Pair of lovebirds tamed? Need some answers.

[guilhaz1]

Hello.This is my first post =)

I recently bought a pair of Lovebirds, a green male with orange cheeks (still not red forehead, but there are some red feathers coming up), and a blue and gray female. They are both young, The male has a yellow beak with some black markings, and the female has a beak that starts black, and becomes and stays yellow untill the end. I dont know, but i think that the female is between 1 and 3 months, and the male between 2 and 4, by the coloration on their beaks.

When they arrived, they seemed completely feral. They would bite me and scream whenever i approached the cage. And I don't know if it was the right start, but i started handling them. I would take one out of the cage and just hold it and pet it, because if i opened my hand, it would fly away as they're wings were not clipped. I started researching on bird taming and all the information that i got was "Taming a pair of lovebirds is nearly Impossible". So i was getting a little bit disappointed. Then, I came up with a way of stopping the bitting. Whenever one of them bit me, i would gently close their beaks with my index finger and thumb, to make them realize that what they had just done was wrong, and it started working. They stopped biting. But I still wanted a kind of shoulder sitting and cuddling bird, and that felt so far away...

I read that clipping their wings would help them become tamed, so i researched on which feathers i should cut and i clipped them myself. After just one hour after i clipped their feathers, they became totally ok with being on our shoulders and hands. I was mesmerized. But there are some behaviours that i Would like to understand, and if possibly, get some tips on how to work on those behaviours.

Here they are:

The female, which is the younger animal, is the most shy of the pair. The male steps onto my finger whenever i present the finger to him, but she seems afraid of my finger, and altough she runs away most of the times, she sometimes steps up, and i realize this is a slow process. They also seem to be familiarized with my face, but not with my hands, which i also read is a common problem. They will walk to the opposite side of their cage if i approach my hands to it, but not if i approach my face. They try to avoid my hands as i enter their cage, but when they are out of it (because i take them out), they are comfortable with them. Why is it like this? I've reached some important milestones; I can make both step up, i've had them eat out of my hand, and they both took a nap on my lap 2 or 3 times, AND i'm now able to take the male out without grabbing it, because he steps up onto my finger. And i feel very happy, because i happened to achieve these things in just 5 days. Time doesn't matter to me, i didnt push them to do anything, they just started behaving this way very fast, and I understand that they will adapt as time goes on.

I have some questions I would like answered though.

How can I make them lose their fear of my hands?
Why don't they eat any fruit?
Whats the right temperature for them? (ºC please)
When they are both eating, the male sometimes bites the female on the "neck" and she squeaks, mainly because the space for both of their heads is very small. Does it hurt her? Should I do something? When will it stop?
How can i gain the female's trust?
How much time is it ok to have them out of the cage? They seem to enjoy it because they often play with some toys i have and/or they nap, but once they see the cage they just want to go in, so how much time out of the cage?
Also wanted a little review on what i've made, if it was wrong, just tell me and give me tips to the future.

Thanks

[marc]

I will let that the expert breeders will answer at your questions;
I would just like to answer at the following question:


Also wanted a little review on what i've made, if it was wrong, just tell me and give me tips to the future.


I deem it is impossible to earn the trust of the birds with the cutting their wings;
yes ,you are right! they don't escape anymore but I believe they don't run away only for the fact that you have removed their tool for running away.
I believe it's necessary to work to establish a relationship with the birds that is built on positive interactions is the first step toward a partner relationship with the parrots.
The cutting of the wings is not the first right step for building this relationship.
Everyone can do that he believes right but I believe that your birds have undergone a thing that they don’t want to undergo.
I have more than 40 birds, there are a lot of tame and other less tame, but all are able to fly.

[guilhaz1]

I need more replies... Plz... If ur reading this, please take 5 minutes to write something, i need tips...

