new Lovebird parents

[Peaches_birdie]

We just got a Peach Faced Lovebird on Sunday, which was our 1 wedding anniversary. The bird seems like he hates us. When we come and sit by the cage it moves as far back as possible from you. When i tried what i know now was stupid, after reading other peoples post, I tried catching him and bringing him out of the cage he bit me hard! And now i think it hates me. We got it from Petsmart, and it is an excellent flyer, i doubt the wings are clipped. Would this help in training it???? And how do i clip his wings if i can't catch him without getting bit???

[DebSpace]

:) On the Lovebirds Plus Community page you will find a link to the Lovebirds Resource Library. There is a frequently asked questions section and tons of helpful information. I have books, I've owned lovebirds, and I can honestly say this is the best place to come for help and information. It can take months for a bird to calm down and bond with a person; the present behavior is not surprising because it is with new people in a new environment and was not handfed as a baby. Can you imagine being in a strange place with unfamiliar people that want to get in your face and/or get hold of you? :omg: Lovebirds are intelligent creatures, but they take love, patience and a substantial amount of interaction for real bonding. About wing clipping, especially if you have never done it before or seen it done, you might consider an avian vet for this first time around. I think wing clipping is good because the bird becomes more dependent on you and discovers it is nice to have you around. I have two dogs, so if you have dogs or cats, you'll want to be sure the bird is kept in an enclosed space when out of the cage, especially when wings are clipped. Something that worked well to soften the bite blow in the beginning for me was soft leather gloves in a beige (skin) color. Be sure to read about safe toys on the site, too. Here is a link to help locate an avian vet in your area. :2cents:

LINK: http://aav.org/vet-lookup/

[Janie]

Great advice from Deb! :)

Also check out the previous post in the behavior section of the forum. Many of the members here started out in the same situation as you are in....a totally wild bird that was scared to death in it's new surroundings. With lots of time and even more patience than time, you can turn things around. I read in my favorite lovebird book, "The Lovebird Handbook" by Vera Applegate, that you should allow up to 6 months to tame a lovebird. I don't think it will take you that long but it will take several weeks or a couple of months. I definitely suggest a wing clip. I don't clip my birds wings (I'm a chicken, :D) but do have them done by their avian vet or at a bird specialty store in my area.

I started out with tame birds both times, the first being an older bird that I adopted and the second two being hand fed brothers, 10 weeks old when I got them so I have not had to work at taming one but even with tame birds, you do have to earn their trust and that also takes time. Hang in there, read as much as you can here, and you can make a difference in your relationship with this new lovebird. :)

[Mummieeva]

It takes time and patience to tame a bird. Some more then others. I do not like to reach in cage to grab mine unless a emergancy. I open cage and let them come out when they are ready. The cage is their home and I try to respect it.Patience and time are a huge key. Pet shop birds are not tame even if hand fed normaly. But it is possible.


Steph

[bird_luver24]

Just wanted to say WELCOME to the Forum. Looks like everyone has it covered for the most part with the Advice part Not that I could help to much anyways lol Im new to Lovebirds to. But, Im sure you will learn Alot here and everyone here is Wonderful to!!
Good Luck with your new Lovebird!! :)
Have you thought up any names yet?

[Peaches_birdie]

Thanks everyone for responding. Thanks for the great advise. I did look at the resources page last night. It was pretty helpful.

We don't know if the bird is male or female but my husband wants to name it Peaches. I was thinking more along the lines of naming it a name that could be a male or female name. We will see. I have been trying to get to know it better to find the perfect name. Anyone have any suggestions for a name for it??? It is mostly green with Peach on it's face. It is really pretty.

[DebSpace]

Hi, again, it took days for me to finally decide on names for every bird I have ever had. Personality traits help, too, thus my present lovie is "Nip." :lol A lot of members have lovies named after fruit, and I hope to have a limegreen one like Linda's one day and name it Kiwi. It would definately be the first name I'd ever chosen in advance. Best wishes for continued patience during this settling in stage! :grouphug1

[Mummieeva]

I am a firm believer in a name will just click for you. It took me over 2 weeks to name one of my lovebirds. Peaches can be a boy or girls name to me. So if you like it go with it.



Steph

[ottermom]

Someone may have already said this, but some of the best advice I read is that when you bring a lovie to a new place, you should let her/him settle down for a while before expecting anything from them. When I brought my 2 home, I didn't do much execept be in the same room with them, slowly put my hands in their cage when necesssary and talk to them for more than a week. This was just to let them get used to me, their surroundings and our new routine. When we did start working with them, it was baby steps. They'll come around.

