Very Nippy Bird

[Arsenal]

Well, last year a peach-faced lovebird flew ontop of my parakeets cage. I'm guessing the lovebird followed their chirping. Anyways, I decided to catch the lovebird and put it in a seperate cage. I noticed it's wings were cut so it probably had escaped from someone around here. I named it Luke because..i really didn't know what gender it was. (Until now!) So it turns out it's a girl and i decided to keep the name 'cause I was so used to it.

Anyways..Luke has ALWAYS been really nippy. She bites everyone in our family and it's always been that way. We've all gotten used to it and know better than stick any fingers in the cage. I let her out in my parents room and she gets her exercise and stuff. She's just fine. But i've never hand trained her because she bites REALLY **** hard. I've tried being nice with her and offering sunflower seeds but she always goes for my finger. I doubt theres anything I can do about it. but we've always gotten along fine, while keeping our distance. It's an okay relationship. But i wonder if this has happend to anyone or maybe they can suggest something to help.

[Janie]

Since Luke obviously had been someone's pet bird before you found her, did you at least try to find the original owners? I've known a few people who loved and adored their birds but accidently lost them when a window was left open or a door, etc. I would be heart sick if I lost one of my three and would hope that by putting out flyers and calling area vets and shelters, someone would have called with information if they found my bird.

I have one of three that adores me and loves to be on me but doesn't get near any other family members. Maybe this was the case with Luke and she has lost her special person and is still morning that loss.

[Arsenal]

Yeah, we did. There was this guy in the same building who had been taking care of lovebirds but he claimed not to want them anymore so now he's taking care of finches. I'm not sure if that was his lovebird that escaped..but if it was..he wouldn't have wanted it. I didn't know of anyone else with lovebirds, it was mostly just parakeets.

She's a very angry bird. I know she doesn't bite out of fear because when I let her out of the cage, she often climbs ontop of my legs and explores on me. I just can't let my fingers get anywhere near her. It has always been that way. Sometimes she poops somewhere and i'm going to clean it next to her, so i do it quickly so she doesn't bite my hand and she makes really angry, low noises. I have no idea what her problem could be.

[DebSpace]

I don't want to fill you with false hope because the truth is that some lovies, especially masked, are never truly comfortable with hands. However, until recently, my blue black masked hen would bite hard if I tried to come close with my fingers. She would land on my shoulder or head and step up on a dowel, but fingers were just more than she could (sorry for the pun) hand-le. ;) I tried to acclimate her to hands when I first got her about 3 years ago . Since Christmas, I've really tried to spend some one-on-one time with her away from the cage and for whatever reason, she has become much more approachable. There are days when she doesn't want me to get so close and on those days, I just let her step up on a dowel. But there are also some sweet times when she has decided it is okay. I just let her decide if she wants me to or not and I love her in spite of herself.:)

[lovebird_lover101]

My pf lovie Bart is like Luke. He doesnt seem to like fingers but he loves to sit on my shoulder and "preen" my hair, he will sit on my hand but it has to be a closed fist otherwise he will bite me. Luke just may be on of those birds who just doesnt like fingers. Another reason she might not like hands or fingers is if she was abused or neglected by her previous owners. I know that one of our dogs we rescued was abused by his previous owners and it just took him a little while longer to trust people. Im pretty sure that Luke will become tamer once she learns to trust people again if that is what happend to her.

[Arsenal]

I haven't tried to place her on my shoulder yet because i'm afraid she'll bite my face and that would reeeaaally hurt. Luke doesn't seem to like hair, it tickles and bothers her. Just a few days ago I was in bed with Luke on my thigh and my little brother gets pretty close, she literally jumps on his chest and makes her way up and bites his lip. It was pretty funny to watch, but it still really hurt him.

Luke's wings were cut from her previous owners and they've never really grown back properly so she can't fly very well because of that(I'm guessing). When I let them out, I take her wherever she wants to go using a pillow. She hops on and I hold her up to high places she might want to be. I've tried to get her to trust my arm atleast, but it's just too painful. One time I just let her bite me and tried to hold it..and since I didn't full away she lost interest in biting me. I'd hold my arm towards her and she'd just walk away. There just seems to be no way to catch her interest.

[lovebird_lover101]

Have you tried to train her like you would a little babie who hasnt had any human contact? By that I mean taking her out and both of you going to a quiet room(like the bathroom) and just sitting there and you talk to her to get her to understand that you arent going to hurt her and you want to be her friend. It kinda makes me wonder how long she was in the wild and if she went back to a wild lovebird state. I hope this helps:)

[Arsenal]

I have tried that before but she shows no interest in me. I guess it's kinda like someone who doesn't really want to get to know you..and I can't take a hint so she bites me. Even when she's ontop of me it seems like she's looking for something to bite on.