JoeSchmoe
06-03-2010, 06:00 PM
Hey everyone,
Thought I'd start a thread here to get any tips on taming my new lovebird Kiwi. She was a breeder and not hand raised or tame when I adopted her 2 weeks ago, but so far I think we've made great progress.
She doesn't like my hands/arm in the cage but tolerates it, will take treats from my hands now quite regularly inside and outside the cage.
We've clipped her wings for now, just until she responds to us better.
She seems quite interested in me when she's safe in her cage, watches me eat and chirps at me for attention, then when I speak to her she'll jump around to every perch in her cage and flap her wings....cracks me up which I guess she understands cause she'll do it over and over again.
I've used a dowel to start to teach her to step up, she's not into skin just yet, and perhaps never will be but for now she's doing ok with the dowel.
She was very quiet, not a peep, when we first brought her home so I got an app for my iphone that plays wild bird songs and she responded immediately... her favorites are the blackbird and mistle thrush..lol
I've tried to introduce fruits and veggies but she doesn't seem ready for those yet, she was on a strictly pellet diet at the aviary. I'm feeding her pellets (Tropican Lifetime Granules). She gets a small feeder with a seed mix as a treat, which she picks out the sunflower seeds and spills the rest on the floor..lol For training purposes I use millet, which she'll do almost anything for but I can't get her to try Nutri-berries just yet.
Other than that I've offered her grapes, strawberries, cucumber, celery and broccoli...took some licks of the grape and a couple bites of the strawberry...just enough to turn her face pink..lol
I'm happy with the progress we've made in 2 weeks and will continue to take baby steps to earn her trust, but any other suggestions are more than welcome.
All in all she's doing just great and has been quite entertaining even though it's still hands off...lol
Thought I'd start a thread here to get any tips on taming my new lovebird Kiwi. She was a breeder and not hand raised or tame when I adopted her 2 weeks ago, but so far I think we've made great progress.
She doesn't like my hands/arm in the cage but tolerates it, will take treats from my hands now quite regularly inside and outside the cage.
We've clipped her wings for now, just until she responds to us better.
She seems quite interested in me when she's safe in her cage, watches me eat and chirps at me for attention, then when I speak to her she'll jump around to every perch in her cage and flap her wings....cracks me up which I guess she understands cause she'll do it over and over again.
I've used a dowel to start to teach her to step up, she's not into skin just yet, and perhaps never will be but for now she's doing ok with the dowel.
She was very quiet, not a peep, when we first brought her home so I got an app for my iphone that plays wild bird songs and she responded immediately... her favorites are the blackbird and mistle thrush..lol
I've tried to introduce fruits and veggies but she doesn't seem ready for those yet, she was on a strictly pellet diet at the aviary. I'm feeding her pellets (Tropican Lifetime Granules). She gets a small feeder with a seed mix as a treat, which she picks out the sunflower seeds and spills the rest on the floor..lol For training purposes I use millet, which she'll do almost anything for but I can't get her to try Nutri-berries just yet.
Other than that I've offered her grapes, strawberries, cucumber, celery and broccoli...took some licks of the grape and a couple bites of the strawberry...just enough to turn her face pink..lol
I'm happy with the progress we've made in 2 weeks and will continue to take baby steps to earn her trust, but any other suggestions are more than welcome.
All in all she's doing just great and has been quite entertaining even though it's still hands off...lol