I would also say that during this time of bonding you wouldn't want to clip their wings yourself. They might associate you with the experience and it might affect your bond - I'd let a pro handle it at least for now.

[Peaches_birdie]

Thank you so much for your help.

After chasing our lovebird all over the house today, i decided to get his wings clipped... I also go his nails clipped too....On of the petstores in town does this for us. (they have a lot of experience with birds, i could tell this when they did it.) It only cost $5... I think I have made some progress with it... When i went to get him this morning to take him to get his wings clipped, he tried to bite me and i was calm and said No...and he stopped. I think he may be trusting me more???? We have only had him for a week though, so i might be wrong. The petstore told me to leave him alone for a couple days after his wing clipping...are they right??? Also they told me to come in a month and have his nails clipped again.... How often do you have to clip their wings?????

[butterfly1061]

The petstore told me to leave him alone for a couple days after his wing clipping...are they right??? Also they told me to come in a month and have his nails clipped again.... How often do you have to clip their wings?????After a wing clip, your lovie may pout for a bit, but he will soon get over it. Offer him some millet and spend extra time talking softly to him. Do not ignore him as the petstore suggested. Do you have a conditioning perch in the cage? If not, you will want to buy one as this will help to keep your lovebirds nails trimmed. I have never had to get my lovebirds nails trimmed. As far as when to clip wings, I watch for the flight feathers to grow back. These are the first feathers on each wing. If you go to the Resource Library, you can see a diagram of a birds wings under the "wing clipping" section.

[Peaches_birdie]

no we don't have a conditioning perch. I will have to get one for it. Now he seems ok... he is chirping back to me... He seems to really like it when we whistle to him. I was nervous when i first brought him home that he was mad at me. I think he just found out he couldn't fly. When i took him to the petstore for the wing clipping, I put some millet in his carrier...and he ate that the whole way to the petstore and the way back... I think that helped keep him calm (?)

[Janie]

I see a bit of an attitude for a few hours or a day after a wing clip but they do get over it. :) A nail clip is usually unnecessary. My older lovie, Oliver, has had a nail clip once in three years and the younger two have never had one. I do have conditioning perches in their cages and I'm sure that helps.

[Peaches_birdie]

I thought I would give everyone an update. :D Our lovebird still needs a name... It is being better behaved but wouldn't come out of it's cage. I left it's cage open for a good part of a night and nothing. It seems ok with me taking it out of the cage (but i don't know if i should be doign that or not). It seems pretty tame. It will sit on my hand for 15 minutes at a time before it decided to fly off... Then i usually try again with it...and it will sit for a bit more. It seems to like being "pet"... I don't know though...I still wonder if I am doing everything right or not... I guess like all of our pets, they are our babies and i want to be the best "mom" for them that i can. :)

[ottermom]

I wish my 2 would sit still for 15 minutes and let me pet them! You could call him/her Ani - for your first ANIversary. That would work for a girl or a boy - kind of - a boy if you're Star Wars fans.

[DebSpace]

:omg: You made excellent progress, congratulations! Geez, I celebrated after 11 months when my Tux was brave enough to land on my head for a few minutes instead of the perch I was always holding. :lol That was when I realized I needed to have their wings clipped - they were just too independent to give me the time of day. My birds have always been despondent for a few days following the clip. Never had their nails done. I have a sandperch swing in the cage, so I guess that takes care of it. Playing classical music mellows them, or atleast that works well for me if I'm taking them to the vet or if I just want to calm them down.

[kk and tango]

You could try holding him/her on your hand for the first five or ten minutes and then putting him/her on your shoulder and seeing if he will stay longer. The shoulder seems safer to them and they tolerate it better.

(All this gender confusion. I can't figure out if i should write he/she or it! I thought mine was a guy/girl/it/guy/girl before I finally determined it was indeed a boy.)

[Janie]

If your bird is "OK" with you taking him/her out, by all means, do it! :D I have always been able to reach in and pick mine up because my three just happened to be fine with that. I would not force a bird (at least I hope I would not, :lol) but if the bird doesn't mind, it sure makes it easier to get them out! :) Mine do come out on their own the split second the cage doors are opened but in the beginning, when I first got the younger two, I always reached in and picked them up. They were hand fed and tame so I knew (from the breeder) that it would not be a problem.