I received 2 peach faced lovebirds for Christmas this December just gone. I am unsure of how old my birds are, the pet shop where they were bought from were extremeley uninformative. As a first time bird owner, I have tried researching the best methods for taming birds (my lovebirds are not hand raised).
The majority of the information that I have found has been extremely contradictive and hence to a first time bird owner, extremely confusing as you can imagine.
One such blog insisted removing untamed birds a minimum of five times a day for a maximum of 15min at a time. As my birds are untamed I was required to "force" them out of the cage, this method has also been mentioned acceptable on this site. After doing this for about a week I noticed a digression in their friendliness both in and out of the cage (especially in thd cage). Due to this I ceased forcing them out of their cage. They are now a lot friendlier however, still flee when my hand enters the cage. They still will not accept treats from me even when I offer them from outside the cage. I am scared that I have caused irreparable damage.
Currently when I am in my room I leave the cage doors open allowing them to come and go as they please, I am still unable to handle them when they are outside their cage, so I guess what I need to know is how do I establish the level of trust required so that I can start taming and handling my birds and also the steps I should take to establish this trust.
Thanks in advance to your suggestions.