Next step in taming?

[flightfeathers]

What do people suggest my next step is with taming my 3 month old lovebird. Im currently able to offer treats from my hand after sitting next to the cage and talking to him for the last month. Should i start him stepping up on a dowl and rewarding him or continue to offer him treats until he's fully comfortable with me. I want to know peoples opinions so i dont scare him with the dowl and make him fly away and set our bonding back...

Thanks

[Newyorker216]

I am not too far away from your stage with my lovebird. He is with me less than 2 months. You can put millet in your palm and let your bird eat it from your palm. At first he/she may not step on your palm with its two feet but with time he/she will.

[Maxie]

i wanted Max to be comfortable with me and my hands so I never introduced him to stepping up on a dowl. I would feed him from my hand until one evening he surprised me by stepping onto my palm. He just sat there and stared at me...lol. I was so happy! I can't remember how soon after I got him that he did that but I'm sure I have it posted on here somewhere...lol

After that, he kept stepping up on my hand automatically...no commands necessary! Then I started letting him out of the cage in one of my small rooms. I would sit with him as he explored the room and slowly but surely, he became more tame and trusting of me and the rest of the family as the days went by?

Now, a year and a half later, he's eating off our plates...lol

It will happen with your lovies too. Theres no magic trick or timeline. Every bird is different...just be patient, kind and loving :).

[flightfeathers]

Thanks guys! your help is much appreciated.

so in the last day my Lovie miraculously learned target training and literally runs across the top of the cage to touch the end of the stick, to which he then gets rewarded. Funny that.

With regards to stepping up, i actually agree with you Maxie and always wanted to miss out the dowel part and just go straight for the hands, but i read on here to do otherwise. i'll try the flat palm like you two suggested and see how i go from there.

Thanks

[Maxie]

Keep us posted on your progress :).

[flightfeathers]

UPDATE:

after tireless efforts to get him to step on my finger he didn't seem comfortable enough doing so despite luring him onto my finger with treats. As a result i was forced to use a dowel and he picked it up in no time- its almost like he really wanted the treat but not enough to overcome his shyness. Since then i slowly decreased the length of dowel between my finger and him and now its right next to his feet. i've hit a wall again as he's too scared when the dowel gets too short and does want his feet to touch my finger.

any further suggestions to help him get past this phase or is it matter or persistence and patience like always? haha

[linda040899]

Many parrots just don't like human hands and I have any number like that. They will sit on my arm, just not near my hands. The next step is to continue to interact with him and follow his lead on accepting your hands. If he's been grabbed before you got him, even once, that could be the reason for the shyness with your hand. Patience! :)

[Maxie]

Patience, patience and more patience :)

Max hated my hands but slowly he trusted them and now he's glued to them. I thought he would never be tame but he's glued to all of us now...lol.

When I got him from the pet store they caught him with a net!:omg: I freaked out! I thought he'd be traumatized forever and never trust anyone near him. I spent tons, and I mean tons of time with his cage sitting right beside me until he started to trust me and here we are a year and a half later and he falls asleep in the palm of my hand :)

I remember going to a local pet store and I asked the owner who breeds lovebirds for some tips. She said I should "manhandle" him, grab him with my hands and force him to stay. I thought she was a crazy woman and walked out the door feeling so sorry for every animal in that pet shop :(. Whatever you do don't be rough with your bird! It's his trust and love you want to earn, not make him fear you.

Don't get discouraged! It will happen and when it does, it's the greatest feeling in the world :)