Proud first owner of lovebirds

[irvinds]

Hi everyone, first post,
I just recently bought 2 love Fisher lovebirds from a great local breeder. IV only had them for 5 days so of course they are getting used to there new home but the breeder called me today to see how everything was going and I talked to him about taming them and this is what he said, because I found this interesting.

"you have to handle them, you have to grab them (forcefully) and pet them, put them on ur shoulders, hands, and with a little time (2 weeks) they should get the message that you are not there to hurt them, if you don't do that they will want nothing to do with u because I got 2 lovebirds"

How much truth does this hold? Would you guys do this? Because what iv been Reading on this forum kind of goes against what he is saying but I also do his point as well.

 

[Kiwibird]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new babies! I am absolutely SHOCKED at the misinformation you've been given about socializing your new birds:11: You should NEVER force a bird to do anything, and there is no reason you can't have 2 birds of any kind who are bonded to you and each other. The quickest way to have a bird hate you is to snatch it out of its cage and force it to love you. There are much more positive ways to gain a birds trust and form a lifelong bond with him/her.

Everything with birds is baby steps, and won't happen overnight. My suggestion is that you start by getting your new little friends used to you. Food is a great trust-building medium, and you can easily pass it through the bars of their cage. You can also speak softly to them, sing to them or read to them every day and it will get them used to your presence. Once they are used to you, then you can move on to "touch training", but for now, just focus on gaining that first little bit of trust Best of luck, and feel free to ask any questions you have along the way.

 

[nrm123]

This is what the pet shop keeper had to do and intended for me to do which is why I think my lovebird is so bitey. Only once have I tried to forcefully handle my bird and that was to get him into a box to take to vet (I failed and ended up taking him in his cage with a sheet on top) I have learned that forcing the bird to do something gets you no where.