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Lovie addicted to my shoulder

My baby blue

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Laura Gonzalez
I bought my lovebird blue about 4 days ago. He is about two months give or take (I have not had blue DNA tested yet he is so little! But my boyfriend absolutely swears blue is a boy since he loves me so much and hates him so we say he is a he ) I had been reading up on parrot care and lovebird care for weeks before getting my baby blue from the breeder and I was expecting blue to take much longer to warm up to me but instead around the second day he managed to figure out how to open his cage( at this point blue was in a smaller temporary cage as I was having complications with his big permanent home I had ordered online) so once I picked him up to perch him back in his cage he didn't seem to have a problem with me handling him. He learned step up within hours and has kept up the progress... four days later he sleeps on my shoulder and cuddles up behind my ear on my neck. But that's all he wants to do ! He will NOT LEAVE MY SHOULDER, no matter how many treats I offer for him to step down it may deter him for mere seconds but he's right back to flying to my shoulder. He now starts to bite me when he is exclusively on my shoulder and I'm asking him to step up to my finger and will climb down my back so I will not reach him. What can I do to get him off because as much as I love cuddles with him he can really bite !
 

fluffypoptarts

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He has bonded to you very strongly, congratulations! You have a Velcro bird. :) But now you get to establish boundaries with one of the most stubborn creatures on the planet. :D (I'm kidding...somewhat!) He has figured out that if he bites, he can get more shoulder time. What do you do now when that happens?

There will be a lot of saying "no" and trying to avoid being bitten or avoiding reinforcing bad behavior in your future. And waiting for your lovie to grow out of *some* of his hyper-crazy-pesky. :D
 

My baby blue

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He bonds to anyone with a shoulder :pHe will only sleep on me and prefers my shoulder but once he's on there it doesn't matter who the person is or who the shoulder belongs to he doesn't want to leave LOL.:loveshower:
 

fluffypoptarts

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That is unusual! Lovies are not usually that open/easy with their affections. I suppose a very well-socialized bird with an affectionate nature might, but he may become more discerning as he matures.

He's absolutely adorable, by the way.
 

My baby blue

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Thank you! I absolutely adore him. He may bite me and have a great big attitude for such a little bird but I have never loved another pet like I love him :heart:. I am somewhat concerned about his nutrition though. I know he is still very young but the breeder I got my blue from fed him millet and seeds only!!! I have tried everything and every way imaginable and he will not eat anything else. He doesn't even really eat seeds but millet is his addiction. I think he may like millet even more than my shoulder :lol:. I've tried sprouts, store bought and some I've grown myself. Fruits and veggies, pasta, bread. The only thing I've gotten him to nibble at is small pieces of Cuban bread. Any suggestions or advice?:sad4:
 

fluffypoptarts

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They're super stubborn when it comes to food conversion. You'll have to just keep trying to provide veggies and pellets to him until he tries them!

I've found that mine like the extra small colored pellets - Zupreem works for that. They refuse to eat pellets that are uncolored or larger, but at least they're eating pellets. Have to pick your battles with these guys on certain things, lol!

They generally dislike fruit. Mine will eat dried green apple, but not fresh apple. They liked dried or frozen (thawed) corn and peas. You just have to try a bunch of different things to see what your little guy will try or enjoy - and what he'll redocrate your walls with. ;)

Oh, organic is important, and make sure you wash everything. Pesticides can and will kill them.

You know the toxic foods, etc?
 

fluffypoptarts

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What do you do when you try to take him down from your shoulder and he bites?

@JaclynBin has a little one like yours, and he does sass her - certainly in the beginning even more so!
 

My baby blue

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I know avocado and that's about it ? And I usually will just tell him "no" or "gently" and he'll usually stop biting so hard. When I want him to come down I'll offer a seed and when he steps up I'll give him the treat and that usually works. If it was up to him though he'd spend all day on my shoulder :joyful:
 

fluffypoptarts

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Well it sounds like you're making progress! He's responding, he's just testing your limits.

I wouldn't do canned - even if you find a no sodium version, I'd worry about other additives and such.

No avocado, no chocolate, no caffeine, avoid sugar and salt as much as possible, avoid garlic and onions...just be careful and double-check anything you're uncertain of.

We need more pictures of your baby! :)
 

JaclynBin

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Your Blue is absolutely adorable, melting into your hand like that!

