Kefka
08-06-2007, 11:14 PM
I would just like to post about the first 2 months I had my lovebird Edgar who is now 5 months old, and how I got him to become tame in hopes it might help someone else who is having trouble. I am by far no expert in birds my advice is just from experience with Edgar.
I was in rumford pets one day about 2 months ago and I saw him in a glass cage with about 15 other peach faced lovebirds. He was the smallest one and had the darkest beak so I took him. When he first got home I left him alone for the first day to let him get aquainted with his surroundings.
Day 2
I brought him into a bird safe room(which in my house turned out to be the hallway between 4 rooms). I opened the cage and let him come out. For the next 5 hours (somehow time flew by) I would move my hand slowly toward him and he would move himself slowly away from me. It seemed no matter how slow I moved my hand be it very slow or just slow he matched the speed in the opposite direction.
After 5 straight hours of doing this and calling his name and telling him he was a good boy he finally let me come close to him and touch him. It did not last very long and soon he wanted to go back in his cage.
After a total of about 6 hours he finally let me hold him and I rubbed his cheeks.
Day 3
Took him out again and let him walk around in the same place. This time after about 2 hours he let me touch him. I lured him with birdseeds which he would eat from my hand very cautiously. Any real movement I made spooked him and he was quick to go back in his cage.
Day 4-6 I had alot of work and wasn't able to interact with him.
Day 7
He was scared again and would not let me touch him. Not interacting much with me for 3 days made me a stranger again. I took him back out in the hall except for the neext 3 days he would not even come out of his cage. I wondered if I had did something wrong with him because he seeemed more scared now than he did when I first got him.
Day 10
He finally came out of his cage again and everytime he did I would meet him with lots of birdseeds. I would always rub his cheeks and tell him he was a good bird.
Day 11-15
Did similar things as day 10 except I began to let him out of his cage in my room. I would take some bird seed with me when I let him out of his cage. By day 15 he was getting used to my regular interaction and came to expect a certain time for me to show up and allow him to come out of his cage.
Day 16
He began to sit on my shoulder. He also began to get nippy with me. One major mistake I made was sticking my hands in his cage to gently grab him and take him out of his cage. He really didn't like this but I had no idea it was bothering him til I saw him start to become aggressive and figured out that was why.
Day 17-20
Spent these days letting him get familiar with my hands in his cage so he knew my hands were no longer there to kidnap him from his cage. I would feed him from my hands and play with his toys with him in his cage.
Day 21-Present
***My best advice for getting lovebirds to try new foods***
I realized Edgar was not eating anything but bird seed even if I left other things in his food bowl. So I began hand feeding him other foods. I took pellets with me outside of his cage and when he would sit on my bed with me I would hand feed him the pellets. The first few days he would only play with them but eventually with enough persistence he began to eat them. Now he eats them all on his own without my assistance.
When I introduced him to fruits and vegetables I did not bother to leave them in his dish. I hand fed him everything. He loved corn, peas, and wheat bread very much but shied away from most fruits and other vegtables. So I began taking corn kernals and scrapping out the middle and replacing it with other things like small pieces of cherries and carrots. When he saw the outside of the corn kernal he went for it from my hand immediately but what came out wasn't corn. He stood there with a puzzled look on his face and his head turned sideways as he chomped on this unknown food. After 15-20 bites he finished it and realized he liked it. Now it was simply a matter of convincing him that what I was offering him wasn't different flavored corn.
Within that same day I put the cherry and carrot pieces on top of the corn and not inside it and allows him to bite the corn but only to take what was on top of it while I pulled the corn kernal back. Using this method I got him to try 10 different fruits and vegetables and now he eats a great variety of food.
In the next month together I have learned his moods and what to do and not to do with him. He sleeps from 12-1am in the morning until 10-11am. When he wakes up and I am not working he is very excited and hyper and follows me around from inside his cage until I let him out. From 11am-2pm he is extremely hyper and I must constantly give him things to do such as tearing toilet paper playing with long strands of spagettii or something else otherwise my fingers, neck, and ears become his targets.
He does not like being touched during those active 3-4 hours and will usually nip and bite. Around 2-3pm it's nap time and he will either sleep in the cage or sleep on my shoulder or hand. For the rest of the day he is fairly active but allows me to rub his chest and belly and cheeks without too much nipping.
when night time falls after around 10pm he will frequently call me to the cage with a low pitched tired sounding chirp and the moment he sees my fingers come nere him he exposes his neck and chin to be rubbed and massaged. After 15 minutes or so of this I will tell him goodnight and let him fall asleep.
