Help Taming my new lovies

[jessv13]

Hi,

I have just recently gotten 2 lovebirds about 12 months old - black masked with blue colours. They are beautiful. I have had them for about a month now and they live in a very large cage with lots of toys and perches. I have spent atleast 20-30 minutes in the room with their cage daily, often opening the door and allowing them out of their cage. They would sometimes fly (they have clipped wings) to the floor and then hide in a corner away from me, or sometimes just sit on top of their cage. Everytime i go towards them to pick them up while in this room they run away frantically trying to get away from me, it can sometimes be very hard to catch them to put them in their cage, if i have enough time i will allow them to get back to their cage on their own, even providing a rope ladder for them to do so. I recently have been catching them in their cage and bringing them out to sit on my shoulder, the boy - Dusk is happy to sit on me for a long period of time, i can walk around and bend etc and he will stay on my shoulder or my head. When i try to put my hands up to pick him up he sometimes flys off or steps onto my hand. She however hates hands and flys away as soon as you go near her.

Last night I got each bird out seperately (quite hard to catch out of their cage without grabbing them as it is so big) and took them into a small room where i had them sit on my hand and step from one hand to the other, if they flew down i went and picked them up and repeated the process. The boy was ok sitting on my hand while the girl bit quite hard and tried to get away more.

I have read so much bout how to tame them, my question is am i on the right track or should i go back to trying to get them near my hand while in the cage. If i take them out of their cage in the same room as it they will just try to get back to it for safety and not interact with me at all.

At the moment i can put my hand in the cage and they huddle in a corner away from me or on their fav perch. If i go any closer they back away from me.

While i have them on my hand they will allow me to rub their heads and necks and sometimes their stomach... i think this is a good sign but i dont know if they are just scared and therfore not reacting.

They were not hand raised and the pet shop kept them in an avairy with lots of other birds.

Any help would be appreciated.

[thebubbleking]

Patience is key i have had birds who in a month was friendly and some who took a year it depends on the bird and thier background.
Some birds no matter how friendly just dont like hands try a dowel perch or wooden spoon it might work better.
Also millet and raw sweet corn as well as brochiliy are some of my flock favorite, my lovebirds will do almost anything for millet and sun flower seeds :) use those as bribes.

[michael]

Hi Jess. .. I agree with Jeremiah, patience is key. .. Let me add, "hand raised" or not, it can still take time to tame a lovebird. Pairs especially, can take a bit longer simply because of their bond with each other. Your goal, is to at least become part of their flock, at best, maybe even a flock leader. .. Should you feel your not achieving much progress, there's nothing wrong with starting over again. In fact, thats a good way to take the opportunity to observe the things that may be setting you guys back. ... From what you've mentioned, I would try to eliminate grabbing them. Yes, I know submission can work, but more often than not, it does little to build the trust you need to establish any kind of a reasonable relationship. Have you tried using a dowel for step ups? .. Also, how much "indirect" time do you spend with them? Do you sit next to their cage? Share a meal with them? (healthy of course). .. Certainly, 20-30 minutes a day is hardly enough time to establish a relationship, let alone, in a months time. .. Really, other than the aforementioned, I think you guys are probably moving along just fine. ..........:)

[jessv13]

Thanks for the advice, I am at work all day so i see them in the morning when i change their food and water and then when i get home I sit in the same room as them for a while and often bring them out to be with me in the loungeroom for a little while. Its hard as when i get home there is only about an hour of daylight before they should probably be getting to bed so I try to spend as much of that time with them, often keeping them up even after sunset... im not sure if this matters or not but i know they need to get enough sleep. Over the weekends I have been spending a few hours either sitting in the same room talking to them or hanging out while they are in their cage or having them sit on me out in another room.
I dont expect the relationship to build that fast but I dont want to scare them either so i might go back to not catching them and letting them come to me.. i suppose that will take a lot more time but im sure its worth the wait.

Ivy will step up onto a dowel but the boy dusk just steps over it, hes very cheeky and will run very fast when on the floor so it can be hard to catch him... I will try the dowel a bit more.

They will often become quiet when i look in on them to see what they are doing so i often leave them be.

[thebubbleking]

so long as you have proper lighting so they can see to fly around you are ok they nap during the day :)
Another things to keep in mind is beirds in general are prey animals, so if they freeze and get quiet its instinct, dont be afriad to talk softly to them and interact with them.
Another thing i do that helps with birds that huddle in the corner or run away when i stick my hand in the cage is everyday random times i will put my hand in slowly leave a treat or toy etc and then slowly withdraw my hand.
I dont try to touch or interact with them when i do that.
Now this serves two purposes, #1 it lets them know hands inside doesnt mean it is to grab them and wont suprise them and #2 when the hand comes in goodies are left when it leaves!
Now lovebirds in general are very curious so dont be suprised if after a while when you put in your hand in they run oward it to see what you left them or to beak or kiss your fingers, have a small treat ready so if that happens you can reward them.
I have and have had alot of parrots from abusive homes and that trick works well.

[jessv13]

Hey... thanks :) i do that already with putting food and treats in their cage without going towards them with my hand...

They still go quiet when i look in on them if they are chirping and moving around.. but last night i sat in next to their cage and just played vids of other lovebirds chirping and sat and talked to them and also just read a book and they got pretty comfortable and ended up eating a fair bit of the food i had put in there and even fighting with each other over some of the good seeds which i havent seen them do before (the girl would tell the boy to go away from her seeds and he would and then a couple of times he tried to get the seed from her mouth haha)

I will spend some more time after dark with them then, i just thought it was better for them to be sleeping once it got dark as that is instinct but if they sleep during the day instead i guess its not a problem :)

They come out of their cage onto the top if i put my hand in and the door is open and sometimes when i leave the door open and go away for a minute i will come back and they are on top of the cage having some seed i left them... although i tried using the dowel to pick them up and put them back in from the top of the cage and they didnt go with that, instead they climbed down the side of the cage next to the wall where i couldnt get to them, haha so i just sat down and left them and they went back in on their own.