the long process of taming

[Michelle_Renae]

Hi!

I got a pair of lovebirds from a breeder about 6 months ago. Not sure what sex, they are siblings, and seem to be getting along well, though one is obviously more dominant and the other more timid. Anyways... I have been working VERY hard to tame these little guys. First I got to know them and they were very curious about coming to the cage and listening to me. Then I let my hand "hang out" for a while after feeding. Finally they have started eating out of my hand and seem very curious. From here should I attempt to approach them or just wait while they explore my hands and step up on their own. This has been a long process and I can't wait to be able to play with my feathered friends! Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community! :)

While it's taken a while to begin to get their trust, you are well on the way to that end! You need to become part of THEIR family so you need to let them to continue to come to you. I know there are videos available that show you can tame your birds seemingly overnight but that will desensitize them to you and your hands but it will not give you the trust that you need with them.

Keep doing what you are doing and you will have them all over you. Then the next question will be when do I get some peace and quiet..... :) (just kidding!)

[Michelle_Renae]

Thanks for the encouragement! It's been a long process and glad to hear I'm on the right track.

[One bird for one heart.]

First off Welcome to the Community! I can understand were you are coming from completly since it took a whole year before my lovie Icetalon would even let me touch her! From what it seems you are doing wayyyyyy better then we were at the point you are at. Keep it up, nothing is better then the love of lovie!

[Michelle_Renae]

Just to update I have been "visiting" my lovies almost everyday. Sometimes I have food in my hand and sometimes I don't. The like to "nibble" at my hand and arm. Definately not bites, but sometimes get a little carried away chewing on my finger nails! They also love to give "kisses" through the cage bars. Still no step up but at least no regression. I seriously can't wait! I didn't realize it would be this hard. I had a cockateil growing up and handling him was no problem at all. However I know I will get there eventually as they are very curious and progressing in the right direction.

[jk1944]

I have an older "rescue" lovebird, Ethel. She would not come near me or my husband for months and months without biting. We had to change out her dishes and clean her cage wearing leather welders gloves! Finally, my husband had the idea to let Ethel bite the gloves when she was out of the cage. He showed no reaction to the bites, and gradually over a period of a month or so, she began to trust him. It's wonderful to see her getting head scritches and affection from loving hands at last. :rofl:

[Pips mom]

My lovebird Rudy I've had now for over a year and I'm still working on this with him! He is finally to the point where I can tell that he really wants to come to me and land on me. I watch him and he'll lean forward and look right at me, like he's going to fly to me, and he will.....but then he gets there and will change his mind at the last minute. He did land on my head once, but only because I had my other lovie with me at that time and he wants to be near him, but I want to try to be friends with him, just me, not with my other lovie as bait! He will eat things from my hand sometimes and I can do whatever I want in his cage and he'll just sit right there near my hand and not even move away, so I know that I am Soooo close to finally having some contact with him......after a whole year! Sometimes it just takes time and patience and you just have to sit back and go at their pace!

[Michelle_Renae]

Alright so my little curious friends nibbles are turning more into bites and there has been no stepping up progress. I don't want to scare them but this biting can't progress. Any tips?

[Skittles]

Try having a nutriberry in your hand for them to nibble on.....sometimes it is like a nervous energy. But if you give them something yummy to nibble on that helps. I tamed a parrotlet this way.

[mangokiwi]

I just got my first pair of lovebirds about 3 months ago. They were 5 and 4 months old and not tame. I started off doing the same things. I also let them explore our home (supervised, of course). But stepping up was not the next step for us. They started jumping off of their cage onto my shoulders. Then they would l step up onto a stick and then onto my shoulder, but still wouldn't step up onto my finger. They loved me, but not my hands. (Although, they would go near my hands for treats :) ) I am no expert, as I said these are my first birds, but stepping up onto my finger was just not the next step for us. Maybe it's not for your birds, either. And today, for the first time, Mango stepped up onto my finger! Of course, she wouldn't do it again, but I didn't push it. Everyone has their own advice and the only advice that seems to be consistent is making yourself available for your bird to come to you on his/her time. That's all I've done. And I've managed to get my birds to step up for the first time after only 3 months together. And my birds were not 3 months old or handled much when I got them. Hope this helps :)

[Enko_chan]

It can be a process and it depends so much on individual personalities, their individual experiences, how you proceed, and their environment. A lot of people want to know an exact time frame and an exact list of things to do- but you are asking the right questions and seem like you're proceeding patiently and doing well!

We had our Frey and Odie well over a year before Odie would step up on a hand. Some lovebirds never will and will just have to be offered an arm or covered hand all their lives. And his mate, Frey was a day-one handfed baby and was stepping on on hands from the very first day... in spite of his urge to copy everything his mate does, (Frey is the dominant one) the fear of hands precluded his ability to learn a proper step up for over a year. There were a few false starts, even a point when he would lay in my hand and let me kiss his feet, then regressions and fear again. Now he has been stepping up consistently for six months.

The only real hint I have is to be as consistent as possible and keep at it. I spend a lot of time near my birds, singing to, reading to, eating with and talking to my birds when they aren't out playing with me so we have a real tight flock feeling.