by miajag » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:05 pm
Thought I'd bump this thread rather than start a new one with some relevant questions I had.
I recently agreed to look after a pair of lovebirds for a friend who is soon to be deployed with the military for at least a few months. She was given the lovebirds as a gift about 8 months ago (Rosy/Peach-Faced Lovebirds fwiw, one (male) normal coloring and one (female) lutino, about a year old). As far as I can tell she takes reasonably decent care of them as far as having a good sized, clean cage, plenty of toys, a good diet and clean water.
Unfortunately, she has put little if any work into hand-taming them, and naturally they are very bonded to each other and hostile toward humans. They are terrified of hands and do not know "step up" and apparently bite hard if grabbed. I think they've only been out of their cage a few times since my friend got them.
I told my friend I'd try to work with them while I have them, and hopefully at least get them to the point where they can be handled without flying off or biting viciously, but one of the other problems is they apparently completely freak out and scream their heads off nonstop if separated. What's the best way to deal with this for purposes of training? Should I just deal with the screaming during one-on-one sessions with them until they get used to it? Put them in separate cages for a while (I realize that purely for training purposes this is probably the best option but is it cruel to the birds?) Consider clipping their wings (I'd ask my friend if she minded before I did this, of course)? Maybe it's best to just let them be. As far as I can tell (I've only been around them a couple times) they are happy, healthy birds. They just aren't big fans of human touch. Is what I outlined (basic hand taming) achievable in a few months with birds that are closely bonded? Anyway, just looking for some advice onto how to handle this situation.