Taming 2 month old Lovebird

[NHCardinal]

I've adopted a 2 month old old peach-faced lutino from my animal shelter. This bird was surrendered un-abused, but with no human interaction.

I've began training, but the lovie is obviously scared! As soon as I open the cage door with my hand holding a branch of millet it starting chirping its distress call and starts climbing all over the place. I've dealt with aggressive cockatiels, but I find a scared lovebird is going to be more difficult. Hopefully its just a matter of perseverance, but at least from day 1 to day 2, it seems the bird is more scared.

I've filmed a video of my approach and the lovebirds reaction http://youtu.be/-MUAfjLhEMI

[marie83]

Back off then for now, if the bird is freaking out then your pushing things too hard. Sit as near as the bird is comfortable with and read, or talk to her. Don't stare as predators stare but its fine to glance at her and see the reactions. After you have done this a few times then you may progress to moving closer to the cage bit by bit. If she ever freaks out then back off a bit. only when you get right up to the cage and the bird is completely comfortable then you should start offering treats, even then let the bird come down to you to get it.

I'm assuming if the bird is only 2 months old then you literally only just got her? if that's the case give her time to settle in first.

[janetafloat]

I think you're probably (unintentionally of course) stressing the bird out. If it's had no human interaction you need to give it a few days to settle a bit without approaching it directly. Certainly if the bird is climbing away from you that is a sign to back off. Just sit with it quietly for a few days. And the cage needs to be against a wall (I wasn't clear on location but I'm assuming, maybe wrongly, that a coffee table is further into the room?), maybe a corner, somewhere away from traffic flow.

[NHCardinal]

@marie83 Yes, I just got the bird 3 days ago.

@janetafloat As you can see from the video, the cage is sitting on a coffee table against a wall, but yes normally it is in the center of the room. This is only temporary until I find a suitable stand or pedestal, but I plan on having the bird there normally (just higher off the ground).

Thanks for the advice, I'll back off for now.

[janetafloat]

I just watched the video and I see that the cage is up against a wall, but also a window. I would suggest you move the cage so that it's against a solid wall or in a corner - I know it seems nice for the bird to get the light from the window but it's too 'exposed', the bird will feel safer with a solid surface behind it.

[NHCardinal]

Update - Its been a week and a half since I've brought the lovie home and I've made some progress. She'll know allow me to get close to her outside of the cage and won't freak out if I open a cage door and stick my hand and/or a piece of millet inside.

Here's the problem I'm now facing, my lovie is not taking to millet! It almost seems as though she doesn't realize its a treat or food for that matter! I've thrown a couple nuggets of millet onto her food, I look this morning and they're still there (along with pellets I'm trying to introduce). I didn't want to, but what I've done is tied a piece of millet to the cage hoping that she'll come around to it eventually. Are there any alternative training tools than a stick of millet?

[EleriDragonfly]

My budgie wasn't keen on millet either, but I left a spray in his cage so he could get used to it. He took to it and now it's his favourite treat. So putting a spray of millet in her cage is a good idea, she'll get used to it and once she has you can use it for training her.