New Lovebird...Not Hand Tame

[robear1991]

So I got a new Lovebird and his name is Apollo

I've had him for a few days now, and I'm having trouble getting him to take food from my hand. He has not learned Step-up, and I can't teach him because he's scared of when I try and pull him out of the cage.

This is what I'm doing right now: I took his food out if his cage, so he has only water in there. About every hour or so I try and feed him out of my hand. He hasn't approached willingly yet.

Can I get some advice on hand taming him? I'm really excited to teach him tricks and flight to my boyfriend and I, but I can't do anything with him if he's scared of my hands...

Thanks!

 

[Grenage]

Alas, you can't really rush creatures; they won't adhere to our timetables.

There's no telling how long it will take, but a few days is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum.

All our Lovebird Members will be along shortly, I am sure, to advise you

 

[robear1991]

Wow - a welcome message just for me! lol
Thanks!

Grenage: The problem is I have a night cage and a day cage for him. His day cage is huge with all his toys in it, while his night cage is small and only has water, as it is only for him to sleep in.
How do I transport him from cage to cage without making him hate me for grabbing him? I pet and sing to him when I take him out and it seems to calm him down, but I'm scared that if I continue to do that it will traumatize the poor thing. Leaving him in one of the cages is not a good option either, as his big cage is in the basement and my boyfriend's brother is up at all hours of the night being loud. And keeping him in the small cage in the day is just mean.

I'm at a loss D:

 

[robear1991]

So after a long morning of trying, I finally grabbed Apollo from his sleepy-time cage (He needed to go downstairs anyway) and brought him to a small dish of food I had cupped in my hand. He nibbled out of that for a couple minutes, and then I started taking pieces of food out of the dish and he ate it from my fingers. I finally poured the food into the palm of my hand and he had a whole meal out of my palm!
Then he started tweeting and flying around. I think after a couple days of this I will be able to give him treats from my hand, right? Then I can start training him

He's still skittish around my boyfriend, but I would like him to have a level of fondness for him(But love me more ;D )
I think once he's completely comfortable eating with me I'm going to try and have Ray feed him meals this way.

Anyway, this is an awesome first breakthrough and I'm very excited. Any more tips on this brand new lovebird mother would be greatly appreciated

 

[walterbyrd]

Congrats on your progress.

My lovebird will take food from my hand, but she runs away to eat it.

If I put the food in my hand, in such a way that she would have touch my hand, she will get frustrated, and bite - hard.

 

[ann]

just sit by her cage and talk to him, be read to him, be around him as much as possible, and drop a treat in his dish when you walk by. as soon as you can work with him, socialize him with everyone so he gets used to everyone. I know you want him to fly to your boyfriend, that will be allot of fun, but i strongly suggest getting his wings clipped by a proffesional while you tame him. This will speed things up and make it easier to tame him. You can let them grow back and be fully flighted later, just clip them for the tamming process, then you can teach him to fly to people . See if he will step up on a perch, chasing him will scare him, just take it slow and if you have to catch him, use a soft clean towel. hope this helped, good luck, and welcome to the forum