rabernet
Strolling the yard
And I thought I'd share things I've learned and mistakes I've made and the corrections that I've made.
If you read my introduction, you know that not only am I new to lovebirds, but I'm new to birds period.
I've been around lovebirds, and I've seen how bonded they become to their guardian (at least my friend's lovie is completely and totally head over heels in love with her and she did hand raise him herself).
In any case, I purchased Nugget at the Atlanta Bird Fair last Saturday after carefully going around to see all the lovies, ask lots of questions of the breeders, before deciding that not only was Nugget a good choice, but I was also most comfortable with this breeder and the care I felt Nugget received prior to joining my "zoo".
Bought a cage there too, that came with the two standard wooden dowels, some toys and three perch swings as well as millet, seed and pellets.
Nugget is still a baby - will be nine weeks old this weekend. I do see her poking in her food dish, but can't say that I see her eat a lot and after reading the threads on various forums above about taming a lovebird, I do see that it's less important to convert her to a variety of foods than it is to allow her to get settled and eat more seed if that's what she wants to do - for now. Variety can come later, trust and comfort first. I do see her tearing up her millet though (I have one of those beaded things that twists around the millet and hangs from the top of the cage).
Well, eager to bond with my little Nugget, I made all the mistakes I presume a first time owner makes - I was forcing her to spend time with me - catching her in her cage and then comforting her to calm her down. This lasted the weekend, with about 2 15 minute handling sessions a day. I quickly realized that I was scaring my bird, not bonding with her, and I realized I needed to read my bird and change my methods.
During the week, when I had to go to work, I turned the radio on to an all Christmas music channel to keep her company and let it play softly. I'd come home and sit by her cage and talk to her and repeat her name a lot, and telling her what a pretty bird she was.
On Monday, I read that if you use just those dowels that come with the cage, you can cause bumblefoot and was aghast! I stopped by Petsmart the next day and decked out her cage. I removed one of the dowels, and placed the other one down down by her food and water dish to give her a perch to eat from, and then got a twisted rope perch, a snack shack perch, and two natural wood perches of different diameters. I also got her some shredding toys and a plastic chain link toy.
She was in birdie heaven! I continued to sit quietly by her cage and talk softly to her. I decided rather than grabbing her when she was loose in the room (to remove her from where I thought were "unsafe" areas, or areas that I wouldn't be able to get to (behind the dresser for one)), I'd use the dowel that I had removed from the cage.
She steps up onto that dowel without hesitation, and I can be sitting on the bed and she may flutter to the floor but try to get back on the bed but not be able to get the altitude, so I simply reach down with the dowel, and she steps right up.
She'll sit on that dowel and look at me, cocking her head while I talk softly to her. I'm letting her set the pace now. We have been ending on a positive note (when I feel she's the least stressed) and then I'll put her up and lay across the bed and just talk to her some more.
Last evening she came to the front of her cage and started pacing, and so I slowly moved and opened the cage door and she flew to the bed where I was. She didn't fly to me, but that's ok. I can still use the dowel and she'll step right up and allow me to bring her closer to me, and then I'll set it back down on the bed to let her hop back off.
Or I'll hold it about a foot in front of me and talk to her. She'll preen and tonight, she actually moved from the dowel onto my hand and hung out there on my hand a bit - not asked to do so, not forced to do so, but of her own choice.
I know we still have a long way to go, but I think that I'm on the right track now, and I'm not forcing myself on my wee little Nugget. I know because she's Lutino and not from a Lutino mom that she's a hen, and I'm hoping that we'll build a close relationship that we can work though the hormonal stages together with trust and respect.
Thank you all for what you've contributed to the forum so far, the answers to other people's questions have helped me immeasurably! I look forward to continuing to learn from you and participating, and one day, helping another new member with the lessons that Nugget and you have taught me!
If you read my introduction, you know that not only am I new to lovebirds, but I'm new to birds period.
I've been around lovebirds, and I've seen how bonded they become to their guardian (at least my friend's lovie is completely and totally head over heels in love with her and she did hand raise him herself).
In any case, I purchased Nugget at the Atlanta Bird Fair last Saturday after carefully going around to see all the lovies, ask lots of questions of the breeders, before deciding that not only was Nugget a good choice, but I was also most comfortable with this breeder and the care I felt Nugget received prior to joining my "zoo".
Bought a cage there too, that came with the two standard wooden dowels, some toys and three perch swings as well as millet, seed and pellets.
Nugget is still a baby - will be nine weeks old this weekend. I do see her poking in her food dish, but can't say that I see her eat a lot and after reading the threads on various forums above about taming a lovebird, I do see that it's less important to convert her to a variety of foods than it is to allow her to get settled and eat more seed if that's what she wants to do - for now. Variety can come later, trust and comfort first. I do see her tearing up her millet though (I have one of those beaded things that twists around the millet and hangs from the top of the cage).
Well, eager to bond with my little Nugget, I made all the mistakes I presume a first time owner makes - I was forcing her to spend time with me - catching her in her cage and then comforting her to calm her down. This lasted the weekend, with about 2 15 minute handling sessions a day. I quickly realized that I was scaring my bird, not bonding with her, and I realized I needed to read my bird and change my methods.
During the week, when I had to go to work, I turned the radio on to an all Christmas music channel to keep her company and let it play softly. I'd come home and sit by her cage and talk to her and repeat her name a lot, and telling her what a pretty bird she was.
On Monday, I read that if you use just those dowels that come with the cage, you can cause bumblefoot and was aghast! I stopped by Petsmart the next day and decked out her cage. I removed one of the dowels, and placed the other one down down by her food and water dish to give her a perch to eat from, and then got a twisted rope perch, a snack shack perch, and two natural wood perches of different diameters. I also got her some shredding toys and a plastic chain link toy.
She was in birdie heaven! I continued to sit quietly by her cage and talk softly to her. I decided rather than grabbing her when she was loose in the room (to remove her from where I thought were "unsafe" areas, or areas that I wouldn't be able to get to (behind the dresser for one)), I'd use the dowel that I had removed from the cage.
She steps up onto that dowel without hesitation, and I can be sitting on the bed and she may flutter to the floor but try to get back on the bed but not be able to get the altitude, so I simply reach down with the dowel, and she steps right up.
She'll sit on that dowel and look at me, cocking her head while I talk softly to her. I'm letting her set the pace now. We have been ending on a positive note (when I feel she's the least stressed) and then I'll put her up and lay across the bed and just talk to her some more.
Last evening she came to the front of her cage and started pacing, and so I slowly moved and opened the cage door and she flew to the bed where I was. She didn't fly to me, but that's ok. I can still use the dowel and she'll step right up and allow me to bring her closer to me, and then I'll set it back down on the bed to let her hop back off.
Or I'll hold it about a foot in front of me and talk to her. She'll preen and tonight, she actually moved from the dowel onto my hand and hung out there on my hand a bit - not asked to do so, not forced to do so, but of her own choice.
I know we still have a long way to go, but I think that I'm on the right track now, and I'm not forcing myself on my wee little Nugget. I know because she's Lutino and not from a Lutino mom that she's a hen, and I'm hoping that we'll build a close relationship that we can work though the hormonal stages together with trust and respect.
Thank you all for what you've contributed to the forum so far, the answers to other people's questions have helped me immeasurably! I look forward to continuing to learn from you and participating, and one day, helping another new member with the lessons that Nugget and you have taught me!
