by Ashley » Wed Jul 07, 2010 2:51 pm
Hi Michael,
First off, I love your blog. Quite informative, and your birds are gorgeous! I'm not sure if you can help me or not, but I figured its worth a shot! So I recently (just over a week ago) brought home a hand raised young peach faced lovebird. I thought I would begin clicker/target training with him a few days ago, after reading your blog about it. He's doing amazingly, following the stick everywhere. So, I figured since he caught on so fast with that I'd try teaching him to step up. To my surprise, he also learned that quickly. However, even though he does step up 98% of the time I ask, he doesn't stay on my hand. He will step up, wait a second, then hop down and run away. Furthermore, he refuses to let me pet him or stroke his feathers. If I even bring my hand anywhere near him he flys off frantically. So my question is, what am I doing wrong? And how do I correct it? I really want to strengthen our bond and for the most part he seems to trust me. He often takes millet from my hands inside and outside the cage. And my last question, how do I get him to try fresh fruits and vegetables? The breeder said he was weaned onto broccoli (apparently his favorite), carrots, corn and multigrain bread. I can't get him to eat any of this, no matter how I prepare it. I've steamed the veggies, put them on kabobs, cut them up small... and to no avail! I've also tried blackberries, raspberries, mangoes, kiwi, red pepper, alfalfa sprouts... all with no luck. I currently have him on ZuPreem Avian Entrees Garden Goodness pellets, as well as Tropimix Cockatiel and Lovebird mix. He likes both, but I'd like him to be eating fresh stuff. I've even considered adding a multivitamin drop to his water, but have read both good and bad about that.
So any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time,
Ashley