new Lovebirds

[gigogi]

i bought my pair of lovebirds 2 weeks ago coco and budgie. i am trying to gain their trust without any luck they are afraid of me. they will run away when i walk in room, stand up or move around. when i sit next to the cage they don't mind it they will move around, eat their food, make some noise sometimes even get close to me but usually they sit away from me. any tips how to gain their trust? i am siting next to them for 5+ hours a day listening to musics with them reading out loud or watching movie.

 

[LordTriggs]

how old are they?

unfortunately because they are a pair there's a large chance they may never fully tame. Also please note that they're both scared right now, let them work up the courage to come to you, hold some millet against the cage and let them work up the courage to try it. It can take months for birds to warm up to you, you just need to be persistently kind to them and one day they may just suddenly decide that you're a friend

 

[gigogi]

how old are they?

unfortunately because they are a pair there's a large chance they may never fully tame. Also please note that they're both scared right now, let them work up the courage to come to you, hold some millet against the cage and let them work up the courage to try it. It can take months for birds to warm up to you, you just need to be persistently kind to them and one day they may just suddenly decide that you're a friend

i don't know their age. store owner said they are young. that is all i know

 

[LordTriggs]

how old are they?

unfortunately because they are a pair there's a large chance they may never fully tame. Also please note that they're both scared right now, let them work up the courage to come to you, hold some millet against the cage and let them work up the courage to try it. It can take months for birds to warm up to you, you just need to be persistently kind to them and one day they may just suddenly decide that you're a friend

i don't know their age. store owner said they are young. that is all i know

Okay, with that I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say they're probably between 1 and 2 years old. Younger and they would have a more concrete age, older and they wouldn't be described as young so you may be dealing with their first set of hormones. Once again just keep pushing forward. Remember in this relationship it's about keeping them happy rather than you, though of course don't give up on them. They've probably gone through a lot and just need to have someone prove that not all humans are bad. Like my old cadet instructor used to say, plan for the worst, hope for the best

 

[gigogi]

how old are they?

unfortunately because they are a pair there's a large chance they may never fully tame. Also please note that they're both scared right now, let them work up the courage to come to you, hold some millet against the cage and let them work up the courage to try it. It can take months for birds to warm up to you, you just need to be persistently kind to them and one day they may just suddenly decide that you're a friend

i don't know their age. store owner said they are young. that is all i know

Okay, with that I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say they're probably between 1 and 2 years old. Younger and they would have a more concrete age, older and they wouldn't be described as young so you may be dealing with their first set of hormones. Once again just keep pushing forward. Remember in this relationship it's about keeping them happy rather than you, though of course don't give up on them. They've probably gone through a lot and just need to have someone prove that not all humans are bad. Like my old cadet instructor used to say, plan for the worst, hope for the best

i don't thin they are young. i don't trust pet store owners once i bought my pearled cockatiel jj .owner said she was baby boy but later i realised she was female adult cockatiel.

 

[wrench13]

Pairs of lovebirds will be particularly difficult to tame, because they have each other, and may have bonded already . Why did you buy a pair?

 

[gigogi]

Pairs of lovebirds will be particularly difficult to tame, because they have each other, and may have bonded already . Why did you buy a pair?

because when university starts i won't have a lot of time to spend with my pets so i didn't wanted my lovebird to be alone most time of day.

 

[wrench13]

Sounds like you have 2 mutually exclusive aims. Companion parrots and going to university.

 

[LordTriggs]

i don't know their age. store owner said they are young. that is all i know

Okay, with that I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say they're probably between 1 and 2 years old. Younger and they would have a more concrete age, older and they wouldn't be described as young so you may be dealing with their first set of hormones. Once again just keep pushing forward. Remember in this relationship it's about keeping them happy rather than you, though of course don't give up on them. They've probably gone through a lot and just need to have someone prove that not all humans are bad. Like my old cadet instructor used to say, plan for the worst, hope for the best

i don't thin they are young. i don't trust pet store owners once i bought my pearled cockatiel jj .owner said she was baby boy but later i realised she was female adult cockatiel.

without a DNA certificate it's extremely hard to tell their gender unless they lay an egg and the difference between a "baby" and an adult could be all of 2 weeks. IT's mainly classed on when they get through hormones. It's not the store owner trying to scam you it often happens as a pure mistake.

