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Bonding with 2 lovebirds

Dio

Meeting neighbors
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12/5/21
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Hey guys, so I got 2 7-8 week old lovebirds almost 2 weeks ago named Kiwi and Peep. They were hand fed by the guy who bred them and are hand tame. I take them out of their cage like 4 times a day ranging from 10-45 minutes, all depends on the day. Most of the time, they'll stay with me for a few minutes or so then they'll fly away and go on the curtain poles or something. They'll fly back to me a couple of times and stay with me a little then go do them. I've been doing a lot of research on training and taming them out more and getting them to bond with me to the point that I can walk round everywhere and they'll stay on my shoulder but it seems like my goal is a little unlikely having 2 lovebirds as they'll bond with each other rather than me. Do you have any advice on what I can do to make them both want to be with me? Today I hand fed them some millet and they stayed with me the entire time but once them millet was gone, so were they.

Also, when they are out and with me, they'll play with my shirt or pants and stuff but sometimes they'll bite me kind of hard. most of the time they nibble and feel me with their beaks but every now and then, they'll get me good. Any idea why they bite me hard sometimes?
 

April

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@Zara Do you have any insights?
 

Zara

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When you have two birds, they will not likely be velcro birds because they do have each other. However, your birds are babies, 7-8 weeks old really are young and you can still form a good relationship with them somewhat easily. See how they are coming over to you, taking treats from you, they trust you, and are not scared of you. It is a good start. They are still settling in, they are still growing and learning, try not to expect too much from them. Plus 10-45 mins isnt much time, try doing two times out of the cage for double the time. The first half hour is always spend hyped, flying around, like tornados, but after that they will calm down and settle, may come and have a nap on your shoulder, maybe sit somewhere and observe you.
The aim here is not to teach the birds to be on you all the time, you need them to be independent. They need to be birds and do bird things, have their own time, entertain themselves while you are not there.
 

Dio

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When you have two birds, they will not likely be velcro birds because they do have each other. However, your birds are babies, 7-8 weeks old really are young and you can still form a good relationship with them somewhat easily. See how they are coming over to you, taking treats from you, they trust you, and are not scared of you. It is a good start. They are still settling in, they are still growing and learning, try not to expect too much from them. Plus 10-45 mins isnt much time, try doing two times out of the cage for double the time. The first half hour is always spend hyped, flying around, like tornados, but after that they will calm down and settle, may come and have a nap on your shoulder, maybe sit somewhere and observe you.
The aim here is not to teach the birds to be on you all the time, you need them to be independent. They need to be birds and do bird things, have their own time, entertain themselves while you are not there.
Okay I figured with them being so young they still have a lot to learn. Thankfully they do seem to trust me and will take treats from my hands so I’m glad that’s working for me. Oh wow okay I’ll start letting them out of the cage for longer than what I have been. They definitely do fly around like little tornados lol. At times they have come to me and taken little naps on my chest/shoulder. Is there a way that I can reward that behavior? I feel like giving them treats will just wake them up so would petting them and scratching them be a good reward?
 

Pat H

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Though we don't have any now, we've had LB's most of our bird-life... they really like to be handled, and snuggle... Though w/ 2x the same age, going to be more difficult... I usually had recommended waiting at least a couple of months before getting a second. Hopefully, w/ continued care and effort-- you will be successful! Enjoy the kids!
 

Dio

Meeting neighbors
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Though we don't have any now, we've had LB's most of our bird-life... they really like to be handled, and snuggle... Though w/ 2x the same age, going to be more difficult... I usually had recommended waiting at least a couple of months before getting a second. Hopefully, w/ continued care and effort-- you will be successful! Enjoy the kids!
I would have liked to get just one but the seller wanted them to go together and for the price, I couldn’t say no. I will continue to show these little guys all the love I can and hope they bond with me pretty closely
 

Zara

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I gave my friend two 6 and a bit week old birds. Just weaned. She offered them some comfort feeds (formula on a small teaspoon) and spent plenty of time interacting with them and those birds seemed to really love her and her husband. They had their moments where they would fly off and chew her blind to oblivion, but would spend time on her shoulder and with her.
Bringing home a just weaned pair of lovebirds isn´t like bringing home a pair of 3 year old birds. They are a little easier to interact with :)
 

Dio

Meeting neighbors
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I gave my friend two 6 and a bit week old birds. Just weaned. She offered them some comfort feeds (formula on a small teaspoon) and spent plenty of time interacting with them and those birds seemed to really love her and her husband. They had their moments where they would fly off and chew her blind to oblivion, but would spend time on her shoulder and with her.
Bringing home a just weaned pair of lovebirds isn´t like bringing home a pair of 3 year old birds. They are a little easier to interact with :)
When I originally brought my pair home, I was hand feeding them once a day at night so they went to bed full and in the morning I'd leave some seeds and pellets. They definitely loved when I fed them and I feel like it did help me bond with them. Today I had them out of the cage for over an hour and they spent a lot more time with me (after being psychopaths) and I loved it. I let them fly around all they wanted but they still came back to me. I made them a little play box out of just some cardboard and shredded newspaper and set it on my coffee table. I'm going to just be patient with these guys and continue to let them out for long periods of time so they can exercise and bond with me :)
 
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