New Lovebirdie Mama--Needs HELP!

[Flints_Mom]

I have had my new green masked lovebird for about 4 months. He is about 7 months old now, so I got him as a hand-fed 3-month old. He is one very stubborn bird. I have tried numerous training technique and still haven't had much luck of trying to tame him. My defintion of tame, is for him to be happy when sees me, wants me to pet him/hold him/cuddle with him. I want him to want to be with me. He had his wings clipped, but after 4 months they are starting to grow back, he has one flight feather back. I kinda want him to be able to step up on my hand so I can get him to a carrier without having to grab at him.

My techniques have been power-pause training, with having my hand slowly getting closer to him, which had been working for two days (I was able to touch his chest and foot) then he went back to be shy with me.

Now, I am trying to slowly move my hand on the outside of the bars slowly approach him, one bar level at a time. It worked yesterday up to 20 bars, then now he only let me get to like 10-15.

So, I need some advice. Since he is hand shy he won't let me get close enough to him to give him a treat. Please help me!

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community! If you've come here to learn how to be the perfect human slave to 50 grams of feathers, you're in the right place! :)

First of all, I'm going to be bottom line honest and tell you that you may have to modify your conception/definition of "tame." Not all parrots are what we would like them to be but that doesn't mean you can have a wonderful relationship with your lovie. I've had some really cute tame Masked lovies but they tend to be more shy and flighty than other species. Where the personality of yours falls can be anywhere from typical to atypical.

Many parrots, not just lovebirds, simply don't like human hands. Try offering a wooden dowel or perch when you want him to step up. Use the "up" command so that he knows what you expect. Also remember that, just because you feel like being social, he may not feel the same way at the moment. You may have to give him some space. If clipping his flight feathers worked, you may want to do it again until you attain some degree of trust and tameness with him.

Have you tried just letting him come out of his cage and then asking him to step up? If he won't come out of his cage, try just sitting next to his cage and talking/socializing with him. If you spend a lot of time near your computer or other area, keep his cage near where you are. Be friendly but let him come to you. Lovebirds are, by nature, very curious, and he will eventually feel safe enough to come check you out. He just needs to learn by experience that he can trust you. You know you will not hurt him but he needs to learn by living with experiences.

Earning the trust of any parrot can take time but it will happen. For an example, I have an African Grey parrot who came to my aviary as part of a breeding pair in 1991. She lost her mate to a bacterial infection but I kept her as a pet. Well, here we are, 20 yrs later, and she's tame to the point of following me around the house but she's also the original touch me not. She will take food from my hands and growl in fear if I try to stroke any part of her body! I love her to death but will get bitten if I try to hold her.

[Flints_Mom]

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, maybe I do need to rethink of my terms of tame. If I could just let him step up to my hand or a training stick (do you know where I can get one?), I could probably work with him from there. I will try letting him out of his cage once I move him toward my desk.

[linda040899]

You are going to laugh, but I've turned wooden spoon handles into training perches..... Doesn't have to be fancy, just functional. :)

[Flints_Mom]

I tried getting chop sticks, but our chinese place..believe it or not..does not carry chop sticks. I tried a pencil and he seemed more scared of that than my hand.

Lol, I just started to whistle at Flint and he perked up and began to look over at me.

[linda040899]

You can also try covering up your hand so Flint doesn't see it. I've been known to hide mine in long sleeved shirts and it's worked.

When you whistle to him, he hears that as a contact call and, yes, it will catch his interest. If he whistles back, be sure to respond. This is the way flock members communicate between themselves.

With a bit of trial and error, you will find that niche that works with Flint. Give yourself time to get to know him, while he's also learning about you.

[Flints_Mom]

Okay, thanks. I'll try and keep you updated ;)