New lovebird owner in need of general guidance!

[Kazam]

Hello everyone!

After a long time of dreaming, I finally took the step to getting a birdie companion. It's a lovebird (Roseicollis) who is still fairly young. I got her (no DNA sexing, just an assumption from the breeder) from a breeder who said that she was pretty much docile, and let herself be picked up and fed, even though she already eats regular food. In fact, she let herself be picked up by him quite blissfully.

I brought her back home yesterday, and when transferring her from the transport cage to her actual cage (a temporary, smaller one) she was naturally agitated and bit me quite hard. All was well, I was handing her gently and I was expecting a bite, so I didn't scream nor did I do any rush movements that could spook her or hurt her. I simply led her into her cage and let her chill down a bit. She is eating her regular food and drinking. However, if I ever get close to her, she gets stressed, chirps and runs to the other side of the cage.

Now, here's my problem. A new cage is arriving today for her because her actual cage is small for her (I was only supposed to get the bird today, but it had to be moved to yesterday), so I'll have to transfer her again to a larger cage. How can I do this without stressing her out (or doing it to a minimum)? I don't want her to panic nor to start associating my hands with stress.

I've been mostly just around her, her cage is next to my desk so she can watch me, and I sometimes talk to her. I also sometimes play some guitar and whistle the songs to her, that seems to soothe her somewhat (or maybe I'm just dreaming).

Am I doing anything wrong? Any general tips? It struck me a bit that she could be so chill being picked up by the breeder, looking completely happy and now being so scared, but I guess it's totally normal.

I haven't tried sticking my hand on her cage again, and I'm unsure when I should start letting her out of her new cage to explore my room because as of now I have little to no influence on her so it'd be hard to bring her back ahah.

Thank you for reading, appreciate you all!

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to Lovebirds Plus Community! If you are looking for information, you have come to the right place. What we share is strictly from first hand experience, not what we have read some place else.

When you met your new lovebird, she was in familiar surroundings and she was comfortable. She understood that the breeder would not harm her. Fast forward once she joined your family. She is not familiar with you and parrots learn by experience that they are safe. In the wild, birds are prey animals so she has no idea that you don't intend to make her your next meal. That can/will take time. She will learn that you are kind, you love her and you will be gentle. There are no shortcuts. It just takes time and patience. Lovebirds are naturally curious and she is the only bird so she will look to you for attention. Right now, just be around her. Let her watch you. Talk to her, sing to her. Eat meals by her cage. You will find that she will want to eat when you do and this is a good thing. The fact that she is eating and drinking is major, as some birds become so stressed that they don't.

As for the cage, you have a couple of options. If the cage is really too small for temporary occupancy, you can transfer her to the new one by lining up the cage doors and letting her check things out. Millet is usually a great bribe, so I would hang some in the new cage. As long as there is no way to escape, let her do her thing while you back off and watch. I would not let her out of her cage until she's familiar with you. Getting her back to where you want her could be difficult and traumatizing. You might want to clip 3-4 of her primary flight feathers so you can limit where she can go. I'm neutral on flight feather clipping and whether I do or don't depends on the individual bird. Sometimes I do it initially to prevent injury when learning about a new home and then I let the feathers grow out.

Hope this is helpful.