pattymcnamara
New member
Hi. My name is Patty. My husband and I recently moved from our house to a condo. At the house I spent many hours on the back deck feeding and watching the wild birds. I had never been a bird fancier but after the last of our dogs was gone (we didn't want to get any more) I "adopted" the wild birds to fill that void. Well, now we are in a condo and we are not allowed to feed wild birds on our third floor deck. I realized just how much I enjoyed the birds because I missed them so much.
Recently, a friend of my daughter who works at a local pet shop posted on Facebook a photo of a four month old lovebird they had for sale. I fell in love with her right away and the next thing you know, I am the proud owner of a bird. I named her Farrah. She has been handled but not trained to do anything.
At first she was afraid of me and eventually she has come around to eating her favourite snack when I hold it in front of her perch. She won't sit on my hand (yet). I tried catching her in her cage a couple times but once caught she shook and quivered so badly that I just put her right back. I fear I will hurt her when catching her so am not very good at it. She will nibble lightly on my hand while being held and has not tried biting hard (but I am nervous at the prospect of it anyhow - I'm a bit of a coward
).
I wish I knew if I was doing the right thing in giving her time to learn to come and perch on my hand or if I should be catching her and holding her every day until she learns to enjoy being held. How much time can pass before doing it the slow way results in a bird that is too old to easily hand tame and train? I'm hoping that being a member of this group will help me gain the confidence I need to get Farrah out of her cage and visiting and playing with us.
Recently, a friend of my daughter who works at a local pet shop posted on Facebook a photo of a four month old lovebird they had for sale. I fell in love with her right away and the next thing you know, I am the proud owner of a bird. I named her Farrah. She has been handled but not trained to do anything.
At first she was afraid of me and eventually she has come around to eating her favourite snack when I hold it in front of her perch. She won't sit on my hand (yet). I tried catching her in her cage a couple times but once caught she shook and quivered so badly that I just put her right back. I fear I will hurt her when catching her so am not very good at it. She will nibble lightly on my hand while being held and has not tried biting hard (but I am nervous at the prospect of it anyhow - I'm a bit of a coward
).I wish I knew if I was doing the right thing in giving her time to learn to come and perch on my hand or if I should be catching her and holding her every day until she learns to enjoy being held. How much time can pass before doing it the slow way results in a bird that is too old to easily hand tame and train? I'm hoping that being a member of this group will help me gain the confidence I need to get Farrah out of her cage and visiting and playing with us.
