Hello from California! :)

[Sagethelovebird]

Oh! I always thought that the territorial-ness started at sexual maturity. I learn something new every reply. I will start rewarding him with his favorite, millet!

[Sagethelovebird]

Thank you Wolf, Pajarita, and Liz for all your help!!! I really appreciated your long, educative replies! I will take all your advice to heart and I'm sure Sage will sure be grateful for it.

[liz]

Hi Pajarita! Thanks for the welcome! I've tried offering a mix of bell peppers, string beans, carrots, corn, and peas. But he completely ignores it! I've been told that constantly putting it in their cages is enough, is that right? Or should I be sprinkling his pellets on top too?

Birds learn what is good to eat from their parents. Since he does not have parents you are it. Eat in front of him and eat with him. Myrtle was a year old when I rescued her. All she had had was seed. She watched Rambo and ate what he ate. She would not eat a treat until Rambo took one first. To teach Rambo all I have to do is eat in front of him.

[Pajarita]

Actually, territoriality associated with a cage does start when the bird is sexually mature. Babies are not territorial.

My goodness! There is still people going to newyorkbirds? I was one of the three original people that started that birdsite years and years ago and, most likely, what you read in it about gloop was all posted by me -LOL- as I was the 'gloop lady' in it! Linda didn't even feed gloop but then she was old-fashioned and did not even followed a solar schedule (she was still doing the 12L/12D one). But you will only find the old recipe in there so check the diet section here for an updated one (I am always tweaking it and the recipe has changed a lot since then).

Now, first of all, you have to make sure that you feed organic the stuff that needs to be organic (bell peppers do) so check the annual list for the 12 dirtiest veggies and fruits and always buy those organic. This is the site that gives you the list: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/ Secondly, I have found that it's harder to get them to eat veggies if you serve them by themselves BUT they all end up eating them when you mix them in the gloop (for lovies, you need to make sure they are finely chopped or of a small size naturally -like corn and peas, for example). Start with a grains and pulses only gloop and mix a bit of seeds in it and, as you see he is eating the grains and pulses, eliminate the seeds and start adding veggies one by one (start with fresh sweet corn, they all LOVE it!). Lovies are partial granivores so feeding pellets really makes no sense whatsoever. The only thing is that you need to supplement vit D3 so make sure you are giving him some vitamins, too (I use a one and half to two times the recommended daily dosage once a week).

[Wolf]

I did not look back to check on his age, but yes their territorial-ness starts when they become sexually mature and the information will still be valid when he reaches maturity. So why is he biting now when you reach into his cage? Probably fear or they could have mistaken the age of the bird somewhere. I think that somewhere along the way some one gave the wrong age and perhaps he is 9 months instead of 9 weeks.

[Sagethelovebird]

Aw Myrtle and Rambo are lucky birds! I'll be sure to try and feed Sage that way, Liz

[Sagethelovebird]

Hm, I don't think Sage is being territorial, he's just scared. Aha yes, I stumbled upon newyorkbirds during my lovebird research. What a coincidence, you started the website! And true, I've noticed gloop is always changing and becoming better and better suited for birds! I don't think the bell pepper I got was organic, I won't feed it to Sage anymore (since green bell peppers seem to be the "dirtiest." How do I give vitamins? I think I've read somewhere about mixing it with baby food?

[Sagethelovebird]

Sage is not biting when I take him out, he just won't let go of the perch he's on and hangs on. He's 9 weeks, he still has the black beak. I'd post a picture, but I can't seem to find out how.

[Wolf]

Well it seems that I misread your post on him coming out of the cage and thought that when you said you needed to solve his behavior before he matured and became bitey that you meant that he was biting now. I apologise for my error.
If his only problem is that he is not fully stepping up and not letting go of the perch, just be patient and he will figure it out soon, of course, using a treat to entice him to fully step up may speed things up a bit.
As for pictures, you need to reduce them to about 650 pixels on the long side and then when you post scroll down to add a file, find your picture and open it then add the picture to the post.

[Pajarita]

If you are feeding pellets, you should not give him any extra vitamins. But, if you are going to go with gloop, then you have to because, unless you can expose the bird to direct (no glass in between so it has to be outside) sunlight fordf 20 minutes every day or feed animal protein regularly (not recommended as parrots are herbivores), you need to supplement D3. My parrots get a powder multivitamin/mineral supplement mixed in with their gloop once a week but, for my passerines and new parrots that are not still eating gloop, I use a powder one that dissolves in water and what I do is take out the water the night before and put the fresh, medicated one about one hour after sunrise so they are good and thirsty and drink enough of it while it's still good (the good is because vitamins degrade in water so you don't want them to drink it hours after you put it there).

Don't force him to step up to your hand. Just use a perch to get him out or merely open the door of the cage so he can come out by himself. Put a perch or two outside the cage and, if you can, some kind of a playarea on top of it (a nice thicker branch with little ones coming out of it which you can tie to the side of the cage is good) so he can go there on his own. If you are handfeeding (which you should be once a day), make him used to going there for his feeding.