
This lovebird will need consistency, patience, positive enforcement and TONS of time. A nice wing clip would probably help as well.
Remember to let lovie make the first move socially, even if it's just a cheep cheep or a flit of her wings in response to your voice.
Bonding takes many weeks, possibly months but it is SO worth the efforts !!
Talk to her throughout your day. Return her whistles. Make goofy sounds and act like a bird yourself (we've all done it). Take each day as it comes and be happy with what she gives you back. Don't give up! They have so much to offer and just need the chance to trust and love:)

Good Luck!

[Elle]

It may be less imposing to her to sit on your shoulder then on your hand at first. She needs to know that you won't hurt her. I let my bird sit on my shoulder for a few days before we started working on the step up command and it worked well.
The way I worked the step up command was only 10 minutes a day. No more. Outside of that it has to be fun for the bird in order to be able to make progress. If it means shoulder and arm instead of hands, is not a bad thing either.

[Janie]

How old is this lovie? If it's fairly young, I think you can work this out with lots of patience. Was it handled by your cousin prior to going to your mother? If it was and only two weeks have passed, that isn't really a terribly long time to calm him/her back down. I agree with the wing clip 100%. It's very hard to work with one when they are on top of the curtain rods and you're standing several feet below. Elle mentioned spending time talking to him and I think that's a great idea. When I adopted a much older lovie, about 7 we think, he was tame but had no clue who we were and therefore didn't trust us at all. I spend hours talking to him and even reading out loud from "The Lovebird Handbook". I needed to learn about lovebirds and he needed to get used to my voice so I sat by his cage and read. BTW, that is a great book and may be helpful. It's written by Vera Appleyard. Long story short, 2 years latter, this bird trust me beyond belief. I just added two more, DNA'd brothers, who have been handled BUT, I'm having to start all over with them because just like Oliver was when he came to live with us, these two don't know who we are yet. They are just over 2 months old and I'm spending at least an hour a day with them.

Bless you for taking that bird and trying to give him a good home and OUT of cage time. I just hate to think of any lovie sitting in a cage, all day and all night. Good luck and keep us posted! :)

[bellarains]

Hi,

As the others said, earning trust will take some time, and I'm sure you learned that with Saphira, although the circumstances are a bit different, so earning this little one's trust may take more time and effort.

First, I wanted to make sure that this new lovie has had a well bird check up, and that you have her quarantined away from Saphira for a minimum of 30 days. You wouldn't want for Rogue to pass any infection to Saphira, and you will need to wash your hands and change clothes or wear a robe that you can take off after handling Rogue and going to Saphira.

I would suggest a wing clip also if Rogue has not had one. This will make her a bit more dependent on you, and make bonding with her a bit easier. Start by just talking to her as much as possible, and then take her cage to a room that is birdy safe. Some use the bathroom as it is a smaller room, but you will need to cover any mirrors, close the toilet lid, and shut all doors. If you can dim the lights, or turn off the lights and turn on a small lamp that will help also, as she will be less likely to fly. Open the door and see if she will exit on her own, or you can offer her a dowel(extra perch) to exit onto. If she is comfortable sitting on your arm or shoulder, let her do this. It usually takes some time for them to accept hands if they are hand shy, but you can offer her a finger, if she accepts, great, if not, try again later. As she learns to trust you, she will be more likely to step up onto your finger, but it needs to be her choice.

Try your best to set a routine for Rogue. Set up taming/bonding sessions for once a day, then up them to twice a day, etc..... In between each session, sit by her cage and talk to her, offer her treats, and in general just spend time with her so that she gets used to your presence and learns that you are not the boogey man ;) At any time she gives you the sign that she wants to interact with you, then by all means do so. Offering treats by hand through the bars, or out of the cage helps to show that hands are good things, and not evil. Always offer her a treat and praise her highly after each training session,even if it wasn't so great. Birds do not understand negative action for their behavior, but they sure do understand postive action :)

Good luck, and please let us know how it's going. I'm sure with time, love and patience, you will have Rogue in the palm of your hand in no time :)

[Leia1138]

Thanks so much for all the help guys. Rogue seems to be doing a little better today. She actually came out on my hand which was a plus. I took some of your advice and let her sit on my shoulder. She was much happier and instantly fluffed up contentedly.
As to some of your questions well Rogue is only about 2 months old so I know it shouldn't be too hard to get her used to me. And yes, her wings are clipped, but when I try to get her to step up she flutters away. She was handled by my cousin who bred her and Saphira. They're from the same parents. When my cousin first brought Rogue over she took out Saphira to see how they would get along and well.... they got along veeery well. in fact we now think Saphira is a male because Saphira tried to mount Rogue. :whistle: I think this sorta adds to the complication of training Rogue because whenever I take her out she tries to get to Saphira's cage which sits under her cage.
Thanks again for all the advice. I'll keep posted how Rogue and I are getting along. :)