Help taming my lovebird, Steve

[blondie.paula]

My beautiful masked lovebird Steve, I have had for a year and a half. Before him I had a beautiful, fully tame budgie, which I had tamed myself. I have tried everything with Steve, and nothing seems to work. I have come to a conclusion that he is afraid of my hands, because he will not let them within 2 feet of him or so. However, there has been times where I have touched my nose on his beak and so I, he is not afraid of my face. He wings are not clipped and clipping is out of the question because I think it is fair to let him fly around. He is fairly cocky and enjoys shouting and screeching at me and my family and divebombs my dog on regular occassions, can anyone help me with taming suggestions

Thanks in advance

Paula

[linda040899]

Hi Paula,
If Steve does not like human hands, he's not the only bird who has that viewpoint. Many birds just don't like hands so you simply have to work around it. Have you tried offering a perch for him to step up onto? How about an arm that's covered with a sleeve so your hand is not visible?

I have an African Grey who has lived with me since 1991 and she wants nothing to do with sitting on hands. She loves to interact with everyone but just don't touch her!!!!

[blondie.paula]

thanks Linda, Good to see he's not the only one! I've tried the perch but not covering my arm. I'll give it a go, thanks alot.

[Carole]

My two lovebirds will not step up on to my hand. They will fly from the top of their cage, sit on my shoulder, and chatter away :) They will also step up onto my arm if I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt. Once they are on me, they think Mommy is a birdie playgym and they'll run up and down my back, around the front and then back up to my shoulder where they'll sit again. But ask them to step up on to my hand, and the beaks come out full force. They just don't like hands.

Carole

[Z28Taxman]

Be careful what you wish for. I can't get Ditto off my hand. Ever try typing with a lovie perched on you finger? :rofl:

He thinks my hands are the best ever food dish, nap spot, perch and bathtub. Not to mention the skritches. He'd spend all day there if I let him.

Sometimes I wish he'd fly around and get into mischief so I can have my hand back. :rofl:

[Daiqattack10]

Haha, it's one thing when you have a lovie on your hand while trying to type (OR TEXT) -_-
but, when the lovie starts trying to type with you... (or breaks the Q key off your laptop keyboard) thats when you got real problems.

[Z28Taxman]

Haha, it's one thing when you have a lovie on your hand while trying to type (OR TEXT) -_-
but, when the lovie starts trying to type with you... (or breaks the Q key off your laptop keyboard) thats when you got real problems.

Yeah, he sometimes likes to run around on the keyboard and jump up and down as hard as he can to type. He used to pry the keys off my old laptop and walk to the edge of the desk and drop them to watch them fall to the floor. Then he'd stand up tall and chirp like he was real proud of himself. :rofl:

Lovie beaks are also capable of typing on a droid touchscreen. I've sent some interesting text messages when he was with me. :rofl:

BTW, laptop keyboards don't work very well with nutriberry bits under the keys. >:

[Carole]

I'm sitting here laughing as what both of you have just said is what my cockatiel does. He used to be terrified of human hands. Now he always wants attention and trying to type with a cockatiel on your hand is impossible :) He also decides that when Mommy has a lot of typing to do that it's "scritches" time. I have to give in as I remember the time when he was so afraid of human hands, he wouldn't go near mine. He was a rescue and was a bit over 7 years old when I adopted him. He's now going to be 11 on the 29th of January, and he's a totally different bird. He just needed a lot of love and patience :)

Carole

[whereswalid]

rlly? my brothers methods of taming r completely different then mine and i dnt agree with them... but they work.... he takes the bird and clips its wings and then just holps the bird in his hands as he messages and scratches all around his head... he does this for a good 30 min and then puts the bird back into the cage.... every 2 hours he repeats the step and by the end of the week it would have changed time intervells and only does it once... thts how he trained are budgie and his lovebird..

[linda040899]

The method that your brother uses is called desensitization and it will work but you usually don't get the same kind of tame, trusting bird that you will if you build the trust relationship from the ground up. What your brother does is force the bird to be held in his hands, not wilingly at first, until it becomes accustomed to what's going on and no longer reacts. It's taming via an aggressive method rather than a passive one. This was the philosophy of the late Ken Globus, aka The Bird Whisperer.

[michael]

rlly? my brothers methods of taming r completely different then mine and i dnt agree with them... but they work.........

I'm relieved to hear your NOT in agreement with your brothers training tactics. ... Unfortunately, because the influence of "desensitive or forced training methods" have been around for years, best we can do, is try to convince everyone that this is no longer an acceptable approach to managing their pets behavior and emotional needs.

While I have to agree to some extent that these methods can work, it grossly overshadows the most important part of a human animal relationship. .. That is, not a relationship or bond built upon submission, but rather, one built upon a far more meaningful level of trust.

Fact is, these training methods can also backfire. .. With parrots especially, this can often result in long term or even permanent psychological damage. .. The end result? A pet that is neither managable or emotionally able to accept that which is beyond corporal rule.

Ever witness a dog coward to its owner? .... Not a pleasant sight.

