Hi im new in this with lovebirds

[Fabi]

so 2 days ago i have bought a love bird, just one, and i dont know if he s a baby or he s an adult
i ve named him blue, because his gorgeous with his colors
i need some advices about him
how can i make him earn my trust for him
how can i make him not afraid of me
well i need everything how can i make him comfortable in his new house and being happy with me as his partner

[Pajarita]

Hi, Fabi, welcome to the forum! Whether it's a baby or an adult is easy to tell most of the time. If there is a black spot on the beak, the bird is under 6 months of age BUT there are mutations that never get the black and there are some that lose it at 3 months of age so I would strongly suggest you feed it as if it was a baby, just to make sure. Babies and juveniles should get two different kinds of soft food served warm and fresh twice a day (breakfast and dinner).

Now, as to how to tame it... First of all, a parent-raised aviary species is never going to bond with you deeply. It's not a matter of how much work you put into it or whether you are an expert on this, it's that the only way to get a deeper bond is to handfeed them when they are tiny babies and, once this is not done, it never happens again because there is no imprinting (not my opinion, a scientific fact). You can get it to trust you by spening A LOT of time with it, talking, whistling, singing, offering treats, etc. without asking for anything in return (meaning, not trying to get the bird to step up, recall or anything). Do not put your hand inside his cage unless you need to clean it, do not clip it and do not force it to accept your touch (these are all flooding techniques that we used to use but stopped when we realized they only worked in the short time and backfired in the long term).

A word of caution. You are going to have to rethink your expectations of the relationship you will have with this bird because it will never be satisfied or even completely happy with a human as 'his partner'... it might not even be completly healthy, either, because little aviary species never feel completely safe when alone and this ends up creating chronic stress - which, in turn, depresses their immune system. Man has the tendency to believe it knows more than nature and can reverse evolutionary traits just by sheer will but it's nothing but arrogance... Nature always knows best.

I am an animal lover and rights activist and, as such, I feel compelled to recommend to you that you have this little bird DNAd to find out if it's a male or a female and get another of the same species and opposite gender for it because it's the only way to make it happy and healthy for the long run. If what you want is a companion parrot and you have MANY hours to spend with it, I recommend you adopt an adult conure.

[Fabi]

in Romania we dont have too many species of these birds
he looks like these and he s very scared when his i put his cuttlefish bone where it belongs
and he get real scared
https://prnt.sc/oz9xqd

[Fabi]

that s a picture of him

[Pajarita]

He is a beautiful black mask but the companion doesn't have to be a black mask, any other species of lovebird will work out just fine, too.

As to the cuttlebone, he is, most likely, not afraid of it but of your hand when you put it in there.

Also, please note that the cage you have it in is for passerines and not parrots (see the vertical bars?)

[Fabi]

that s what had at the store, it was really cute, and it said the cage is good for him now, cause he s not so big now
idk they said at the store that he s a lovebird, i need advices about everything i can do for him to feel better and anything
because i want him to be my friend

[Pajarita]

Well, it used to be that parrots cages had only horizontal bars while passerines had vertical but, nowadays (and I don't really know the reason why) parrots cages have two vertical sides and two horizontal. The important thing is that they have horizontal because while passerines (the word means 'perching birds') would fly or skip to go from one place to another, parrots would climb.

As to making it your friend, you need to start by gaining its trust so spend as many hours as you can in the same room as he is (but make sure his cage is not lower than your head and that it has either a wall or something draped over the back to make it feel safe - but never cover the cage during the day, only at night when the bird is alreay asleep). Talk, sing, whislte and, every now and then, offer it a treat. Now, in order for him/her to want the treat badly enough that he/she would risk taking from your fingers, you can't free-feed protein because the treat should be what we all a 'high value item' and that is always their favorite protein food (for a lovebird, you can use a small piece of a nut, a safflower seed or a tiny piece of a millet spray). Give it a nice leafy green and a piece of fruit every morning and some sort of gloop or, at the very least, cooked whole grains.

[Pajarita]

Well, it used to be that parrots cages had only horizontal bars while passerines had vertical but, nowadays (and I don't really know the reason why) parrots cages have two vertical sides and two horizontal. The important thing is that they have horizontal because while passerines (the word means 'perching birds') would fly or skip to go from one place to another, parrots would climb.

As to making it your friend, you need to start by gaining its trust so spend as many hours as you can in the same room as he is (but make sure his cage is not lower than your head and that it has either a wall or something draped over the back to make it feel safe - but never cover the cage during the day, only at night when the bird is alreay asleep). Talk, sing, whislte and, every now and then, offer it a treat. Now, in order for him/her to want the treat badly enough that he/she would risk taking from your fingers, you can't free-feed protein because the treat should be what we all a 'high value item' and that is always their favorite protein food (for a lovebird, you can use a small piece of a nut, a safflower seed or a tiny piece of a millet spray). Give it a nice leafy green and a piece of fruit every morning and some sort of gloop or, at the very least, cooked whole grains.