I had issues with one of mine becoming quite possessive about shoulders about a year and a bit or so ago. Gem liked to be the boss of her domain, and while I was happy to have her wanting to spend time with me, she definitely liked to express herself through ear nips and would persistently chew on my neck and freckles. As with Blue (I'm assuming), at the time Gem was the only bird in my household and had my wholehearted attention. I spent a lot of time wearing scarves as neck deterrents and did 'step up' and trick training about twice a day for 5-10 minute sessions. If you practice often enough it becomes second nature to them. I also made sure to only allow her to sit on my shoulder if she was 'invited' - where I'd be the one to place her up there - and would consequently remove her, sit her down on a perch and then calmly ask her to step up so she could sit on my shoulder, when she flew to her favourite spot without receiving and 'ok' signal.

It's worked out really well, I haven't had any issues, and have not had to maintain the shoulder 'invite' rule since Gem became really adept at stepping up. At this point, she'll step up for pretty much anyone, as long as they don't try and touch her (I've never used the forced stomach press method to make a bird step up, as I'd rather allow the bird to choose to step up and make positive connections to this action).

Mine's still a shoulder hog, and I wouldn't change her for the world, but the aggression's dissipated and she's a much more civilized albeit still opinianated ball of sass. I feel like we are both more comfortable now that boundaries have been set and we can both trust each other to respect these. Good luck with your adorable little fluff - blue black-masked's are just the cutest!
 

My baby blue

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I agree! And yes you're right, the ear nips are pretty painful and on my lips too if i turn my head to look at him while he's on my shoulder. He's really sweet with me at times but when he's feeling adventurous there's no restraining him lol. He knows how to step up and does it willingly (when he wants to). So far telling him "gentle" gets him to stop biting so hard if he goes too far, he's the absolute best:loveshower:thank you for sharing your experience i will definitely be trying it out with him. One can read for weeks on the internet but nothing beats experience :tup:
 

Alien J

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Im very happy I found this website. I was driving my family crazy with all the bird talk LOL but I love my blue so much!:heart:
Amen! My fiancee is always muttering under his breath, "Birdy, birdy, Birdy"
We've had a long standing rule in our home. The rule is, "NEVER stop petting the Dusty". Dusty is one of our dogs. He was a stray. A pretty sickly stray. If he had his way, (and he does for hours) we would, literally, never stop petting the Dusty. The look he gives you if you do stop is priceless. Now we have another house rule. That rule is, "EVERYTHING is about the bird." If you ever think it's about anything else, you're wrong... why?, bcuz, EVERYTHING is about the bird!

The only thing I've gotten him to nibble at is small pieces of Cuban bread
TD loves nothing more than when I eat with him/her. Someone here on the Avenue, I believe, mentioned how important foraging together is for birds in the wild and suggested eating with your bird. TD gets all excited, running back to his food bowl, taking a bite, running towards me to see if I'm still eating, back to the food bowl...etc. So I found that this is the best time to introduce new foods. I eat whatever it is that I want him to try. I say, "Yummy, yummy", show him the food, make a big deal about how good it is, then ask TD, "Try some?". 99% of the time, he tries some! Good luck!
 

My baby blue

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As we speak my boyfriend woke up to me and my little blue asleep together on the couch after I escaped from our bed to go be with blue:laugh:

As for eating together, I never thought of that! It sounds like a good idea and will definitely be trying it out. I don't know when I should start changing the seeds he's eating now to pellets since he's really only eating the millet the breeder started him on and can't even really manage to eat medium sized seeds yet. He is my first lovie :heart:so I'm very new to this and as I spent weeks desperately trying to learn as much as I could to be as prepared as possible to give blue the best possible life a lot of this, I can imagine is like having or taking care of a new baby. You can read all you want but experienced mommys and daddy's know best!
 

Alien J

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You can read all you want but experienced mommys and daddy's know best!
That's why I'm always on the Avenue! Other than a fledgling Band Tailed Pigeon that I scooped up right ahead of some feral cats last summer and raised until I soft released her, I've not had much experience with birds. I rescued TD from an abusive home this past May when TD was only 21 days old. The folks here on the Avenue are the BOMB!
 

fluffypoptarts

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You can start adding things in now and keep some millet in there for him in case. They're usually curious, so he'll probably try the new things at some point. :)

Oh, try not to fall asleep with him on you. Too easy to lose or squish birds that way! :(
 

saroj12

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Canned veggies are not okay. Too much sodium and the can liner has bpa in it. Buy the bird some fresh organic veggies. Go on, it's a matter of his future health. No cans.
 
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