Also like Wrench said it does seem like you have 2 very different goals. Having a pair of parrots as companion pets eats up any free time you have without work or education to worry about. University takes up even more time, it'll be extremely difficult to have a pet and study at the same time

 

[gigogi]

Okay, with that I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and say they're probably between 1 and 2 years old. Younger and they would have a more concrete age, older and they wouldn't be described as young so you may be dealing with their first set of hormones. Once again just keep pushing forward. Remember in this relationship it's about keeping them happy rather than you, though of course don't give up on them. They've probably gone through a lot and just need to have someone prove that not all humans are bad. Like my old cadet instructor used to say, plan for the worst, hope for the best

i don't thin they are young. i don't trust pet store owners once i bought my pearled cockatiel jj .owner said she was baby boy but later i realised she was female adult cockatiel.

without a DNA certificate it's extremely hard to tell their gender unless they lay an egg and the difference between a "baby" and an adult could be all of 2 weeks. IT's mainly classed on when they get through hormones. It's not the store owner trying to scam you it often happens as a pure mistake.

Also like Wrench said it does seem like you have 2 very different goals. Having a pair of parrots as companion pets eats up any free time you have without work or education to worry about. University takes up even more time, it'll be extremely difficult to have a pet and study at the same time

I have one more question budgie looks 1.5x bigger then coco is it because of age difference or they might be different species? I think they both are masked and fischer's hybrides but I might be wrong.

 

[LordTriggs]

age wouldn't have much size difference, by about 6 months birds are near enough their full size. Unlike other creatures birds do all of their growing in the first couple months. Without looking at them wouldn't be able to tell if they're different species

 

[MosaicMadness]

From experience, you most certainly can have a pair of lovebirds as pets while going to college, or even just one. If you want them to interact with you personally versus being more of an aviary bird to look at though, you'll have to house them separately, clip their wings and work with each one individually. Keep in mind, that parent raised lovebirds are notorious for NOT being friendly, esp. females. If hey were hand fed, they may have potential. It really depends upon what you are looking for and how much time you have to work with them.

 

[gigogi]

From experience, you most certainly can have a pair of lovebirds as pets while going to college, or even just one. If you want them to interact with you personally versus being more of an aviary bird to look at though, you'll have to house them separately, clip their wings and work with each one individually. Keep in mind, that parent raised lovebirds are notorious for NOT being friendly, esp. females. If hey were hand fed, they may have potential. It really depends upon what you are looking for and how much time you have to work with them.

I know that they are parent raised. I will clip their wings but how will they react to separeiting them. I want them as pets to interact with them. For know I have plent of time to work with them

 

[HenryC]

Be very patient and gentle around them, no sudden movements, absolutely no trying to grab then at this stage, not even reaching out with your hand.

Set them free in your room or wherever you are after coming from college. Just let them be in the same room as you, and go on with your daily tasks. They will realize, with time, that you are not a threat and will become more relaxed when around you.

Talk to them with a soft voice from a distance, that will help a lot. After some time, maybe a week or two, you can try to come close to them, veeeery slowly, and as soon as you see them becoming uneasy, stop right there and go back. Repeat several times a day and proggressively you will be succeeding in coming closer to them. That's my experience with my very own first lovebird. I've had it for around 2 months now, and it still won't jump on my finger or let me grab him. Patience is key!

One neat trick I found out though, is that sometimes its your hand itself the thing they are scared, not of you. I managed to make my bird jump onto an upside down clothes hanger that I'm holding, that's progress! He seemed very relaxed and even cheerful when I do that, I can put it close to me and talk to him, which is a good thing.

Try that first, grab a hanger and move around with them on it, they will build trust that way (I've had mine land on my hand two or three times at most).

Its all patience, please don't give up! They might not have been handled gently while at the pet shop. You might have to work a bit harder cause you got a pair, but hang in there!

http://imgur.com/a/uT0oz

 

[gigogi]

today i noticed coco has beak problem

and budgie has this weird spot under legs

should i worry about it ? do i need to visit avian vet?

 

[LordTriggs]

From experience, you most certainly can have a pair of lovebirds as pets while going to college, or even just one. If you want them to interact with you personally versus being more of an aviary bird to look at though, you'll have to house them separately, clip their wings and work with each one individually. Keep in mind, that parent raised lovebirds are notorious for NOT being friendly, esp. females. If hey were hand fed, they may have potential. It really depends upon what you are looking for and how much time you have to work with them.

I'm not going to get into the argument of clipping but outside of safety reasons I find it cruel. That's all I have to say on it.

If they're bonded already splitting them up will only serve to upset them, a lot of birds get so stressed they develop some severe behavior problems due to sudden separation. Some are okay but these 2 sounds very much like they have only had bad experiences with humans until recently so they are well within their right to decide not to stick with humans.

Yes many birds are okay with people in college, by no means is it impossible but it takes a herculean amount of effort and often involves birds that have known that human for years and not just a few months,

Yes these 2 have the potential to be good pets but they need to choose and it would require a superhuman will. OP may be right but possibly had a different idea of how bird brains work thinking they would both decide they liked them very quickly and be like the parrots we see in those videos in the space of a couple weeks. Ultimately it is up to OP to decide. I think letting the birds choose to become friends with OP or just stick with each other, if they don't want to be friends with humans then it's not fair to force them