Taming Question

[Jam]

Our baby lovebird (we're not really sure how old he is, but the petstore said that he had just been weaned and our vet confirmed that he looked young). Is quite afraid of your hand, and will not willingly come over to it, in fact he'll try and run away (which makes catching him to put him back in his cage a little difficult).
It's been a few days since we got him, so I"d like to start working on it. He thinks that Mullet is a pretty cool treat, so we've been trying to bribe him to come to us when we put our hand in his cage (it's a fairly large cage so he has lots of room even with your hand in there), by holding the mullet so that he has to come to you in order to get it.
Is this an ok way to go about it? Any suggestions or comments?

[shylevon]

Most birdies are afraid of hands, so take it slow. Try to give him more time than just a few days in your general presense, and move closer to him slowly. A millet treat is a good bribe, and we all do it. After a birdie becomes more comfortable with you and his new home, he will become more comfortable with your hands... maybe.

[Janie]

My Oliver is the tamest little lovie in the world but he does not prefer hands at all. He will always step up on my finger and will let my reach in and pick him up but he always backs down a little when he sees that hand coming towards him. If he weren't so tame, I'm sure he would run from me when I approached him, hand first. Gosh, come to think about it, he puts up with so much from me!

Have you tried a dowel? Many people do use them, especially in the beginning till the lovie gets more comfortable with hands.

[Jam]

We've had some luck with sydney, but it's certainly slow going. He will eat sprays of millet out of a hand, but wont come to our fingers or a stick. While we are still working on this should we let him out of his cage. I let him out of his cage today for the first time in a couple days, we let him out for a few hours, and then went to put him back in for the evening, and it took about 30 minutes to slowly and carefully try to catch him. I'd like to let him out and explore about, but I'm worried that not being able to catch him quickly is not a positive experience. Once you get him, he "knows" how to climb from hand to hand if one is slightly higher by using his beak gently. Any thoughts?

[kimsbirds]

Congrats on your new lovie, Sydney! I love that name...:)
I just wanted to comment on something you wrote in your previous post, and that is "we let him out for a few hours, and then went to put him back in for the evening"

Since you have a recently weaned baby, I would reccommend that out-of-cage times be very short, ie: 10-15 mins. The reason for this is that a new bird really needs to be able to eat and drink every few minutes. Lovebirds are grazers and that means they eat a little bit many many times a day. My own birds are seen at their food dishes at least 10 times an hour. My concern would be that anything longer might put Sydney in jeopardy nutritionally if she's not able to eat every few minutes.

If Sydney has access to food outside of her cage, then this certainly won't be a problem at all !

I wish you the best with Sydney and of course, pics are welcome !!!
Kim

[Jam]

We actually do have food available to sydney outside of his cage. Outside of his cage is the only time that he is allowed pure seed (in his cage it's mixed with pellets), our vet recommended doing this as a "treat" for coming out. We set the plate of it on the floor (syd's wings are clipped enough to prevent much verticle flight, but long enough to allow him to fly horozontally for 3-4 feet), and every 15-20 minutes or so he'll run over and eat some, then run away and explore, and then back and forth. Thanks for the comment though, I had never thought about doing it as a nutritional necessity, so I will definatley make sure that it is always available to him when he's out.

[kimsbirds]

Awesome ;)

[Mummieeva]

I just wanted to add be prepared just in case your bird does not like hands. My beautiful hen Baggy does not like hands much and hates fingers.lol She thinks they are chew toys. There is no way to know for sure and I love Baggy even if she will not let me touch her.



Steph