Thx

[bookworm0550]

first of all, don't feel like it's impossible to tame a pair of lovebirds. i think it might be harder and maybe some birds just never become tame, but you know, until you put in the work and time, you never know. i think it's it's all situational. plus your birds are fairly young so that really helps.

well, they seem like they are learning to trust you. and it's all about trust. just continue to do what you are doing. you sound like you are doing a great job. the fact that they are willing to sleep on you def means something.

one thing is that you don't want to stick your hand in their cage. they are reacting the way they are cuz the cage is their territory and you are in it. i would just let them come out on their own. it sounds like they like being out, so i don't think they'll have a problem with that :) they're like that when they're hormonal too. and as they get older, it all depends on their personality. i have a couple of birds that you can stick your hand into their cage and they're fine w/ it whereas one of my hens will bite you, but once she comes out, she's fine w/ my hands. i have birds where i can stick my hand into the cage but i can't into their sleeping huts. i'll get bit if i do.

about the hen, perhaps spend a bit more time w/ her would be a good idea.

and they are at the age where they are bitey. all my birds went thru that phase. they would see my fingers and act like my hands are chew toys. they will eventually get over it, but i think they'll always think hands are something else other than you. i dont know if mine know that my hands are a part of me. who knows! anyway, i always distracted mine w/ a necklace made of pony beads and other hard toy parts. though they always managed to come back to the fingers, nail, or skin.

as far as hands in general go, i learned to never do anything too scary to them with it like grabbing them. i have a bird, wasabi, that i had since he was an egg and he never liked me nor liked hands. you would have thought i just bought him a pet store. he'd slowly eat treats from me and learned to trust me on his own. i eventually got him to like receiving head rubs cuz he would nibble real hard on my fingers and i'd do what you did, gently close the beak, and i'd rub it too. i did it to the point where he was comfortable enough that i would start touching his head or the back of his head. he was def like, "whoa, i don't like that" but he never took off cuz he trusted my fingers and hands and me by this point. and i just continued to do it til he got used to it. i never forced him. it was always just a pet on the head and that was it. and then he started asking for head rubs all the time. that's what i did w/ his brother pepper too.

how much time to leave them out? that's up to you. if i'm home all day and am not cleaning or cooking, i let them out all day w/ me. mine get about 3-4 depending on what weekday it is. on the weekends like sunday, it's all day. they get out everyday. if i'm super busy, i'll still find whatever little free time i have to let them out. haha, they want to go in when they see their cage? that won't last long!! i have to lure mine in or catch them.

there are tons of other posts on here too that are super helpful. i remember when i got my first lovebird, i was on the forum forever looking at old posts. it's one thing to read an article on what to do, but it's another to read first hand people's experiences and what they've done.

i don't think there is any wrong w/ clipping their wings. that's how all mine were when i got them. it was easier that way that for me as a newbie. mine aren't clipped now, but that's cuz i don't need to tame them anymore. i let mine grow cuz they need to exercise and they enjoy flying and i don't have to run around for an hour chasing after them. to each their own on wing clipping really. i've done both and i find that whatever works for you and the bird is the right one for you guys.

[guilhaz1]

Well thank you for your reply, I really needed something like that. They sleep on my chest, on the sofa, but sometines they seem to be very active and not sleepy at all, and when that happens they fly over to the TV and stay there. I've also been hand feeding then with millet seeds, inside their cage, but the hen rarely comes, she just climbs the cage and stays up there, or she goes down and stays there. The male will come and eat out of my hand. But there is something i can't figure out. I feel like they started to trust me in the beginning, but now i feel the opposite. I could take them out of the cage by presenting them my finger and they would step up, and thus i would take them out that way, now i can't even do that. Plus, they come out from time to time to play with their toys, but when i approach, their first reflex is to go towards the cage, or hide, but when i present my finger to them they step up. At first, I would pet them while they took their nap in my chest, but now they don't seem to like it anymore. It seems like they aren't getting used to me at all. I'm usually at the computer and their cage is behind me on top of a piece of furnitire with their toys around it and sometimes they go out and play while im in the computer. I don't try to grab em anymore, but they seem more afraid of me. It looks like its getting worse...

[shadnamber]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Trust takes time and it will seem slow going at first but just be patient. Some things that have helped me:
this website.
lovebirds handbook by vera appleyard.
clicker training daily to build trust and interaction.

for the first 6mo. to the first year, daily interact and spend time with your birds. little things mean a lot to them. eating by them, talking to them and body language are huge things to these little guys. Basically, you will get out what you put in. and these little birds are capable of giving a lot. I hope you have good success, keep us posted. and we love to see pics!:)

[guilhaz1]

I killed one of them :very_sad: