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Thread: Need help taming a love bird

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Painesville, Ohio
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    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Quote Originally Posted by shinbatsu View Post
    .....He is 3 months old. I got him from a breeder, he was not handfed, but was the only bird in his group that didn't bite and seemed calm.

    So far he still won't take any treats from me, so positive reinforcement is impossible. He won't step up on a dowel, not on a hand, pretty much nothing.

    ........he will stay put for a while and relax, until I make any kind of movement, which in that case he runs in terror.........

    .......I'm going to retool my game plan since things continue to go downhill. Every day is getting worse. I guess the first step is to just have the cage around me all the time so he gets used to me being around.......
    Don't get so discouraged!......While it may take a bit longer, even non-handfed birds will eventually warm up to their guardians.

    Positive reinforcement is NEVER impossible! .... Caring for a lovebird who is only three months old equates to only having worked with him/her for a very short time. ... Although at three months its unlikely the onset of puberty has any significant role in his behavior, please keep in mind that possibilty does still exist. ... Personally, I feel "Retooling" your game plan is an excellent idea, especially when it concerns a parrot who's adverse behavior is likely driven by both hormones and FEAR. .... More so than the need to reach in for your lovebird, it is now more important he learns how to reach out to you. The only way to accomplish this is with trust.

    By choosing to conjure up false precognitions without due process usually comes from those suffering a weak faculty. Now that, on the other hand, could prove to be a real nightmare!...........
    Goofy Lovebird, B.B. Lovebird, and Michael

  2. #12

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Hi. I know it seems frustrating, but seriously, patience is your friend. You need to realize that you've only had your buddy for a short while and he is scared. New home, new cage, new surroundings, big person trying to make him do things that he has no idea what they are...

    Positive reinforcement is a lot more than just doling out treats. It's your attitude, it's your tone of voice, it's your body language...

    I have 3 lovebirds, 1 of which is glued to me at all times but I'd still like to teach him some tricks and how to play all by himself. But, the only treats he loves are millet sprays and I'm not about to let him have millet each and every time I see him do something good. So, his positive reinforcements are me telling him what a good baby he is! I squeal with delight, jump up and down, act all excited, etc!!

    For anybody who's ever potty trained a child knows what I am talking about. It is like literally throwing a party in the bathroom each and every time they make a poo poo or a pee pee LOL

    My other lovebird is not tamed at all. We got him from a pet store around March. He still hates us! But, he will now come over to me and sit with me. He will hide in my hair and preen my neck and ears. I talk to him, his cage is in the living room, his play area is in a breezeway (little cutout window) in a wall between the kitchen and living room so he sees us constantly.

    He does not step up on our hands nor our arms. We use a rope perch to transport him. It is the same one that I use for our conures (I'm a chicken and don't trust those bigger beaks! LOL)

    Don't give up hope. Just when you least expect it, he will decide that you are worthy and that you aren't a big scary monster out to eat him. And it will make your day when that happens!

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    San Diego, CA
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    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    I want to rephrase what I wrote earlier. I said that it took about three years before Juanita was tame enough. Upon reflection, what I should have said is that it took three years before I (emphasis on the I) was trained enough for Juanita to be happy with me. Then she became friends with me. She trained me, and I trained her, but we are now able to communicate adequately. LOL

    I found Juanita outside so I knew nothing about her background, but she could bite. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Your lack of a biting problem is a big asset, so you are fortunate with your lovie.

    Your old approach sounds a lot like a technique called flooding, which overwhelms the subject with stimuli and information and the idea is that it acclimates the subject to the new situation/person faster and in a concentrated dose. It's a technique with strong supporters and strong objectors.

    My feeling is that it works when you've gotten to first-base in establishing a rapport with your lovie, to use a baseball analogy, but in your case, you're still not there, you're somewhere in between, so I think this method is more harmful than helpful. Also, I think it works for very short doses, like less than a minute per session, and about once-a-week because it's so intense and so like psychologically brow-beating the subject.

    Having said that, I'm now applying it on Petey very briefly (we've lived together for more than a year now) to get him used to my hand. I think the moment is right to up the training a bit for Petey. Since he's fully flighted, he can take off anytime he wants to so he's avoided being trained until now. What he's learned up to now has been stuff he learned because Juanita does them, like stepping up.

    Petey

  4. #14

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Update:

    I have spent about two days with his cage nearby and no forced interaction. No result, though too early to tell.

    He jumped out of his cage when I changed his water and would not come back, I had to slowly grab him, he was shaking like crazy but before taking him back to his cage I sat down and gave him some skritches to calm him down. He enjoyed it a lot, and stopped shaking. Afterwards he hung out on my lap for about 5 minutes before jumping off my lap which meant time to go back to cage. I put him back without incident.

