Male Lovebird Recently Seperated From His Cage Mate

[Fae88]

As some of you already know this past Friday I was given a male peach faced Lovebird I have named Skittles. He is not my first parrot but he is my first lovebird. And currently the only bird in the house.

Skittles was offered to me by a coworker who had a friend looking for a home for her male lovebird. My coworker had already taken the female into her own home. She asked if I would be interested in the male and I said of course.

Now I know this is on me for not asking more questions before I got him. But I texted my friend to ask exactly how old Skittles is and where he originally came from ect this morning before we went to the vet.

She told me that Skittles is a year old. Now on one hand that is good news when it comes to hand taming in my eyes. It's not like he is 4+ years old and has had no out of cage interaction. I mean I know it will still take time to tame him. But him only being a year old leaves me hopeful that it won't take an entire year to tame him. I wish he had been younger. But I can deal.

What makes me worry/sad is the fact that he had a mate for a year and was suddenly separated from her. He was separated from her previously to me ever knowing about him. I just wonder what kind of side effects come from bonded Lovebird pairs being separated?

I plan to get Skittles some store bought toys Friday when I get paid. But until then I have been trying some homemade toys.

I feel bad that he has been separated from his long time mate. And I assume that means he will need even MORE extra attention than the average lone lovebird. I assume it makes him depressed/anxious?

I feel really bad for the poor guy. But I plan to give him tons of attention and spoil him rotten .

He had his wings clipped today so that hand taming will be a bit easier.

 

[MonicaMc]

Guess I'm the crazy one, then!!!


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUx81WHTUwk]1 Bird in hand Leads to Many - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlSm4uFZzVU]More Budgies!!!! - YouTube[/ame]




[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q88bN30qOjo]Sunshine in the Morning - YouTube[/ame]




[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9w9w8nMRmw]Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH9ZWxhCSAE]Not So Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]




[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjKmHswgiHs]Cockatiel Feeding - April 24th - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Fae88]

Well today was my first time working with Skittles outside of his cage.

I wanted to work with him in a secure small space. So I took his cage into my bedroom which is very dark (just with a small lamp and tv on).

He is definitely territorial/cage aggressive. And after hours of sitting with the cage doors open he showed no interest in coming out. I know this goes against what a lot of parrot owners suggest, but I decided to give him a gentle "push" out of the cage.

I took off the top and he flew right out and landed on my bed. He showed absolutely no interest in stepping up and didn't seem to have any idea of what I was trying to get him to do. I did not present him with a finger because he seems to think fingers are food. But I made my hand into a fist and approached his feet, but he just didn't get it.

He was a bit nippy and nailed me pretty good between my thumb and pointer finger but not hard enough to break skin or draw blood.

Again other parrot owners may not agree with this. But I then draped a light clothe over him and placed him on my lap. I removed the cloth and he was happy to sit on my knee.

As time passed he inched closer and closer up my leg until he was sitting on my stomach. He even did some beak grinding, groomed himself, mimicked me, and gave me his back. I talked lovey to him and didn't try to touch him with my hands.

We sat like that for an hour and a half and going back into his cage ( with the assistance of the clothe) was pretty peaceful. So I think it was a pretty decent first experience. A little rocky at first but it ended on a high note, so I am hopeful . I am just going to consistently work with him and every day add an hour onto his time out of his cage.

After returning him to his cage I put some fresh seed in his food dish. Instead of placing it in the cage I presented it to him on his perch. At first he was wary and sizing up my fingers holding the dish. But then his stomach got the better of him and he ate from the bowl in my hand . So one step closer getting him to eat from my hand .

 

[MonicaMc]

Is he territorial/cage aggressive, or is he just afraid of you?


You can easily get him to eat out of your hand by offering him food first thing in the morning at his cage door. Allow him to come to you. You should only be feeding him enough food to last one day or take the food dish out when he goes to sleep. Then, first thing in the morning, offer him food or millet from your hand. If after 5-15 minutes and he doesn't come down, then replenish his food and try again the next day.

 

[Fae88]

Okay I am pretty sure you are correct . He may just be afraid.
I wasent able to do the food thing this morning. I had to be at work at 6am and didn't have time to try the food tip.

Last night I held a little dish of seed up to the open cage door. I baby talked him and he hopped up on the dish and allowed me to remove him from the cage. I didn't touch him but held the dish and allowed him to snack.

After I got home today I took his cage to my room and opened all doors and opened the top. He came out on his own. I offered him a hand to step up but he did his usual bitey behavior. Some how though, he ended up on my arm lol. So I tilted my arm and he worked his way to my shoulder. At first he did some movement acting like he would nip my face. But I just sweet talked him

Now nearly 2 hours later and I have a content Skittles grinding away at his beak.

Lol now to figure out to get him back in the cage.

Unfortunately I don't have any millet. But I will be picking some up friday .

 

[MonicaMc]

That sounds like you are doing better! In those videos, I only had their regular dry food... seeds and, in one, pellets! But the millet definitely helped Pistachio, the bald headed tiel! Without it, he wasn't so particularly interested! After he started trusting me, it didn't matter what I used!


If he's food motivated, you can put his food back in the cage... that or walk over to the cage with him on you and lean "against" the cage so he can climb back on it.

 

[Fae88]

He did pretty well with the lean in method to go back to his cage. That's what I always did with my tiel I owned in the past.

He went back on his cage pretty easily and I offered him his food dish in my hand. He ate from it and I just praised him and told him how pretty and good he was. Last night when I hand fed him he would occasionally try and peck at the fingers holding the dish. But not today . Baby steps.

He was in no hurry to go back into his cage and I let him take his time while I gushed over him and he puffed up and grinded his beak. I just LOVE him! I don't care if he is always a bit nippy towards fingers. I love his little personality. I hope to have him for many happy years. I am just in love with this little guy.

 

[Luffbox]

Sometimes or lovebirds seem like they are trying to bite when we train them to step up . I have found that they are usually just testing to see if your hand is a trusty perch.

 

[Fae88]

Good to know Luffbox! I will definitely keep that in mind.

He spent three hours out of his cage today perched on my shoulder or climbing in my lap. He even ate seed out of his dish I held up to him while he was on my shoulder. While he was climbing around on me he gave me a couple curious nips but nothing compared to the couple of bites he gave me in the past.

He has just been grinding and grinding his beak. Such a sweet guy!