falling in love with 2 love-birds

[birdee-man]

Hello All,

First of all, I send my love and respect to everyone here. It is amazing to find a place for bird lovers, and to be joined by a bird dummy (ME)

I got two love birds, One fisher, the other is Rose.. they live great together. I just wish to know since I have seen 2 billion online videos and none of them agrees with the other.

The rose bird is very friendly, eats from my hand, sleeps at my tummy. I was only worried because since I got them 2 weeks ago, this is the first time he did it... is it normal ? he is sleeping and tucking his head on his wing and sleep a lot. Also today I see him eating a lot.

For the Fisher (my main love that is ghosting me) she is always flying away. Held once but was trying to fly away (NEVER BITS though) should I give time or cut the wings I dont know what is the right thing.. she only once ate from my hand and that is it.

so please help me with the 3 question I asked (2 for the Rose, 1 for the Fisher)

thank you

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum! I will tag a couple of our lovebird people- @Zara @fluffypoptarts

 

[Shezbug]

Welcome to the Avenue

 

[birdee-man]

Welcome to the Avenue

wooow, it is my life dream to have a MACAW, may yours stay healthy and happy so do you

 

[birdee-man]

Welcome to the forum! I will tag a couple of our lovebird people- @Zara @fluffypoptarts

so kind of you, thank you

 

[Zara]

Hello, Welcome to Avian Avenue!

You say Rose, do you mean the bird is a Roseicollis? Not that it matters, I was am unsure if it was your birds name.

If you only had Rose for two weeks, then it is normal that behaviour can change a lot. It is nice they are feeling comfortable with you and sleeping on you, it shows they trust you
My lovebirds nap a lot during the day, they play with bursts of energy, and then have short naps. Be sure your birds are getting plenty of uninterupted sleep at night, approx 12 hours.
If you want to know what to look out for, loss of balance, lethargy, and squinty eyed most of the day are tell tale signs something is wrong. Though with every new bird you bring home, they should be taken to the vet for a wellness check.

should I give time or cut the wings

Give them time.
I personally only believe that wing clipping should be done if it is in the birds best interests, for eg if they are having medical treatments and need to have their flight impeded, or if they are perhaps blind and deaf, or are a very large bird causing a lot of damage to their person. To improve a bond is not a good reason for clipping and can have the opposite effect.
Buy some millet spray and offer some to your bird, see if you can use treats they like to get them to come over and spend more time near you, you can set up a play area or stand near where you sit/work so they get comfortable being around you. You may have better luck trying this when they are caged, offer foods through the cage bars. Remember to be patient and hold still, don't chase them with food. With every positive encounter the trust will slowly build, but for every negative interaction, the trust will be broken. If they won't take it, attach an empty bowl in the cage, and drop the treat through the bars and into the bowl.
I have a bird that was very much human friendly. But one day he needed medical treatment, meaning I had to grab him and force him to take meds multiple times a day. The trust was broken from then on, he would be more spooked around me, would only come to my hand when his partner came, he was very skittish around me. I didn't try to get the relationship to where it was before, I was fine with the ocassional visit to my hand but not much more. He is now having treatment again, and has a collar on again, so I am grabbing him and forcing meds, and even worse, an antiseptic spray which he hates. I have spent a lot of time this time, sitting with him and feeding him millet in the hopes that there won't be so much damage to our relationship. Lovebirds can be forgiving, so even if you have a bad experience and things don't go well, you can always try again another day - don't be disheartened!

 

[orphansparrow]

Welcome! You'll find really great help here. I certainly have throughout the years. Keep asking questions, I still do and the folks here are incredibly knowledeable.

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome, and enjoy the site!

 

[birdee-man]

Hello, Welcome to Avian Avenue!

You say Rose, do you mean the bird is a Roseicollis? Not that it matters, I was am unsure if it was your birds name.

If you only had Rose for two weeks, then it is normal that behaviour can change a lot. It is nice they are feeling comfortable with you and sleeping on you, it shows they trust you
My lovebirds nap a lot during the day, they play with bursts of energy, and then have short naps. Be sure your birds are getting plenty of uninterupted sleep at night, approx 12 hours.
If you want to know what to look out for, loss of balance, lethargy, and squinty eyed most of the day are tell tale signs something is wrong. Though with every new bird you bring home, they should be taken to the vet for a wellness check.


