Extremely Aggressive

[sobkowich]

I'm at a loss, it seems no matter what I do, my young peach-face is constantly either in fear or aggressive towards me, no matter the circumstance.

I have had her for about 5 weeks now, and she seems perfectly fine health wise, but 90% of the time when I put my hand in the cage to give her a treat, her wings arch away from her body, she'll hunch down and lunge at my fingers. Not the part of my finger holding the treat either. Usually around my knuckle.

The rest of the time, she's hanging out doing her bat impersonation or swinging from her ladders and swings. But when I come close to the cage, she's at the back of the cage on her perch, as far away from me as she can get, and barely moves.

sometimes, when I put my hand in the cage with a treat, she'll come to it and take the seed smoothly and without a lunge, but that's about 1 in 10.

When she does lunge at my fingers, I'll simply say no, and take the treat away for about 5 seconds, then offer it again. If she does it again, then I do the same thing. When this happens, she will sometimes lunge at my finger with the treat, knocking it out of my hand, denying herself the treat. When she does get the treat, no matter if she lunged at it or not, I still praise her, tell her good, smile at her and try to end it on a positive.

According to the breeder, she was 6 months old when she arrived here, so that would make her around 7 months now. Is it too late to hope to tame her? Would getting another love-bird, one that has been hand-raised be any help? I know they can help train each other, but what are the odds of building a trust at this point.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Scott.

[kimsbirds]

It sounds as though you're a bit frustrated with your new lovie.
Relax and realize that it can take many months of consistency before she learns to trust you completely.
First thing I noticed, you put your hand in her cage. BIG NO NO! Lovebirds, particularly females, are extremely territorial and heaven forbid anyone invade their space! Open the door, sit fairly close, and invite her out willingly. Might take lots of tries, but curiosity will over ride eventually.
Make sure she's got a nice wing trim, allowing her no altitude, simply gradual flight downwards.
Work with her away from her cage so she doesn't try to go back all the time.
Did I mention this takes time?
Be patient...the end reward will be so worth it !!!

[sobkowich]

Umm, yeah, bit of a catch 22 there...

Don't put my hand into the cage, yet make sure she has her wings trimmed. She won't even let me touch her, let alone trim her wings.

And yes, I'm frustrated, and I'm sure it goes both ways, I'm sure she's just as frustrated with me as I am with this whole thing. But I'm not giving up, and I'm not using any negative's towards her at all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to wait for her, I have the time, and I'm sure the rewards are worth the time investment.

Oh, and if I leave the cage door open, despite sitting right next to it, she'll spend the next 4 - 6 hours, if not 2 - 3 days outside of her cage, refusing to be put back into her cage. I know the way to fix this is to have her wings trimmed, but then we're back at the initial problem... She won't let me near her to trim them... It's not as simple as it seems.

[kimsbirds]

I've used a little sneaky trick in the past to catch those untamed birdies in order to have their wingies clipped. Turn the lights off in the house, make it completely dark. Use work gloves to gently pick her up and spread her wings. Allow just enough light to let your helper (Yes,you need someone else to assist) see where they are snipping flight feathers.
If you don't have someone experienced in wing clips, take her entire cage/travel carrier to the vet and have them do it.
I like to work in the dark with lovies as they do not see me as well. Kind of like incognito, if you will.
I know it seems crazy to say what I did ie: no hands in cage/ wing trim, but working quickly and in dim conditions seems to be less stressful to birdie in the long run.
Do you have someone/vet who could assist you with a trim?

[sobkowich]

90% of the time, it's just me and the bird here, plus a couple other pets. But I'm confused (don't worry, it happens a lot), even if I approach her cage in the dark, she can still avoid me when I open the cage, and she'll freak out even more when I try to extend her wing. I'm not afraid to do the trimming myself, I know which feathers to clip, the problem is catching her, and not hurting her in the process. I'm afraid that in the moment, things will get a little too excited and it will end up with either a bird that hates me for life, or something worse...

[linda040899]

I agree with Kim that the trick to clipping her flight feathers is to use darkness to your advantage. While she may not like what you will be doing, she won't hate you as long as you don't hurt her. I have an African Grey who has lived with me since 1991. Ginger is the original touch me not! I allow her probably more freedom than most bird owners would allow their fids but there comes a point where the freedom needs to be curtailed. I've toweled Ginger any number of times and the screams of indignation would make the average person swear I'm killing her. However, once the flight feathers have been clipped and I let her go, she doesn't fly as well as she did before I wrapped her up in that evil towel and she doesn't harbor a grudge because I did something that she didn't like. :)

[Enko_chan]

It's absolutely not too late to tame her- my Odinn was 11 months old when he came to live with me and he became a very tame lovebird who is quite happy to be a companion!

When it comes to taming and training, you don't want to push- that is so, but with safety and health issues (like wing clips, vet visits- situations where you will have to corral your bird into a carrier they do not wish to go into) you will occasionally have to do things that would ordinarily be out of the question. So long as you do not do these things regularly, and do not harm the bird in the process, it should not be detrimental to the process of bonding. If you are unable to do a wing clip yourself, it is highly likely that a vet or experienced person in your area will be able to do it for a very reasonable fee. In fact, the breeder you got your bird from may be willing to do it for you.

Your bird is still very new to your home and her surroundings, and needs time. Talk quietly to, sing to, read to, eat meals near her cage (even share the same food you are eating with her when the food is safe/appropraite to do so) to promote a feeling of flock-togetherness- they are flock animals and you are the flock leader- eventually they will see you as such and trust you as such, but that takes time. Clipped wings will mean that when your bird comes out, it will be much easier to keep your bird in safe areas, to get her back in the cage when its time to go home, and all this will help to promote bonding between you. Share treats and food with her when she comes out of the cage- let her eat, even "steal" food from your plate. It often helps to let them play outside the cage, around you, and see that you are not a threat and eventually let them come to you on their own terms.

As for fear of hands- that can be a tricky one. In example, my lovebird Odinn was one who I thought would always fear hands. He was not tame when he came to me, and I followed the above, and though he was eventually happy to hang out on my person, and step up onto my sleeve-covered arm- I've had Odinn nearly two years and he is STILL often hesitant about hands! (He'll be really good about it for a while and then go back to being unsure again.) Friendly as he's become and as much as he likes people- some birds just never like hands and its something that we have to work with and around. Odinn IS coming around about the hand issue, but its taken a while, some birds never do.