[Skyrival]

:):):):):):):):):):)

[Pips mom]

I also have a lovebird who is not very fond of hands. He doesn't seem to be afraid of them at all......just plain doesn't like them. He will go on hands at times when he's not paying close attention to where he's going....he'll suddenly look down to see that he's standing on a hand....ut oh....better bite that bad hand! it snuck up on me! :rofl: Over time I've been able to hold Pip with my hands and he doesn't mind at all now. I guess maybe it started when we had no choice because we had to give meds, so it's always a good idea to get the bird used to being held, even if he doesn't like it much. With Pip I always had to catch him first.....but once caught, I can pet him and kiss him and now he doesn't even mind it at all......he knows that I'm not going to overdo it and hold him down long.....he almost seems to understand my need to smother him a little bit with kisses, so he accepts it and just waits for mom to get done lovin on him, and he's on his way! a lovebird may not like hands, but they obviously will be willing to come to a compromise. Pip has never really bitten either when I do this.....he'll nip a little, lightly and those nips will get harder if I bring him close to his cage.....he doesn't want to go in! but you can try this with your lovie.....it's kind of a less agressive version of what your brother does I guess. I've held Pip now for years.....always had to be caught and against his will at first, but now he almost seems to enjoy the attention and has come to know that it's only for a few seconds and I think him knowing that it for such a short a time, that he accepts it and he's fine with it. It's good to be able to hold your bird this way in case you have to do it sometime in the future if the bird becomes sick and you have to give meds. It makes it alot easier!

[whereswalid]

i believe its wrong.. my lovie comes on wednsday so im gonna leave it alone for a while... and do you no why my brothers lovebird is sooo quite??? :( it just stays like tht alll day and like i herd 3 chirps the whole day once...

[michael]

i believe its wrong.. my lovie comes on wednsday so im gonna leave it alone for a while... and do you no why my brothers lovebird is sooo quite??? :( it just stays like tht alll day and like i herd 3 chirps the whole day once...

Your brother may have just gotten lucky. Could be, that his lovebird had an outgoing disposition right from the very start. .. What counts now, is that he continues to build upon their relationship without the use of physical restraint. ... As for his lovebird being so quiet? ... Without an up close hands on evaluation, we can only guess for now. ... Best I can tell you, is to make sure his lovebird is in a state of good health. .. i.e, Has a good appetite. Good variety of healthy foods. Produces healthy poops. And carries all the general characteristics of a healthy looking lovebird. ................:)

[whereswalid]

she has alot of toys that i made her and a bunch of foot toys in his cage... she has alot of food in her cage and water also... shes quite a pig 2! lmao :rofl: she will sometimes come out of her cage when i put my hand in and say step up but thats about it... she never chirps and only once did when i put a youtube video of lovebirds chirping...

[whereswalid]

Be careful what you wish for. I can't get Ditto off my hand. Ever try typing with a lovie perched on you finger? :rofl:

He thinks my hands are the best ever food dish, nap spot, perch and bathtub. Not to mention the skritches. He'd spend all day there if I let him.

Sometimes I wish he'd fly around and get into mischief so I can have my hand back. :rofl:

i wish my bird becomes like ditto

[michael]

....... she will sometimes come out of her cage when i put my hand in and say step up but thats about it... she never chirps and only once did when i put a youtube video of lovebirds chirping...

Ah well, chirping to other lovebirds is a good sign. ... Stepping up definitely shows she has both trust, and an ongoing interest in you and her environment. .. Have you thought about setting her up a playgym? .. Might be a good way to get her motivated. If not socially, then at least physically.


i wish my bird becomes like ditto

Have you the opportunity to visit your new bird before it comes home? .. Depending where your getting your new lovie, breeder, private owner, some may allow you to handle them ahead of time. .. Sometimes its better to choose a new lovebird via their personality, than it is for their outward appearance.

[whereswalid]

no i have not had time.. i will go to the breeder tmrw and depending if i want the lovebird or not i will buy the lovebird.. i did last time spend 20 minutes at his house (he never shuts up!) but i did notice that his baby lovebirds never shutup i got happy because i know its weird:blush: but i love it when birds just keep singing there little hearts out.. we had a finch god bless her heart who before of dying of egg binding became very close to us and would sit on are shoulders as we walked around the house and before it died it couldnt open its left eye and was acting weird so we asked the vet and he said something about it being allergic to us:omg:... load of bull:evil:... lmao but i just want an energetic lovie... my brothers lovie just wants to cuddle... :(:very_sad:

[michael]

........ i did last time spend 20 minutes at his house (he never shuts up!) but i did notice that his baby lovebirds never shutup i got happy because i know its weird:blush: but i love it when birds just keep singing there little hearts out.. we had a finch god bless her heart who before of dying of egg binding...... .....lmao but i just want an energetic lovie... my brothers lovie just wants to cuddle... :(:very_sad:

Gosh. Egg binding is so terrible... I'm sorry to hear :( ...You know...I like noisy birds too :). .. Actually. I like cuddlers too :blush:

[whereswalid]

I like cuddlers 2 but this bird is always quite... I did hold it in its cage once and it sounded as if it was crying... Like little baby chirps.. I wonder if its still not completly stelled to our home arrangements.. Its ok my lovie comes tommarow and we will keep it with susu until my schedual becomes permenent and I have time to train mine and thn train the yellow ones until there tame enough that I can take them out together... And do you know what kind of bird is pip? You no pipsmoms pip?? Like the coloration of the lovie

[michael]

........And do you know what kind of bird is pip? You no pipsmoms pip?? Like the coloration of the lovie

Pip looks like a whitefaced blue, or perhaps seagreen. .. Both a peachfaced mutation. .. Unfortunately, I am unable to differentiate between blue/green colours to well. .. You can always PM (private message) Pipsmom....I'm sure she'd be more than happy to fill you in on Pips cosmetics/genetics. ... BTW, Pips quite a character too!.............:)