tame or not?

hey
i'm fostering a 1yr old love bird at the moment who seems to be fairly tame. he comes over to me, its on me, preens me, he also bites quite alot.
so far i haven't made any attempt to handle him, except when i have to catch him to do medication, but no hand taming so far.
what i would like to know is would a tame lovebird show this sort of behavior or are all lovebirds intrested in people when they have no mate?
i have other birds he can mix with but he seems to have chosen me. he can be very sweet but does have this tendancy to attack hands.
thanks

Many members of this community have lovebirds (and other birds) who do not like human hands. As you are finding out, to disrespect that preference means you are leaving yourself open to a sharp bite to the offending body part! :) Just because this one does not like hands does not mean you can have a good relationship with him or her.

Lovebirds are social and curious by nature. This one likes being with you, possibly because you are non-threatening and respect his/her space. That's a good start towards a trust relationship! While he/she does not trust your hands right now, that may or may not change as the relationship progresses. You didn't say how long you've been fostering him, but it sure sounds like you're making forward progress. Have you considered the possibility of keeping him?

hi
he comes over and attacks my hands after preening them..i havent attempted to touch him at all. i like to let them come to me rather than the other way round.
i'm not planning on keeping him, already have a full house of beakies so while i can foster i can't really take on another one. we're hoping to find him a friend and pair them up. he lived with another love bird before but they were put out in a shead and the other died from the cold.
i have only been fostering since last tuesday so its a very short time, which is why i wonderd if he might already be tame or if its normal for lovebirds to be inquisitive.
the birds i have needed work to be intrested in people. even the hand reared one.
thanks

Hello, Beakie, glad you came by!

Oh yes- they are, by nature, very inquisitive. And the fact that he sits on you and preens you is a very good sign. There are some folks who have their birds for years, and they don't even do that.

He may never really "like" hands, but he'll probably get to the point where he won't just lash out at them if you keep letting him out on you.

My lovie was handfed by me, but still went through a bitey stage around 4 months old. Now she lies on her back in my hand and loves kisses on her belly, loves beak rubs, etc. even when she has eggs in the cage.

Maybe keep trying to be patient, let him out on you alot, have favorite treats you can give him by hand, work on step-up (with a dowel perch first if you want).

Have fun!

I have a lovie who hates hands.. its taken me a long time of not putting fingers anywhere where they will be attacked or seem like they are attacking him.

He will no longer run across the room to bite my fingers if they are on the floor. the only time he will look to bite my fingers is when i am typing on my laptop.. but if I type slow he just looks at them.

like the others have said.. lovies are social creatures and they are very curious.. VERY curious.. esp once they begin to trust you and no longer fear you :)

hi,
thanks for the replys. well i think i've worked out some of what is going on..its not just hands he bites it seems to be all skin. Hair and clothing is fine but he will bite any skin. got a short sleved top on today and hes hand my arms and my neck several times...
i might try typing in gloves and see how he is with them.

Hmmm- as tame and cuddly as Jack is- I'd bet money that if I put gloves on, she'd attack them.
I would think they'd look pretty scary to a little lovie...

yeah thats what i was thinking, i've never used gloves before, just taken the bites and got on with it. im not going to approach him with them on just sit here as normal and see what he does with them. hes sat on my shoulder at the moment grinding his beak. poor sleepy love bird :)