First time getting lovebird

[Nix277]

Hello, i am 18yrs old and this ia my first time getting a lovebird , i dont really know it is a male/female and i really want to tame it so i can spend more time with it, but i dont really know how to start from where... some articles say start by placing hand and some say leave it for 2 weeks. And tips on how? This is my 3rd day after i bought the lovebird, whenever i try to place my hand near the cage it just bite me, when i use floves it doesnt bite lol, how to stop it from biting and how to tame it step by step? Thankyou .. btw that is my lovebird color

 

[GaleriaGila]

Here's some reading that we usually recommend to new bird owners.


http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

General Parrot Information - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

For now... don't rush things! A new home is a lot for little bird to take in. Give treats... don't try to grab or touch... sit nearby and just speak gently. While you're taking it easy, you'll have plenty of time to read!

Good for you, for reaching out and wanting to do a good job!

 

[EllenD]

Yes, read the link that Gail posted above...What you don't want to do is "wait for 2 weeks", you need to start spending time next to his cage talking to him as much as you can, starting now. And yes, you do want to start-out by just resting your hand inside the cage, etc. That is outlined in that link above.

It will take a while for your new bird to settle-in and get used to his new home, but do not wait to start spending time with him or taming him.

 

[Scott]

Welcome aboard, thanks for joining! You'll also find much information in our dedicated Lovebird forum! http://www.parrotforums.com/lovebirds/

 

[Nix277]

Hey sorry for the late reply.. i did read it. But i think there is no spray millet in here, i already go to all stores but there is no spray millet, and what is clicker? Btw i tried using some greens to feed him and he ate it.. but still when i try get to put my finger near him, he will bite me immediately... i tried to talk to him everyday and try put my finger... am i doing wrong because i think there still any changes. Should i try out some millet seeds on my hands and go inside his cage till he approach me?

 

[Owlet]

a clicker is a small thing that when you press the button it makes a click. Look up dog clicker or something of the like.

 

[Scott]

Hey sorry for the late reply.. i did read it. But i think there is no spray millet in here, i already go to all stores but there is no spray millet, and what is clicker? Btw i tried using some greens to feed him and he ate it.. but still when i try get to put my finger near him, he will bite me immediately... i tried to talk to him everyday and try put my finger... am i doing wrong because i think there still any changes. Should i try out some millet seeds on my hands and go inside his cage till he approach me?

a clicker is a small thing that when you press the button it makes a click. Look up dog clicker or something of the like.

More on "clicker" training: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html

A mechanical dog clicker is probably best, but also available as an app for smartphones! (various tones and volumes)

 

[EllenD]

Where are you from? If you live in the United States, you can find "spray millet" at any grocery store, Walmart, Petco, Petsmart, or any pet store, etc. It usually comes in small bags sold in the pet supplies section with the bags of parrot seed. They are simply long stems with balls of millet all over them. They work well because you can hold the long sprays out towards the bird, but your hand will not be near the bird.

As far as seeing results, you need to keep something in-mind. And though this isn't what you want to hear, it's the truth, and this is the ONLY WAY you are going to hand-tame your bird...***Whenever a bird is not "hand-raised/hand-fed" by their breeder, meaning their breeder removes the baby from it's parents completely, usually when they are between 2 and 3 weeks old, and keeps the baby in a Brooder and hand-feeds it baby bird formula multiple times a day until the bird is of the age when it can wean (for lovebirds this is usually between 8-12 weeks old), but the bird is rather "parent-raised", meaning it's breeder did not remove the baby from it's parents, nor did they hand-feed the baby, but it's parents did, and if the breeder doesn't even handle the baby on a daily basis from the time of it's hatching forward, then the bird is not going to be comfortable around people, certainly not with people touching it at all, and the ONLY WAY TO HAND-TAME A BIRD LIKE THIS is to spend at least an hour a day, every single day, working with and training the bird...

****This process of hand-taming a non-tame bird, especially one that was not hand-raised/hand-tamed and has never been tamed or used to being around people, well, IT'S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT, AND THE PROCESS CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM A FEW MONTHS TO YEARS...That's just the reality of the situation...

