Anti-social lovebird

[Kokihi]

My mom got a peachfaced lovebird a while ago, he is really cute and can be fun to watch. Unfortunately the pet store he came from was TERRIBLE. He, and all of the other birds I've seen from there are the most anti-social birds EVER. =( He doesn't let anyone near his cage, even to change his food and water, or clean the cage. If you go close he either screams or bites. He has been this way since we brought him home.

On top of the anti-social behavior he is the loudest bird I've ever seen in my life.@_@ He has this high-pitched machine gun chirp that he does constantly, and unfortunately my green cheek conure is learning to do it too. D:

The only bird I've had any experience with is my GCC, and he has been an easy bird. He was the favorite at the shop he came from and already knew "step up" when I got him (though I did have to work at it a bit to get him to trust me enough to do it for me), so I'm not experienced with this type of thing.

My question is how do you take a bird like this and turn him around so he can be a part of the family like he should rather than driving everyone in the house insane? (unfortunately giving him a feathered friend isn't an option since we can't afford another bird, and he hates my GCC with a passion.)

Thank you in advance for any advice you can share!

 

[xreinx]

sounds like hes stressed and afraid. Id get earplugs, then Id Separate the birds. put them in diffrent parts of the house. then.. Id sit by him until he stops screaming, its what I do with anti-social birds at work. no use trying to get him to stop yet, dont worry though, he will calm down, you may never beable to hold him, but he will start learning to like you after a while. (my aunt had a lovebird like that, if she wasent in the mood, she would scream at you until you threatened to cover her cage)

I would find someone who has experence (on here) and have them give you pointers. they know much more then I do.

 

[kitt]

Aww, I am sorry to hear this.....I have a peach faced love bird and she is a sweetheart. Well actually "diva" describes her better....
She loves to be held and loves attention. She often sits on my shoulder as I be bop around the house. They can be sweet and lovable birds.

I hope someone can offer you some help.....I wonder if a new cage would make her feel less cage aggressive or maybe just moving the cage to another area.....
It will take time, but I would suggest sitting next to her cage and talking to her softly from time to time..let her get use to you...then slowly start to introduce snacks to her.....
I've never had to deal with that so I sure hope you can find a way to tame her....they are such silly, fun little birds.

 

[Kokihi]

I've moved Tori so the two birdies can't see each other, but they still do talk to each other occasionally. Kiwi is still loud but doesn't scream as much (the machine-gun chirps still happen as often as ever). I've learned that my little brother has been able to successfully change the food and water without freaking Kiwi out, but if he lingers after the job is done the aggressive behavior kicks back in.

 

[rlchic93]

We had the same problem and believe it or not our love bird was named Baby!! Extremely wrong name we had to take her into the bathroom and sit her on the floor away from her cage and start with things like step up and if she didn't listen she was put back on the floor and we started all over again her reward was her favorite thing sunflower seeds and eventually she came around but it took alot of work.

 

[Kokihi]

That sounds like how I got Tori to trust me. XD

Unfortunately, Kiwi is fully flighted so we can't do that. =(

 

[rlchic93]

That was always our biggest problem. Most people on here will say to get her wings clipped as soon as possible. I would have to agree, because by clipping her wings you tone down her personality some.

 

[xreinx]

Id say the same thing, I want my bird to be fully flighted, though If I get a rescue, I would clip the wings, the risk is just too great, and if it knows how to fly then it wont forget in a hurry, so by the time its "tame" the feathers will grow back and you can start recalls.

 

[Kokihi]

I agree that it would probably be best to clip Kiwi's wings. The only thing is there is no one that she will let near her enough switch her cages to take her to the vet. Also, the nearest avian vet to my house is 2 hours away. (I don't know how to clip wings, and I don't want to risk hurting her if/when she freaks out.)

I'll talk to my mom about possibly taking her to the vet to get her clipped. (Shes my mom's bird) Hopefully we'll be able to so we can keep working with her. ^_^

 

[xreinx]

well, clipping wings isnt all that hard, but if your unsure Id use a hand towel to catch her and quickly and Gently transfer her into the other cage, and have the vet show you how to clip the wings.

There are two ways of doing it, cosmetic (in chickens its called show clipping) and functional, both will do the same thing but the cosmetic wing clipping is done so you cannot see where the feathers have been clipped.
http://mdkauctions.hypermart.net/pinioning/wing_clipping.gif
But you have to cut ALL the secondary flight feathers or it wont work and it can be dangerous. If the birds are in molt, or they are regrowing a flight feather, you can clip a blood feather, then you will need to super glue the end to keep them from bleeding out, and that may damange the feather from ever growing right again.

BUT!!!! if this is your vary first time, then ID say go to the vet!

Ive had chickens and geese from age 4, so I know how to wing clip and what to do about blood feathers. Ive shown both chicken and pigeons and would love to have a flock here, but people in the city look down on any kind of fowl soiling their city.

Oh and the picture exaggerates on how many primary flight feathers to cut, Ive found you only need to cut 3 to 5 to keep them from flying UP.

 

[Kokihi]

well, clipping wings isnt all that hard, but if your unsure Id use a hand towel to catch her and quickly and Gently transfer her into the other cage, and have the vet show you how to clip the wings.

There are two ways of doing it, cosmetic (in chickens its called show clipping) and functional, both will do the same thing but the cosmetic wing clipping is done so you cannot see where the feathers have been clipped.
http://mdkauctions.hypermart.net/pinioning/wing_clipping.gif
But you have to cut ALL the secondary flight feathers or it wont work and it can be dangerous. If the birds are in molt, or they are regrowing a flight feather, you can clip a blood feather, then you will need to super glue the end to keep them from bleeding out, and that may damange the feather from ever growing right again.

BUT!!!! if this is your vary first time, then ID say go to the vet!

Ive had chickens and geese from age 4, so I know how to wing clip and what to do about blood feathers. Ive shown both chicken and pigeons and would love to have a flock here, but people in the city look down on any kind of fowl soiling their city.

Oh and the picture exaggerates on how many primary flight feathers to cut, Ive found you only need to cut 3 to 5 to keep them from flying UP.

Actually, now that I think about it a good friend of mine used to show Chickens for FFA. Maybe I could get her to help me out. . .

 

[Robberts]

Some breeds have behavior problem and he needs to be given more intention and look after to over come the behavior problem.All the birds show behavior problem but few breeds show a bit more.So they need more intentions and care and time to give.

 

[Kokihi]

Great news! I was playing with Tori in the living room and was feeding him seeds from my hand, Kiwi looked interested, so I offered him one. He calmly, slowly, and gently took it from my fingers and sat next to my hand eating it! ^_^ He did that a few times now.