My new lovie is always trying to escape.

[flightfeathers]

Hi everyone, big fan of this forum but this is my first post.

I recently became the slave of a 10 week old, parent raised, blue Fischer lovebird.

I've done my full research into caring for a new lovebird and am trying to establish trust i.e sat next to the cage and spoken to him for the last 2 weeks. i clipped his wings and allow him to fly around the room freely mostly on top of the cage itself and in the evening when he re enters the cage to eat i shut the door. problem is he spends the next hour trying to escape. i don't want him spending the night on the curtains pooping away lol. what do i do?

Also, with his current light clip he is still able to fly quite well but is a lot safer than if he was fully flighted. does the ease of taming increase with a heavier clip or is it just as effective with a light clip?

thanks,
Mark

[Newyorker216]

Hi there,
I had the same problem with my lovebird. When he entered his cage I was shotting the cage door. Then he decided not to enter anymore. I left him like that for few days but it bothered me. So I chased him and put him in the cage one night and did not let him out for few days. After that everything was fine. Either he didn't like to be chased or he learned that cage is his main home. Now I leave him free when I go to work and when I return he is sleeping in the cage. This way I have a chance to wake up early and play with him in the cage. Mine is with me for a month now and not clipped. We are doing step-up training with a stick.
You may try this: dont let him out for 3 days. Maybe your bird will accept its his home.

[flightfeathers]

Thanks NewYorker, I'll give that a go now.

Can anyone offer any advice about the wing clip?

[Maxie]

I let Max out of he cage for most of the day but I'm always around. I never leave him out unsupervised. Max and lovebirds in general are very curious birds. Max goes to places you would never expect so I want to be around just to make sure he doesn't get hurt.

He always tries to escape when I put him back in the cage so I make sure the doors can't be opened by him so he doesn't escape. He settles down and relaxes after a few minutes when he realizes he won't be let out right away. So, be sure you secure the cage doors so he can't get out.

As for wing clipping, when I got Max, his wings were clipped and I couldn't wait til his moult so he would grow new flight feathers. I wanted him to be able to fly naturally. Whether or not the wings are clipped doesn't effect the ease of taming. He was terrified of hands and me when I first got him, now, with full flight, he's as tame as a bird could be...he's on my thumb now as I'm typing this on my iPad...lol

[linda040899]

The object of clipping flight feathers is to limit flight rather than eliminate it. You want your bird to be able to glide to the landing surface rather than falling with a thud! :)

I usually start with 3-4 flights and see how well my bird can fly. Let him get used to it and if you need to limit a bit more, clip one more on each wing. NEVER clip feathers on only one wing or allow anyone else to do it, for that matter. If you have someone clip the flights for you, make it very clear how you want it done or you may not like what you get. Flight feather clipping can be done very differently ranging from just the feathers on one wing to clipping all the feathers, primary and glides, on both wings!!!!!!

[flightfeathers]

Thanks for your input guys!