1st lovebird please help.

[littlestever]

hello guys i just just recently bought a lovebird from the pet store. according to them its 3months old and is a female.. so far its been about 2 weeks now since i had her and i dont know how to tame it. when i put my hands in the cage she will hop onto my fingers and when i take my bird out the cage it only hops onto my fingers when im near the cage. other then that she flys all over my room. note she is a flighted bird i do not want to clip her wings! is it even possible to tame a flighted bird?

[marie83]

Yup, all my birds have been flighted and the majority untamed when I first got them. You can tame your lovebird and it is a very good start that she will hop onto your finger.

Try sitting outside the cage and talking to her for a while, feed her through the bars. She will come to realise being with you = good things happening. Basicly let her get used to you a bit more. Read Michaels taming article and when you feel ready put it into practice. She will soon realise you are her friend but remember some birds are naturally more independant so she may prefer to be off doing her own thing that sitting with you. It is perfectly possible to tame and train her, just take it slowly and have loads of patience.

[liz]

I believe a flighted bird is easier to tame. They are not as afraid. They know if something goes wrong they can fly to get out of it.

Let it fly and get tired even if you have to move it along a little. When it is tired and lands on the floor offer your hand for a step up. That is how I work with my Cockatiels and Lovie. They want help at that point.

Shadow and Lemone' were wild males that had never been touched. The breeder said they would not be good pets and never be able to handle. What I did was turn my whole flock loose and let them fly. (Of course I put the cats out just in case.) If they landed on something high I just shood them off. After about a half hour they were ready to get help getting back to the cage. I did this every day for a while. They were even cuddly when they got tired.

[Polarn]

In my opinion it is easier to tame a flighted bird while it is easier to force a clipped. Wich means you might be able to force your clipped bird into accepting you to touch it or move it around. This however most likely will create you a bird who will bite when it doesn't want to take part of what you want todo right now, and yes they are more scared and insecure, I'm working with Gila ATM who isn't able to fly and I have to show her that I am backing away when she gets scared since she can't really take off. However I still need to lift her in and out of the cage since she thinks she can fly and if I let her climb out herself she tends to jump off, so I've had to catch her twice so far midair... However if your not reading your bird carefully when clipped and backs off when it is frighted it will resort to biting to try get you to back off.
A flighted bird you treat the same way you should treat a clipped bird, the big difference is that a flighted bird unless cornered will take off if scared, then you "lure" it back with treats, it may get scared when realizing its sitting on your arm and take off agai. Etc. but the short answer is, keep your bird flighted and work with it as the bird it is. Nothing hurts me more than seeing my lil Gila trying to take off but fails. She is ment to fly and hopefully she will be strong enough and have all the feathers for it once again.

[liz]

In my opinion it is easier to tame a flighted bird while it is easier to force a clipped. Wich means you might be able to force your clipped bird into accepting you to touch it or move it around. This however most likely will create you a bird who will bite when it doesn't want to take part of what you want todo right now, and yes they are more scared and insecure, I'm working with Gila ATM who isn't able to fly and I have to show her that I am backing away when she gets scared since she can't really take off. However I still need to lift her in and out of the cage since she thinks she can fly and if I let her climb out herself she tends to jump off, so I've had to catch her twice so far midair... However if your not reading your bird carefully when clipped and backs off when it is frighted it will resort to biting to try get you to back off.
A flighted bird you treat the same way you should treat a clipped bird, the big difference is that a flighted bird unless cornered will take off if scared, then you "lure" it back with treats, it may get scared when realizing its sitting on your arm and take off agai. Etc. but the short answer is, keep your bird flighted and work with it as the bird it is. Nothing hurts me more than seeing my lil Gila trying to take off but fails. She is ment to fly and hopefully she will be strong enough and have all the feathers for it once again.

Me too. Go Gila!!!!