    Otherwise no change in diet. I put some avicake in his food dish and he threw it out.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    You say you put some Avicakes IN his food bowl and he threw it out. It's no big deal. Let's step back and examine how a parrot eats. He will pick up a morsel and be busy cracking it with his beaks. Sometimes the force with which he bites down will send a seed husk (or husks) ricocheting through the air. (Mess #1.) As he's cracking and then eating the meat, his head is constantly roving back and forth, ever vigilant. (Mess #2.) This means the pieces of seed meat he's eating will dribble out whereever his head goes. (Mess #3.) This is how he eats his food.

    Avicakes comes in scored sheets and you probably put one square in his bowl. He probably picked up the whole square, bit down, ate one little seed, and dropped the square. So far, perfectly normal. What he failed to do was drop the square back into the bowl. Instead, he dropped it indifferently to the bottom of the cage. I get the impression that this offended you somewhat, and that perhaps you're taking it personally. My parrots do this too. I observed this waste and before I knew better, I used to scold my lovies. Now, I just take a square, break it up into smaller pieces and put them into the food bowl. This way, if they pick up one smaller piece, pick out a morsel, and drop the rest, it's no big mess because there's more uneaten Avicakes in the foodbowl.

    In the wild, parrots will take the whole fruit (as an example) take one bite, and drop the rest uneaten. As part the the wild ecological system, the way parrots eat serve a valuable purpose (more food for the ground dwellers, for one). This is one instinct they cannot override, so you must recognize and allow for this and not let your blood pressure rise.

    Petey

  6. #16

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Very good advice, but I already figured that part out and when I put nutriberries and avicakes into his dish, I break it apart into small pieces for Hawk (my lovebirds name) to be able to eat them easier.

    I think there are lovebirds down the hill, I can hear my bird "talking" with them right now. Ear piercing chirps pretty much.

    here is a link to a picture of hawk just in case you guys want to know what I'm working with.

    http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/900/dsc00134uh.jpg

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
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    San Diego, CA
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    777

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Sorry, I'm back. I don't want to overwhelm you with too much.

    The "no interaction" is good, gives you both breathing space. There is one thing you can do while observing this no interaction period, but it does involve interaction, somewhat. Confusing? Read on.

    Have you ever heard/read about playing "blinky?" I read this in Vera Appleyard's book on Lovebirds and it's a way to interact with a parrot without physical contact.

    Speak his name softly and stand or sit about 3-4 feet away from his cage and s-l-o-w-l-y blink your eyes at him. The first time, do this blink about five times. Then walk away. The second time, repeat. The third time, repeat. At some point, your lovie will blink slowly back at you. Do blinky with him about two-times a day. This is how you interact with him, going back to the beginning.

    Another thing you can do (to interact with him without physical contact) is whenever you see him stretching his wing and leg, you also mimic his stretch. I say, "Stretchy!" to my lovies and I stretch my arm and leg out, or raise up my arms and shoulders and stretch, if that's what they're doing. They love to do things as a group, so this group "hug," this flock-like feeling is good for him.

    It's good that you're scaling back your efforts. You'll do fine. BTW, do you love him, yet?

    Petey

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Painesville, Ohio
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    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Quote Originally Posted by shinbatsu View Post
    ............here is a link to a picture of hawk just in case you guys want to know what I'm working with.

    http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/900/dsc00134uh.jpg
    Well!.....Thats about the cutest little "Hawk" i've seen yet!..............He's very pretty. ... What kind of activities are in his cage? ....Does he have a swing?
    Goofy Lovebird, B.B. Lovebird, and Michael

  9. #19

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    He has a full assortment of perches and toys in his cage, however, he stays on just a few spots in the cage due to his fear of EVERYTHING. When I first got him and was training him, he would play with all his toys and shred finger traps like crazy. I ordered 144 traps for him. In his current state he barely plays with anything. Even when he is on his play gym, he just sits there or looks for ways to run away. He does view it as a kind of safe place though, he will run back to it after flying off of it and ending up on the ground.

    I mean, I do like hawk, he is a very nice looking bird, it's just hard to not get frustrated when he is in a panic every time you come near him.

    Today was the same as everyday, I'm currently looking for a friend for him to keep him company. There is a local breeder selling handfed opalines for just $40. It's a really good deal so I might just pick one up. I have an extra cage lying around.

    From what I hear, a handfed bird is much easier to tame and I'm hoping since hawk isn't friends with me now, he can at least make friends with another bird to keep him company.
    Last edited by shinbatsu; 11-24-2009 at 10:59 PM.

  10. #20

    Default Re: Need help taming a love bird

    Getting a second one isn't such a bad idea. Especially is the second one is tame because Hawk will see you interact with the second lovie and then realize that you're not so bad. This is how Oreo started to come to me. He saw Peanut with me

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