So you've only been working with your bird for about a week (or at least it's been a week since you first posted). And even if you have been working with your bird every single day for at least an hour or more per day, there is no way that you're going to see much taming in only a week...As I already stated, this process is a marathon, not a sprint...I've hand-tamed many non-tame Budgies, both babies and adults, and I'm going to guess that the average amount of time it usually takes just to simply get a non-tame Budgie to "step-up" onto a finger while inside it's cage and not even leaving it's cage is about 3-4 months (to get it to regularly and automatically "step-up" without it jumping right back off, etc.). So that should give you a better idea of the kind of commitment it's going to take from you to tame your bird....But you can do it, it's not that it's difficult to do, it's that it takes working with your bird every single day for a long time...

Something else that will help you is if your bird's main-cage is located in the "main" room of your house, the room where the "action" in your house is, or basically the room of your house where all the people who live in your house spend most of their time where they are home. Usually this room is the living room, family room, den, etc. What this does is it simply gets the bird extremely used to people just being around it, walking past it, talking, different noises, the TV sounds, etc. And I'm not saying that the people in the house have to be directly-interacting with the bird (though it is a good idea if the people in your house get into the habit of talking to the bird whenever they pass it's cage), but rather the bird just needs to be in the same room as where the people are, whether they/you are watching TV, playing video games, reading, cooking/eating, etc., just being around people all the time will help tremendously in getting your bird to feel comfortable being around people, which is half the battle.

And don't worry about the bird being kept-awake at night by the TV, people talking, etc. Simply cover your bird's cage with a dark sheet/blanket/towel when it's time for it to go to bed (they should get 12 hours of sleep every night), and your bird will simply go to sleep. The sounds of the TV or people talking, etc. typically do not bother them once they are covered and asleep. Some people (including myself) even have 2 cages for their birds, their main-cage, which is located in the living room, family room, den, etc., and then a "sleeping-cage" in their bedroom, which is a much, much smaller cage than their main-cage (for a lovebird you would only need a square-shaped budgie cage), and that contains no toys at all, but rather just 1 perch, maybe a swing if they like to sleep on a swing, and a water dish. That's it. So when it's bedtime you move your bird from it's main cage in the room where the "action" in your house is located, and take him to his sleeping-cage in your bedroom, which should also be covered for nighttime...This will be something you can think about once you get your bird tame and you're able to easily move him around...For now, just try to make sure you get his main-cage into the main room of your house where people spend most of their time when they're home, and you keep working with him for at least an hour every single day, longer is better...

 

[Nix277]

Hei ellen, thankyou so much. I read all ur text ^_^. Btw i am from Indonesia haha. I will tell u the situation about now :

Me and my father kept the bird near the family room which he can always hear the tv, and sometimes i moved him to near me when i watch tv and talked to it, which also my dad talked to him every morning. And i dont know what are the signs that bird get comfortable with me.

What i know is sometimes when i see him closely he will spread his wing to maybe tidy it? And it just looks calm and sometimes when i olace my face or hand nearby its cage , it will come to me .. but he will try to bite. But not bite imediatelly, he is like sometimes watch it first.

Later on, because i think in indonesia dont have spray millets, i used some greens and he come to eat it, and there is once that i put millet seeds in my finger and go near it and he ate it, but its just once because he will likely bite me again.

And around 3 days ago i try to put my hand in the hanger near the food place, and i know he looks like some 'unknown' thing come to his territory, but he is slowly reach the food plsce to eat it and still feel guarded i think when my hand is nearby. And today i got bitten lol. It will be nice to know how to prevent it from biting while doing the process like u text to me ^_^ btw i didnt scream while he bit me, and i dont chase him. I just close the door cage and place it back. But so far it looks calmer than the 1st day i bought him

The 1st day i bought him he just jumped around non stop.. but now it looks more calmer. Anyway thats the new update which i can give u, pls help me or correct me if i am wrong when i try to tame him and pls help me to prevent it from biting hahaha, thankyou so much