New to lovebirds! Need help!

[sydney19]

Today I purchased two black masked lovebirds. The man I got them from said they are under a year old and that one is a male and one a female. He also told me they have never been really handled. Now that I have gotten them home I am wondering how I should go about taming them. I have never had a lovebird before so all I can rely on are the things I have pick up from reading books. Is there anyone who can help me with the taming issue. I would love to be able to hold them and have them trust me. I would also like to teach them tricks, but right now I am more worried about taming them. Any help is more them helpful! Also, I had read that if your yrying to tame two you should seperate them for now till you get them tamed. This pair has been together for a while. If I seperate them will it stress them out? I have a cage devider so they will be able to see each other just not be right next to each other. Is this a good idea?

 

[Birdlover11]

Was the man a breeder or did you get them from a petshop? The reason I was asking was that petshop birds are sometimes a little more flighty than breeder ones which means they are a little more hard to tame. First, put your hand in the cage, they might get scared and fly around . Do this session 3 or 4 times a day. Each session is 10 mins. Keep doing this for a week or unil they are comfterble with your hand in the cage. I'll give you the next step next week

 

[sydney19]

I am not sure if he was a breeder or not. He had a lot of birds though besides these two they were all big birds and they were all trained. He said he didn't like the small birds. Thank you so much though. Looking forword to next weeks step!

 

[MonicaMc]

I would suggest offering food to them rather than your bare hand. Millet is typically great, if they know what that is! It's easier if they can learn to associate good things with you.

 

[cdnbirdlover]

I adopted a one year old peach faced lovebird in May. I was originally going to get a pair (males) as they had always been together but the breeder suggested just taking one as they were not tame (at all). The avian vet confirmed that decision.

In four months, Basil has learned to come to my hand for treats, come out of the cage on my arm (no treats required), go back into the cage (treat required) and do a few tricks. Right now we are working on stepping up onto my finger and stepping back down. He was petrified of me when I first got him but we took it slowly to build trust. Read anything and everything that Barbara Heidenreich has to say about training parrots. Be patient. It takes time but will be worth it. Lovies are so smart and you can teach them bad habits if you are not careful.

Here is the Good Bird Inc (Barbara Heidenreich) website:

Training Parrots | Parrot Training DVDS & Books

Andrea and Basil

 

[MikeyTN]

It's best to keep them separate if you want to tame them. If they were a pair that's been kept together for awhile, a divider isn't going to cut it. Completely separate room works better. But sometimes depends on the pair, you could train them together. Just all depends.

 

[sydney19]

Thank you all so much! They seem to be getting a little more comfortable with me sitting next to the cage and talking to them! I have yet to try and reach my hand in, when I place it near them on the outside of the cage the fly off. I am determined to build trust with them and will not give up in doing so!