Help with Taming

[LemonKiwi]

Hi, I currently have my two loviebirds and neither of them are tame. They will take food from my hand as long as fingers are not in biting reach. Lemon will actually go after my hand if I have it in the cage just to take a chunk out of my hand. I want to be able to let them out but neither of them will hop onto a perch to come out. I had to move them into their travelling cage today because I was bringing them home from my friend's place and I had to towel them to get them in since they would not step up onto a perch.
Is there anything I can do? I've been spending time with them everyday feeding them millet and talking to them but I don't want to let them out if I have to towel them to get them back in. As to wing clipping I don't really want to and can't really get anyone to do it for me. The closest vet to me is 2 hours away and I don't think he has any experience with birds.
Advice?

[michael]

Sounds like these two lovies are really quite bonded. .. If it were me, my goal would be to work on softening up who's ever brave enough to stick their little feets out first. ... How is this done you might ask? ... Thats kind of a tough one to answer, as each individual bird will tend to interact in their own individual way. .. Some may take awhile (like weeks or months), others will let their curiosity get the best of them in a matter of minutes. ....How long have you worked with them?

Although I can understand your difficulties, and/or discontent in having their wings clipped, it might be worth a bit more looking into. Especially if other more resourceful methods just don't seem to cut it. And certainly, toweling is no fun for either party :(. .. I would at least review the "Wing clipping (how to)" information provided in our Lovebird resource library under the "Must reads". .. Maybe too, see if you can find someone trustworthy enough to help you out. If for some reason you feel you can't go through with it, don't worry about. Our main goal, is to help you find the best (and safest) way to handle your birds.

Will your birds come out on their own? ...If so, how often? ... Is there any way you can work with either one on an individual basis? .. Have you tried working with them in a small room (bathroom)? ... Sometimes returning birds to their cage is made easier by darkening the room. ... Hope this helps a little. .....:)

[LemonKiwi]

Well so far i haven't let them out of their cage much because I was at a friend's place and their local petstore is where I got them from. But I know that they will come out on their own because I had to get them out of their cage so I could put them in their travelling cage yesterday. I just let them venture out and then I had to towel them to get them in the travelling cage. I've had them for a week, and I've been giving them millet through the cage bars and finding sunflower seeds in their bag of food to give them also. I've also given them some apple and carrot through the cage bars. They don't mind taking food from me its just that they won't let anyone put their hands in the cage. This morning I got bit again by Lemon because they had knocked their dish out of the holder and i had to get it. I didn't react but i did get the dish out quickly because she was coming back for a second attempt at my arm.
I do have another room that I could work with them in, but they are already in a realitively small room that my budgie stays in also. I don't know how I would get the one into a different room though because they won't step up on to a perch.
I really don't want to have to clip their wings because I tried it once with my cockatiel and I really don't think I did it properly and it didn't help tame him at all. He actually got more vicious towards me, I had to eventually rehome him due to his agression towards me and his mate. My other cockatiel, Rosie, I didn't have to clip her wings and I can have her out everyday and she will step up and sit on me, but she won't let me touch her, but she will sit on my hands.
I'll read some of the information, Thanks you.

[michael]

As you probably know, a weeks worth of spending time together is really like no time at all. ..I would easily guess, that along with subjecting them to travel cages and towels, they haven't even began to feel comfortable in their new home. .... Also too, if both birds are in fact under the age of one year, due to hormones, there may be other changes in behavior along the way. ..... Right now, I think the best you could do, is to allow them plenty more time to settle in. After all, to them, your most likely just a stranger who's done nothing but poke around with whats left of their territory.

Although its very unusual that wing clips will cause any lasting behavioral difficulties, i'm sorry to hear this had ultimately resulted in having to separate your cockatiels. My guess is, that the timing and method used may have been the contributing factor, whereas their relationship would have only produced short term ramifications. Unfortunately, now that their separated, there's little way to tell if that was the case. ...Needless to say, this is an area of parrot ownership (especially concerning pairs), where its takes considerably more research before owning them.

In yet one more pass on the wing clips you find there's an issue with safety, clipping might very well be in their best interest, as losing a bird is much more devastating than clipping their wings. That would also be a great time to work on "step ups". And of course, wings do grow back. If you still can't justify, (and provided their safe), you'll just have to continue working with them knowing there's a lot more time on your hands. ... Patience always works best! ..... Hope you keep us posted. .... Please let us know know if there's any progress. ..If anything, i'm sure other members would be more than willing to help along the way. ................:)

[LemonKiwi]

Okay thank you. Just one other factor I should let you know about. I got them with the cage that they've been in for awhile. At the petstore I got them from they were selling the cage with Lemon and Kiwi. The petstore also said, if I understood them properly, that they were 1 year old last November so that would make them 16months old. They also said that the breeder was unsure of their gender but that whatever gender they were both the same gender.
For my cockatiels the male was already beginning to show agression towards his mate. He had killed one of their previous chicks and that was the beginning of a downhill stuggle. I used to be able to have him out and let him sit on mine or the little kid's shoulders that we sometimes have come stay with us as my home is a foster home.
I will continue to work with Kiwi and Lemon. I'll go slow with them, I'll offer them millet from my hand and try to get them to understand that my hands are nothing to fear.
Thank you

[jen]

All of the lovebirds I've gotten have been wild or only semi tame... its taken me months to make progress with them... constant talking to them, offering food.

