Having trouble bonding with distracted lovebird

[cathodoer]

I'm having a lot of trouble bonding with my lovebird because he's too distracted by my budgies. I keep my budgies caged and covered when I have my bonding sessions with him but he has absolutely no interest in me because of them. I understand that it's only natural but it's really putting a foot in the mud and making it difficult! I can't remove my budgies from the room because there's nowhere safe to put them, and I can't take the training sessions to a different room because of the same reason. Our cats and dog would make it too difficult, and nowhere else in the house is birdproofed. He always finds a way under the cage cover and more times than I can count do I have to shoo him off so he doesn't get his toes crunched.

I don't let them out together because my budgies seriously don't like him, they bite his feet whenever he's on their cage and they show a clear aggressive attitude towards him. I have to keep my cockatiel covered as well because she really doesn't like other birds and lil lovebird will hassle (harass!) her to no end.

I'm trying stick training and he loves millet, he's getting more comfortable with me being near him and whatnot and he's learning that he can fly to my finger, plus he's getting good at learning to sit on my finger as I put him in his cage at night, but I really want this to just be easier for the both of us and I don't want him getting scared of my hands from the shooing. : ( I can't touch him yet, if I put more than one hand near him he's gone and if I put my thumb on his feet to stop him flying off he just lets out a frightened scream and flies away.

I don't want to force myself on him, I want to learn to be friends with him at his own pace, but I'm not very experienced with lovebirds and am not sure how my other birds being around are going to affect the bonding process. Plus I really don't like having to keep my birds covered any time other than night time. Any advice at all really would be appreciated! Share some experiences if you want so I don't feel so alone/discouraged haha!!

 

[LilSprout]

I offer my girl her favorite treats from my hand so she associates hand with good things. It's been 7 months and she'll take food from my hand but still won't let me touch her. But she doesn't freak out when I reach my hand in to give new food and water

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

I find lovebirds are less hands on than any other species of bird I have. The ones most needy of hands on are the Poicephalus, then the tiels, Bocca GCC, the budgies, Emmie CAG and lastly the lovies. The lovies enjoy interactions with me, but no touching! They crawl all over me, grooming my hair, licking fresh sweat from my hairline, taking treats from my hand, but no pets, no handling. Hens seem especially hands off.

 

[JaclynBin]

I've found it's been much easier to take a second bird after a first has displayed high levels of comfort with you in front of the less tame bird. My second lovebird, Panda, while still not being the most tame lovebird, has grown to be a much more friendly bird in a much quicker timespan since I introduced him to my clingy lovebird, Gem. He loves Gem, and Gem loves me so he spends a lot of time clinging to my shoulder beside his crush. If your budgies are friendly, try making a big deal about having them land on you and interacting with you in a positive way.

However, the last thing you want to do is strain the relationship you have with your lovebird by forcing it into uncomfortable situations such as holding its feet down or unquestionably making him step up (leave a decent gap between finger/dowel and bird when asking them to step up - so it becomes their choice). You can't force your bird to want to hang out with you, but you can try bribing them over to your side - try letting the bird out, letting them go to the covered budgie cage to tire themselves out if that's what they want while offering a treat near your person and ignoring them from another side of the room.
I've found that these guys really tend to go out of their way to interact with you and become the centre of attention only when you're really not paying 100% of your attention to them.

Good luck with your lovie - they really can become the sweetest little clingy monsters when they become comfortable with your person.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

Your lovie sounds a lot like my Turnip. It took a long time for him to allow me to actually touch him with my hand, and longer to allow me to contain him in my hands. He still flies off whenever and is skittish, but he's much calmer than he used to be. Don't give up!

My other lovebirds are very hands on, even my girls. Actually, one of my girls is a huge cuddler and will obsessively kiss me (complete with the kiss noise) as I'm carrying her around the apartment. My most diabolical female will lean into my hand and let me rub her cheeks and neck every night.

You just never know!

 

[finchly]

As far as covering the cage, I'm wondering if you could secure a piece of heavy cardboard on top of the cages. That way his toes wont be bitten and you don't have to cover the other birds.

 

[cathodoer]

Thank you all for the replies, sorry I didn't respond sooner! It's really good and helpful to hear some opinions from people who know more about lovies than I do! I've noticed he gets a little more confident every day and I'm super proud of him for that. He's flying around me a lot more lately and lands on my chair where I'm sitting very often and then flies off once I say hello to him haha. I'd never rush him or pressure him, I've learned the hard way that that only takes a step backward instead of otherwise.

My budgies aren't too hands on but they do often fly around me and land on my desk and whatnot so I think him seeing them chill around me has helped, like Jaclyn suggested! My cockatiel too, she's claimed her place on the back of my chair and is always next to me when she's out, even though she hates being touched.

Covering the top of their cage with heavy cardboard would be a good idea, but it's actually the sides of the cage that he clings to trying to get to them! The budgies have good access to his feet that way too. You'd think after a million toe bites hard enough to make him screech would be a good enough hint that he should leave them be but birds can be very persistent I suppose! and maybe a bit dumb haha. I uncovered my finches since they're in a big enough cage he can't get to them and he seems a bit happier just being able to see them, so that's a start I think. I still don't know what I'm going to do about the budgies but I think I'm just gonna have to leave them uncovered one day to test how it goes! No other way around it I don't suppose.. Again, thank you so much for the replies. I'm a lot less discouraged now

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

You can cover the sides with a towel, wrapping it around three sides and leaving the front open.

 

[metalstitcher]

If you ignore them they will be all over you. My girl hates it when I am doing something else that doesn't involve worshiping her feather butt.