Help! Taming a pair of 15 month Lovebirds

[wwwendycom]

:) Advice needed :)

I’m Wendy, a new and expecting bird mom. I just bought a pair of 15 month lovebirds from a local pet store and plan to pick them up Friday.

The birds were hand fed however, they are not fully tame and sex is unknown. They don’t bite, but can't step up on a finger. When I played with them separately, they liked to fly away at first and after 10 minutes they were relaxed. Should I keep them separately for a few months? How long? Will they fight if I reunite them? What about advice for keeping them together?

I hate to back out of the sale because the woman that sold them to me was very kind, but I’m worried!

Also, can you recommend me some training videos or instructions?

Thanks!

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community! We are happy to have you here with us!

Are these lovebirds in the same cage together? If not, I would keep them in side by side cages to start. If they are in the same cage, it's your choice to keep them together or separate. Lovebirds are very social and usually need the interaction of another lovebird. I have a few singletons but most of mine have companions.

Read through our this forum and pay attention to the sticky posts. There is a LOT of information here and it's based on experience. What you want with these lovebirds is a trust relationship and that simply takes time. Everything is new to them and they need to learn by experience that you don't intend to make them your next meal. Remember, in the wild, birds are prey animals so fear is instinctual. Sit with them, talk to them, eat meals near their cage so they can see what you are doing. Once they get a bit more comfortable, they will probably eat while you do.

Stepping up onto a perch is something that is learned and you can teach that once they are more comfortable with you. Take things slowly. What you are looking for can take anywhere from a few weeks to several or more months. When you pick them up on Friday, ask the pet shop for some of the seed they are used to eating. At least that will be familiar.

Flight feather clipping can be a controversial thing but I usually suggest it just once when they leave the shop so you can limit just how far they can go if they are out of their cage. A good wing clip is 5-6 primary flight feathers (the long outside feathers) on each wing. If a pet shop person does it for you, tell them exactly what you want and watch it being done! If not, you may end up with a clip so bad they won't be able to fly at all. They should be able to fly, just not gain altitude. Flight will be horizontal and they can glide to the floor. The flights will grow back and then it's your choice as to what you want to do. This is just a suggestion. Not everyone believes in flight feather clipping. You will get no flack from anyone here regardless of what you decide.

Make sure you get a swing for their cage/cages, no mirrors. Swings are favorite toys and I've had to get swings wide enough to hold two!!!

Please let us know what you decide to do. If you would like to share some photos, upload pictures to an online storage site and copy/paste the picture URL here.