For mine i did find wing clipping helped.

I have two now that are super tame.. another one will now eat out of my hand... the rest I'm still working on.. I'm happy that at this time they no longer freak out and climb the cage bars when I come in the room, but will sit on their perches and listen while I talk to them...

Keep trying!! and best of luck to you!

baby steps baby steps!

[LemonKiwi]

They'll happily sit on their perch or even climb on the cage bars closest to me when i come in and they will chatter and make noises while I talk to them. They understand if I ask them if they want some numnums, meaning millet, and they will start chirping up a storm when they hear me opening the millet bag. They take millet through the cage bars as long as my fingers are out of reach.
Today my little red eye devil Lemon left my fingers alone when I changed the feed in the dish, but I'm not sure if this was because it was late or that she was sorta accepting that I give food.

[LemonKiwi]

Okay I thought I should give you guys an update. Yesterday I let them out of their cage for the first time. I simply opened both doors and then layed down on the bed beside the cage and started to play my Ds. They came out immediately and started hopping around on their cage investigating everything. They then started flying back and forth between their cage and the budgie's cage that is right beside theirs. After a while Kiwi started flying towards me and then flying back to where their cage was. After 4-5 times he/she finallly landed on my Ds and then flew back. Then he/she flew back and landed on me and sat their for a couple of minutes watching me as I play on my Ds. Then Lemon came over and did the same thing. Today I let them out again and they were flying onto my head and my arms. I think this is some progress. They will take millet from me outside the cage but Kiwi is more willing to take it and then feed Lemon what he/she has. They still won't let my fingers near them without biting them but I'm taking it slow with them.

[Bumble]

First off, I might have missed it but how old are your lovebirds?

When it came to taming my lovebirds (which I also got from a pet store), they were around six months and could fly. So as you can imagine, I brought them home thinking they were very cute but found out that I couldn't get near either one of them. First, I got their wings clipped, which was very helpful because now I could catch them since I'd let them out often.

EDIT: If you don't know how to clip your birds wings, I suggest asking for help from a breeder or a vet. I had a vet who lived in the same apartment building as me come over and hold them. He showed me where to clip and how to tell blood feathers from normal feathers! I also spoke to a breeder about how many flight feathers to cut, she suggested around five or six otherwise they won't have enough feathers to deal with falling down (if you cut too many, they will fall too fast and could break bones).

After that, I had to make a big decision, seperate them into different cages to tame them or take one back to the pet store. I took one back because they are siblings and couldn't mate anyways. I also spoke to a lovebird breeder before seperating them because I wasn't sure if they would become stressed (if they were bonded). She told me because of their age that they should be fine being seperated and go under no stress.

The first few days of being seperated, my bird would call for his sibling, after a while of keeping him company (usually just sitting next to his cage and talking to him).. he would start calling for me. You can tell if they do this because your bird will chirp loudly as soon as you walk away and it can't see you.

After all the trial-and-error with my first lovebirds, it's going great now. I can pick him up and he'll sit on my finger/shoulder. He's even okay with me flipping him over to lay on his back. He doesn't understand how to 'step-up' yet but I think he'll get there eventually.

Also, I would stop feeding your bird millet because usually bird seeds comes with plenty of millet already in it (and it's a little fattening)! Go for a healthy snack like veggies or fruits.

That's my advice to you, hopefully you understand the commitment of taming a lovebird (or two)!

[LemonKiwi]

Bumble: My pair is 16months old and I brought them home from the petstore two weeks ago. I'm not going to clip their wings because 1) I don't have anyone that lives close to be that would be able to do it. ( I live 1&1/2 hour away from the closest vet who doesn't specialize with birds) and also the petstore I got them from is 2 hours away. 2) I really don't want to clip their wings just to train them because I have a cockatiel that wasn't hand tame at all and I managed to get her tame enough that she will step up and come sit with me while I read or do other things without clipping her wings, she is still fully fledged. 3) I have a budgie that I got from a different petstore a little while before I got the lovebirds and she is young and has her wings clipped and I have seen no difference between how tame they are execpt the budgie is actually terrified of hands and won't even come near me. Its been nearly a month since I got her and she still flaps around like crazy even if I put my hand in the cage to change her food or water.
I am not going to seperate them because I do not currently have an extra cage and also I don't have the room to put another cage in my room or the spare room where they currently are. They are also really bonded.
I have always gave my birds millet as a treat reward and have seen great results in terms of getting them tame. The reason why I also use millet is because they love it and I don't give them millet as a everyday snack. Its only a treat while training and I am in the process of beginning to give my lovebirds more fruits and veggies in their diet. They are also on a seed diet that has a variety of different things in it like dried fruits and I am also giving them pellets with their food.
Yes I understand the commitment. I'm working with them everyday and they are now getting time outside their cage everyday like I do with my cockatiel and hopefully will be eventually with my budgie.
I was just giving an update on how the training was going as I had posted this thread a week or so ago asking for advice.
Thank you though any advice is helpful.

[bird-brain]

Glad to hear they are progressing so well :)