help with treats

[rach83]

hi i am a new lovie owner and was needing advice on what treats to give my lovie while taming her. i have had her 3 days, she is 6 weeks and has a great personality but every morning she gets a bit scared of me again until i spend a bit of time with her on my shoulder. was thinking if i had treats she would come out of her cage by herself so i dont scare her. does anyone have any tips.:)

[linda040899]

Hi and welcome to our community!
Please do tell us a bit more about your new lovebird! Is he/she handfed or parent raised? Sounds like possibly handfed but just unsure because of new location/surroundings. When he/she is in the cage, is you new bird eating? How sure are you about age? I'm always concerned when I read that a new bird is under 8 weeks old because parent raised babies are not weaned until they are 8 weeks old. Hand fed usually takes a bit longer. I'm currently hand feeding 2 seven week olds and they are nowhere near weaned!

As for treats, the most popular one seems to be spray millet. Most lovebirds equate it with birdie candy and will do almost anything for it! You can try small pieces of fresh veggies like carrot, broccoli or string beans. If your new bird isn't interested, it could be that these are not yet recognized as being edible!

[rach83]

hi thanks for that, abbey is hand raised and i was told 6 weeks but wouldnt be surprised if this is wrong. she is eating seed and i have put broccholi and apple in the cage but as yet it just sits there untouched. should i limit the amount of millet i give her???

[Janie]

Yes, millet should be limited. When I first asked my vet how often I should offer it to Oliver, he said "never!" :whistle: Then he laughed and said it's bird candy and should be offered no more than once a week. Since your bird is so young, the most important thing is to be sure he is eating and if it's gotta be millet, I'd allow that for now.

What else, in the way of seeds, is she eating? If she's eating seeds well, I would limit the amount of millet now but it probably is the most easily accepted treat and a good bribe to use for taming. :D

I'd try one vegetable at a time and give it daily for 2 weeks. For me, it was raw broccoli that worked best. My older bird had never eaten anything but seed in the 7 years before I adopted him so it took a whole lot of time and patience to get him to try broccoli (I sure did eat my fair share, coaxing him on) but after three weeks he was a good broccoli eater. My other two were only 9 weeks old when I got them and fortunately they were very curious and open to trying almost everything. They don't like fruit but love kale, broccoli, carrots and cooked popcorn. All three love birdie cornbread. :D Don't forget to remove fresh foods after a couple of hours to keep bacteria from growing. :)

[xenagate]

my Ozzie doesnt eat fresh veggies either! I did try dried fruit and he liked that. But loves the spray millet, I just keep that for training him. He loves to eat and eat!

[rach83]

thanks guys

i tried brocholi but she screamed at me whenever i put it in the cage and stayed well away from it.

i read somewhere that lovies get a powder on their wings that requires them to bath at least once a week. i have put a bath in and also sprayed her with a mist but i dont think she liked it. yesterday she had a bit of a spastic and was screeching and flapping in short intervals for ages and i was wondering if this is normal or if she needs to bath.

she has been fairly quiet until yesterday, maybe she is getting more relaxed?????????????

[LauraO]

Is your know the step up command? If not this would be the first thing I'd work on with him/her. Even tame lovies shy away from being grabbed or handled a lot and being able to step up on a finger or a stick is the best way to deal with some of the shyness.

As for treats, my lovies like avi-cakes and they make them for smaller birds. You could also try making your lovie some birdy bread and the recipe is in the recipe section of the forum.

Good luck and just stay patient and consistant with your lovie8)