This is my lovebird story from first day home to present. Hope it helps anyone who is having trouble with taming. All I can say is time and patience are the best things to give a lovebird. If you earn their trust and don't force things they will warm up to you in time.
I was in rumford pets one day about 2 months ago and I saw him in a glass cage with about 15 other peach faced lovebirds. He was the smallest one and had the darkest beak so I took him. When he first got home I left him alone for the first day to let him get aquainted with his surroundings.
Day 2
I brought him into a bird safe room(which in my house turned out to be the hallway between 4 rooms). I opened the cage and let him come out. For the next 5 hours (somehow time flew by) I would move my hand slowly toward him and he would move himself slowly away from me. It seemed no matter how slow I moved my hand be it very slow or just slow he matched the speed in the opposite direction.
After 5 straight hours of doing this and calling his name and telling him he was a good boy he finally let me come close to him and touch him. It did not last very long and soon he wanted to go back in his cage.
After a total of about 6 hours he finally let me hold him and I rubbed his cheeks.
Day 3
Took him out again and let him walk around in the same place. This time after about 2 hours he let me touch him. I lured him with birdseeds which he would eat from my hand very cautiously. Any real movement I made spooked him and he was quick to go back in his cage.
Day 4-6 I had alot of work and wasn't able to interact with him.
Day 7
He was scared again and would not let me touch him. Not interacting much with me for 3 days made me a stranger again. I took him back out in the hall except for the neext 3 days he would not even come out of his cage. I wondered if I had did something wrong with him because he seeemed more scared now than he did when I first got him.
Day 10
He finally came out of his cage again and everytime he did I would meet him with lots of birdseeds. I would always rub his cheeks and tell him he was a good bird.
Day 11-15
Did similar things as day 10 except I began to let him out of his cage in my room. I would take some bird seed with me when I let him out of his cage. By day 15 he was getting used to my regular interaction and came to expect a certain time for me to show up and allow him to come out of his cage.
Day 16
He began to sit on my shoulder. He also began to get nippy with me. One major mistake I made was sticking my hands in his cage to gently grab him and take him out of his cage. He really didn't like this but I had no idea it was bothering him til I saw him start to become aggressive and figured out that was why.
Day 17-20
Spent these days letting him get familiar with my hands in his cage so he knew my hands were no longer there to kidnap him from his cage. I would feed him from my hands and play with his toys with him in his cage.
Day 21-Present
***My best advice for getting lovebirds to try new foods***
I realized Edgar was not eating anything but bird seed even if I left other things in his food bowl. So I began hand feeding him other foods. I took pellets with me outside of his cage and when he would sit on my bed with me I would hand feed him the pellets. The first few days he would only play with them but eventually with enough persistence he began to eat them. Now he eats them all on his own without my assistance.
When I introduced him to fruits and vegetables I did not bother to leave them in his dish. I hand fed him everything. He loved corn, peas, and wheat bread very much but shied away from most fruits and other vegtables. So I began taking corn kernals and scrapping out the middle and replacing it with other things like small pieces of cherries and carrots. When he saw the outside of the corn kernal he went for it from my hand immediately but what came out wasn't corn. He stood there with a puzzled look on his face and his head turned sideways as he chomped on this unknown food. After 15-20 bites he finished it and realized he liked it. Now it was simply a matter of convincing him that what I was offering him wasn't different flavored corn.
Within that same day I put the cherry and carrot pieces on top of the corn and not inside it and allows him to bite the corn but only to take what was on top of it while I pulled the corn kernal back. Using this method I got him to try 10 different fruits and vegetables and now he eats a great variety of food.
In the next month together I have learned his moods and what to do and not to do with him. He sleeps from 12-1am in the morning until 10-11am. When he wakes up and I am not working he is very excited and hyper and follows me around from inside his cage until I let him out. From 11am-2pm he is extremely hyper and I must constantly give him things to do such as tearing toilet paper playing with long strands of spagettii or something else otherwise my fingers, neck, and ears become his targets.
He does not like being touched during those active 3-4 hours and will usually nip and bite. Around 2-3pm it's nap time and he will either sleep in the cage or sleep on my shoulder or hand. For the rest of the day he is fairly active but allows me to rub his chest and belly and cheeks without too much nipping.
when night time falls after around 10pm he will frequently call me to the cage with a low pitched tired sounding chirp and the moment he sees my fingers come nere him he exposes his neck and chin to be rubbed and massaged. After 15 minutes or so of this I will tell him goodnight and let him fall asleep.
This is my lovebird story from first day home to present. Hope it helps anyone who is having trouble with taming. All I can say is time and patience are the best things to give a lovebird. If you earn their trust and don't force things they will warm up to you in time.