In big need of training and tamingtips!

[Bubblan]

Hi!
My name is Carolina and I have 2 wonderful lovebirds. I would love to get some tips on how to train them into liking my hands. They enjoy spendning time with me playing and even grooming me as long as they are sitting on my head, shoulders, arms and legs but they have a very hard time with my hands. They gladely accept a treat from my hands and sit in my hands when I have food in them but for some reason they don´t let me pet them. My male lovebird has begun to step up on my hand but for some reason he also bites me while sitting on my hand even though he it was all by himself that stepped up. I would love to be able to show them affection by petting and rub their cute little heads like you see the lovebirds on youtube do. Can anyone please help me?!?!
//Carolina

[Birkah]

Hello, Carolina! It sounds like your lovies are expressing a lot of sweet snuggling already. My singleton lovie, Cipher, enjoys head and beak scritches, but on his own terms. I'm still pretty new to lovies, but I have noticed that when I wear scented lotions or perfumes, Cipher tends to want to "taste".

There are a lot of great people on the board with lovies that don't like hands who can offer some great advice. Good luck!

[Bubblan]

Hi Birkah! Yes my little lovies (cute nickname) are actully showing me a lot of affection I just need some help with the finishing touches so to speak. I´ve had them for about 2 yeras now but they were 1 year old when I bought them. So I couldn´t start from scratch with them. Thank you!

[michael]

Hi Carolina. ..Welcome to Lovebirdsplus community! ..... Contrary to what some believe, parrots can continue to learn at any age. ... So in order to accomplish certain goals (especially trust), it may just be more time is needed. ... At the same time, we understand, that due to various factors such as, hormones, gender, individual personality traits, etc, some parrots may hold more of a propensity towards their natural instincts than anything else. .... That is to say, some birds may never really become totally comfortable around hands/fingers, or if in a position below them. .... Have you tried gently rubbing their beaks? ... Or maybe the side of their face or neck while gently speaking? .... You know, i've actually found with several parrots, that always offering treats can sometimes get in the way. .........:)

[Bubblan]

Hi Michael! Thank for welcoming me to the community :) I have to say that I really like your site :)
I have been training my birds with clickertraining and have been making big progress thanks to that. But I will surely try your tips and see if they are succesfull...Ireally hope they work!
Less treats and more lovefull rubbing :)
Thank you again!

[linda040899]

Hi Carolina and congratulations on the progress you've made so far in taming your lovebirds! :)

Hard to say exactly what it is, but many parrots distrust human hands and that never changes. With others, it can take time for them to associate the human hand with doing things they like. Head scratches, beak rubs and treats are definitely attention getters. Sometimes pulling your hands up inside long sleeves and offering the covered hand/arm will help.

Sounds like your lovebirds like you a lot. Comlete trust is possible but it may take a bit longer. Age isn't a factor, nor is hand fed vs. parent raised. Any bird can make a great companion. It's just a matter of developing your own special relationship with them. :)

[michael]

Hi Michael! Thank for welcoming me to the community :) I have to say that I really like your site :)......

:rofl:..... Perhaps I should have said..."Welcome to Linda040899's Lovebirdsplus community!" .... I'm still in the taming/training process......>o......:rolleyes:

[Bubblan]

Hi Linda!
I will defently try the headscratches and beakrubs to try to get my little lovies to like my hands. Hopefully they will start to trust me even more than they do.
Found some videos on Youtube a while ago with a lot of lovebirds really enjoying the company of their owners and their really cute too :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOwx0zmd5RM&feature=channel
Maybe I can get my lovebirds into doing this :)
Michael...thank you for welcoming me to Lindas site ;)

[bird-brain]

hi Bublan! I hope you can post pictures soon! We actually love to see the new community babies! I am still very new to lovies and working on training Cabo to like my hands. It sounds like we are in much the same place but he will step up onto a finger if he's in the mood or scared. He darn well knows my hands wont hurt him. I have a theory that it is a texture issue and he just doesn't like the way skin feels under his feet. He only allows his head touched, even by other birds! No body preening allowed! If he can reach it you can't touch it. THAT is the rule!

[Bubblan]

Hi Bird-Brain! I like to read that I´m not the only one with this problem. But I work on it on a daily basis now that I´ve got some tips from all the nice people here on the community. I´m starting to belive that my birds have understood what I´m writing about when I´m on the computer because they always join me when I´m sitting here. Maybe they want some tips on how they can train me ;)
How do I put up pictures...haven´t quite figured that out?

[bird-brain]

In the photo gallery section, there is a great thread about how to post pics here. :) I use photo bucket and then just paste the link. It's pretty simple. Can't wait to see your baby! :) And Yes, they are always trying to find better ways to train their slaves!;)

[Bubblan]

Thank you for the tips :) I hope that I can begin to show my lovely lovebirds as soon as possible to rest of the members here on Lovebirds plus.
I also want to thank for all the great tips I´ve recived from you all. We are making great progress and my male bird is sitting more and more on my hands and fingers. Thank you all! So we will keep up the good work here at home :)

[shinbatsu]

Keep in mind some birds just don't like scritches or head rubs, and may never. My OF american yellow doesn't like scritches unless he is really tired. And he is super tame. My GF's bird she has owned 8 years and it will only receive scritches on occasion when it feels like it. You try to give it rubs anytime else and it pulls away and will nip if you push the issue. I had a masked cobalt that loved scritches so much, you could sit there and give it scritches and rubs all day and it would happily oblige. Of course, it would bite for no reason at all and draw blood while running around on your arm or shoulder, so just because it was a cuddle bird, didn't mean it wasn't a biter.

Not every bird is the same, and if you expect your birds to turn out like on youtube I would venture to say it might be unrealistic. Having owned many lovebirds and currently owning two, I realized that no bird is 100% perfect (no human is either), they all have their preferences and quirks, and no matter what, they do things on their terms, not yours.

[Bubblan]

Hi Shinbatsu!
I´m well aware of that not all birds are the same and that my lovebirds surely won´t behave as the lovebirds I found on youtube. I´m not actully trying to rub their heads but I do want to gain their trust enough to let me to touch them so they will become more easy to handle. I want to be able to give them the same affection they show me because they spend a lot of time grooming me and it would be nice to be able to give them something more than just a shoulder to sit on.

[shinbatsu]

It will just take time and patience. I would recommend you try giving them treats by hand consistently, and as such your birds will associate your hand with treats. It's not 100% though.

Just keep at it and maybe one day they will come around.