I was hoping to get some advise on how and where to start with taming a bird...silly question i know but just want to start off on the right foot 

We have had Rum (lovebird) for nearly a year now which makes me worried I am leaving it slightly too late.

Over the months I have read in books and on the internet about handling the birds to start with, but without asking a stupid question what does 'handling' actually mean and entail if your bird doesn't like hands???

As Rum is not keen on hands going near him I have never 'handled him' but he doesn't panic or try to bite if he's in his cage, he just seems to lean away from your hand if I am putting anything in his cage which I assume is a good sign.  Also if he's outside of the cage he just walks away slowly from my hand but returns once i have put a treat down or some food and removed my hand from view.

His general behaviour gives me the impression he is comfortable with us i.e you can go up very to close to him (slowly) to have a chat and he seems ok, plus when my partner works on the computer he will sit on the back of the chair with him or walk over the keyboard infront of him. My favourite is when we do a bit of 'head bobbing' together  Also if he needs to be moved from the window to his cage at bedtime or from one room to another he hops on to the roof of the cage and we carry him to wherever no problem.  We are able to bring him down to our level whilst carrying him and he doesn't fly away or seem scared.

I am hoping these are all good signs to start taming him. 

His wings aren't clipped and i don't want to go down that road.

Any advice on where and how to start would be amazing as I am so desperate to pick him up and give him a cuddle once I get home from work. 

thanks

Alice

 

 

I had a liitle green cheeked conure here who didnt like being handled, but would walk all over my keyboard, and when my hand was on the mouse, he would lick my hand, then try and take my ring off. He was also quite happy sitting on my shoulder,when he decided to climb or fly there himself. He would also take titbits from me when close up, but as soon as you tried to get him to step up he would fly off again. A few minutes later he'd be back again.
Some birds will step onto a covered arm, but dont like bare skin or fingers.
Its never too late to begin to train your bird, it may just take a while longer.You could also see if he will step onto a small perch instead. I have a grey here who will gladly do that, but will bite if you offer your hand.
Its trial and error, and what works for one, doesnt work for them all,but from what you have already said, it does sound really encouraging. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks Ann for the advice. it has just dawned on me that last Christmas I tried to get him out of the travel cage with a tea towel in my hand and he actually stood on my hand.

Maybe I should try that trick again.

I have been thinking about purchasing a buddy perch which could help.

I will keep you updated

Joey our tiel never used to like hands, but he'd walk onto a cushion and be carried round like Lord Muck! Maybe you could try a cushion and get progressively smaller? Just a thought.

 

Oh, and he hated anything that was like a perch that you pointed in his direction - he was terrified of sticks, so be prepared that a buddy perch may not work. It really is down to finding what the individual bird will tolerate.

 

And, I did get occasional cuddles when he was eating his favourite food (cooked basmati rice.) He was so distracted eating that he didn't notice my finger

I know that feeling, Rum has certainly taken over the role of lord muck in our house from my partner He sits on the window sill around his bedtime and waits for me to come and get him (with the cage lid) to put hm in his cage for the night instead of flying in himself! lol.

Brilliant idea though, i shall try the cushion technique and you never know he may one day want to sit on it whilst on my lap...

i think i will give the buddy perch a miss for now until i have tried other avenues.

i will try all ideas tomorrow night and update you all. Wish me luck

Good luck

Sorry for such a long delay in giving an update!

I have had no luck todate with handling him I am still trying...

Just to add a further challenge I am going to try and start weening him onto Harrison pellets next week.

It's never ending fun in my flat

Hi Alice

Those harrisons pellets are an interesting one

Unlike my hand reared one who will eat anything that says 'Dominos' but spat the pellets out *phooey*, Foodie (who I think is aviary) tasted one and now treats them like treats. I am actually able to bribe her with something thats good for her! There's something that seems really obviously better giving pellets than a seed basket that gets raided for the sunflowers.

Good luck...funny old thing I had to eat 3 pellets before the first was tried (they are quite tasty).

P.s. I go to the windowsill at dusk and he wraps his feet around the bar, grabs a third point with his beak and starts going noo! noo! noo! I let him live outside cage far too long. Shame he never 'talks' in context unless it's to tell me to bog off like this

Pellets - our 2 flatly refused to eat them - Charlie would've rather starved - and yes, I did taste them - the small bird ones obviously taste better than those for larger birds - I certainly would not want to eat them - yuck.

I also tasted Feather up one day, a fair while after I had been sprinkling it on Charlie's favourite grapes. Once I'd tasted it, I stopped inflicting it on him and his plumage is looking better now than it was before

Oh, Alice, did you have any success with the cushion?

