Hello Heloo Hello - Newbie and loving your site!!

[mab25715]

OK, first of all, thank god for your site! Its quite shocking how much terrible advice in on the internet about my gorgeous Love Birds

Ok I bought my Lovebirds in Feb not knowing if they were boys or girls, however they laid 6 eggs 3 of which are heathly and now 6 weeks old. The advise im looking for is how I hand tame them as I would love them as much as I love them lol. Mum and dad (Sugar and Spice) don't and probably never will.
I take them out the nest daily for a few minutes sometimes alone and sometimes all together I was wondering at this age if there is anything else I can do as there still a little frightened. Any advice would be great as I would LOVE to have them as my little family if you know what I mean.
Thanks in advance

[linda040899]

Welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community and congratulations on your lovebirds and their family! Since you have little ones, you know you have a guaranteed male and female. You also have a pair that are perfectly capable of doing what they do best, raising their own young!

The way to tame them is to do exactly what you are doing, handling them each and every day. You can handle them one at a time or as a group. Attention is the important thing to socialize them. Another one of our members, Z28taxman, just got 3 lovebirds from me, all parent raised, one of them young. He's going through the same process.

How well I know about all the misinformation on the internet. What we tell you here is from first hand experience and what has worked for us. We are happy to have you with us!

[mab25715]

Hello

Thank you so much for you prompt reply, its good to know im doing it right. Sugar and Spice are doing a grand job of bringing them into the world, still building the nest daily as I allow them out every day and bring leaves etc in my living room for them, I do love to watch their team work :)

Is there anything at all I need to do? Maybe clean the box out and put fresh straw etc in there as its getting a little hard and grotty. Is there any foods I should introduce maybe?
When should I take the top of the nesting box permanent? Sorry for all the questions, I just want to ensure I do the very best for them :)

[linda040899]

What species of lovebird are Sugar and Spice? Most common is Peachfaced. Normally, Peachies aren't great nest builders but they will keep the floor of the nest clean if they have available material. Be careful of leaves from outside, as they may have been exposed to pesticides unless you are living in a rural area. The material mine do the best with is just plain paper. Nothing with a glossy coating, just plain paper.

With the babies being 6 weeks old, they should be getting ready to come out of the nest box and dad will teach them to eat. Be careful, as this is also the time mom will think about starting yet another family. If the babies are perching fairly well, you can try removing the box and see what happens. If they have not come out yet, the box needs to stay. As for cleaning the box, the parents may or may not appreciate it if you completely clean the box. About the best you can do is remove the top soiled layer and replace it with a handful of Aspen (not pine) shavings.

If you would like to share some photos with us, you need to upload them to an online storage site (security purposes) and copy/paste the URL here.

[Z28Taxman]

Congrats on the lovies! You'll get good advice here. I've got 3 new ones myself. I'm working on taming the young one (about 8 months old). I spent the last 3 weeks just talking to them and hanging out near the cages.