Hmmm interesting...I have tried to give them to Rum in the past but if i was honest we gave up after not very long but I read you have to introduce it slowly and keep with it.

He is eating the Tidymix parakeet range but like you said Oodie it just gets raided for the sunflower seeds and a couple of oats. As he's not keen on fruit/veg apart from apple, and a it of spinach I am worried he isn't getting the nutrition he needs and thought trying Harrison's again would be better. It's strange in a way, you want to give them the best food\pellets you can but there are so many it can become quite a mine field especially when they turn their nose up at most of it. I guess that why we love them

Actually it's interesting you said about sprinkling it on food i did notice that you can get it in a powder form so maybe I should sprinkle it on some apple?

If i get them I will definitely have a taste of one as there seems to be mixed reviews

Oodie : bless him that must be quite a funny and wonderful sight! certainly makes bed time interesting...

Helen: I tried the cushion and he just disappears as fast as a rat up a drain pipe. I do try now again, but don't want to scare him off. I once wore my purple rubber gloves when washing up and came to say hello, he didn't want to know me for a good couple of hours after that....OOPS!

Mine wont step on if i have nail varnish on, and my jardine only steps on so he can bite, you cant stroke him either, but he lets me kiss him on the head, beak and cheeks. he doesnt like hands either.

try offering your shoulder but dont look at him, and he might just get on. my umbrella too only gets onto me like that.

Or the back of a covered arm

More great ideas I will definitely try them tomorrow night!! i may even try and persuade him with millet...he's usually a bit more accommodating when he sees that. No surprise there!

If i make kissing noises when he is in his cage and getting ready for bed he usually stretches up and does a non aggressive biting action which my partner is very jealous about because he obviously loves me more or so i tell him

I will let you know how it goes.

P.S Thanks for more suggestions...greatly appreciated!!

All sorts of little things can make a difference how they behave. I have a quaker as a safehouse bird who is very loving but goes mad if I have wet hair and bites me, ditto if I have a plaster on my fingers.

Personally, I think the little ones can be so extremely nervous when trying to bring them along but I did it with luvvie Bobby with sunflower seeds and sitting with my arem in his cage night after night after night reading to him, talking to him etc etc. It took a couple of months for him to jump on and from there we moved onwards and upwards. Its that first step which is the hardest, once you've gained his trust he will come along really quickly and make oodles of progress. As frustrating as it cna be, patience is the key.

I used to pick the sunflowers out of his mix and if he wanted one he only had one option to get one! Now he is on Zupreem pellets and totally handtame even though he has a 'girlfriend' and is currently living in blissful sin with her!!

How's it going Alice?

Hi there, sorry for no recent updates...

I have to say it's going slowly but saying that I feel there is a bit of progress! When I go over to the cage and have a chat with him he comes right up to the bar to say hello which is encouraging.

There was a set back the other day...as mentioned before Rum likes to get settled down for bed on our sash window until we helpfully give him a lift with the cage lid to his rope...well I was cooking and left him the living room with my partner for about 5 minutes when I came back in I noticed he pulled the wooden blinds down so in a space of a few seconds my eyes dotted around the room but I couldn't see or hear him which prompted the question 'Where's Rum' to which my partner replied 'oh poop (the polite version) he's behind the blind!' we went over carefully pulled the blind up and there he was. Apparently he didn't even make a noise! needless to say he wasn't happy and flew to his cage. So there were a couple of off days that even millet didn't seem to cure.

Saying that when Simon's broher and girlfriend came over last weekend he seemed to enjoy the new faces and was playing a game of 'peek a boo' with them behind the telly which was absolutely hilarious! (I never seen that before)

He did nearly land on my arm on Sunday when he was trying to get into the kitchen but I think that was due to tiredness and no perch avaliable than wanting to lol. He found enough stregthen to fly away onto the lamp shade in the hall.

I will keep on trying though as I think he has the making of being a tame lovebird somewhere inside of him lol...even on his grumpy/naughty days.

I love reading his updates and I think you are making slow progress. Don't forget some up-to-date pics - Luvvies are just GORGEOUS.

I have just signed myself up to Photobucket and will try and get some snaps on it this week...I need to try and work out how to up load the photo's.

I have a lovely one of him after having a bath. Mind you he wasn't so keen to jump into the water on Saturday, a bit nippy i think. Only one dunk of his tail feathers was enough and he jumped straight out lol I did manage to get him a bit later with some Avix Rainwater spray when the room had warmed up.

They do have a certain look of 'butter wouldn't melt' i have to admit