Give them time.
I personally only believe that wing clipping should be done if it is in the birds best interests, for eg if they are having medical treatments and need to have their flight impeded, or if they are perhaps blind and deaf, or are a very large bird causing a lot of damage to their person. To improve a bond is not a good reason for clipping and can have the opposite effect.
Buy some millet spray and offer some to your bird, see if you can use treats they like to get them to come over and spend more time near you, you can set up a play area or stand near where you sit/work so they get comfortable being around you. You may have better luck trying this when they are caged, offer foods through the cage bars. Remember to be patient and hold still, don't chase them with food. With every positive encounter the trust will slowly build, but for every negative interaction, the trust will be broken. If they won't take it, attach an empty bowl in the cage, and drop the treat through the bars and into the bowl.
I have a bird that was very much human friendly. But one day he needed medical treatment, meaning I had to grab him and force him to take meds multiple times a day. The trust was broken from then on, he would be more spooked around me, would only come to my hand when his partner came, he was very skittish around me. I didn't try to get the relationship to where it was before, I was fine with the ocassional visit to my hand but not much more. He is now having treatment again, and has a collar on again, so I am grabbing him and forcing meds, and even worse, an antiseptic spray which he hates. I have spent a lot of time this time, sitting with him and feeding him millet in the hopes that there won't be so much damage to our relationship. Lovebirds can be forgiving, so even if you have a bad experience and things don't go well, you can always try again another day - don't be disheartened!

this is amazing, thank you... the sad part is one of the birds are always close, we play together, she eats from my hand. HE on the other hand did it only once, since then there is closeness at all. Never close, never allowing to be touched, even worse, once i just move my hand, he fly away... it has been almost 4 weeks now, and still no encounter at all !!! I dont know what to do.. I wish if possible I can film them to you maybe you could help me better.

 

[Emma&pico]

I have a hands off lovebird she won’t step up I don’t even try
I have rope perches just outside of cage by her door I tap on there give treats millet or if she’s being nice safflower seeds or sunflower seeds then tap on another perch gives treats if she comes I use come as my word as I tap always use a word to an action they caught on quickly I can then tap my arm which I hold out and she flys to my arm she will crawl down to my hand for millet and sit on my hand finger and eat

you could start with in cage training so have a piece of millet and move around cage with it so they come for a treat once they have millet down move to a smaller treat like sunflower or safflower seed


which are there favourite seeds or treats take these out of their mix or cage and only give from you as in popping in bowl when chatting to them or from your fingers

 

[Emma&pico]

Also my hold do you mean grab hold in your hand ? because this can scare them and cause them to dislike hands even more you have to work on trust allow them to come you never grab them

it can be done it just takes time and patience but it will definitely pay off if you are consistent everyday with them time put in definitely pays off

 

[orphansparrow]

4 weeks is not a long time. Go slow with him. Talk softly. Give him treats. Let him come to you. Sometimes it takes many months. In general it takes about 3 months for birds to feel comfortable where they are. But that’s a general time frame. Sometimes it can take longer.

 

[birdee-man]

They say a picture says one hundred times more than words... so, I decided to make a video

This is better than one hundred pictures to describe my misery with one of the two beautiful birds. Mr. Flint

A friend told me to get rid of him and get a new trained one, others told me to cut his wings.... I don't want to do either option!!! I love him and I am still wishing he will come close to me one day.

Please see the clip and give me some advice...

here is the link (couldn't upload)

Thank you all,

 

[Zara]

Do you have a netting up there to stop they escaping? That is a really nice space they have!

Smokey is super adorable, you can use Smokey to help you. When Smokey is on your hand, get as close to Flint as you can and then feed him millet spray. Keep doing it daily, don't try to entice Flint to come over, you just stick with smokey, but be sure you are as close as you can be. Try and stand side on to flint so your body and head are not facing him. Hopefully it will pique his interest. But you must have patience for it, it can take a while.

millet

Meanwhile, spend more time sat at that table doing things, talk aloud or sing so they can both hear your voice, play with toys with Smokey see if Flints interest spikes.

Trust me, he does not hate you, he is just a little frightened that is all. You are a new person and everything is stil new.

While you are building trust, keep buying toys for them, choose destructable things where possible as they are lovebird faves - cork, mahogany pods, sola, paper, cardboard - so keep an eye out if you see any of those things in toys. The toys you have are ok but your birds won't be able to destroy them so it can sometimes lead to them not being touched. You can literally grab some kitchen paper rolls, egg cartons, paper straws, gift bag paper and things like that poke holes in everything and thread onto some hemp string and you have a destructable toy. Another option would be to import toys.

The only problem with your outside space is you don't have many perching spots, and you have that windowsil, birds like being up high so naturally he flies up there and you can't get close. If you ever cage them, that is the time to spend time by the cage and feed him through the bars.
Though do not cage both of those birds together. They are not bonded and one could hurt or even kill the other.

To recap;
add more perching opportunities
add more destructable toys
spend as much time hanging out with them out there as you can
feed smokey treats near flint
be patient

 

[birdee-man]

Do you have a netting up there to stop they escaping? That is a really nice space they have!

Smokey is super adorable, you can use Smokey to help you. When Smokey is on your hand, get as close to Flint as you can and then feed him millet spray. Keep doing it daily, don't try to entice Flint to come over, you just stick with smokey, but be sure you are as close as you can be. Try and stand side on to flint so your body and head are not facing him. Hopefully it will pique his interest. But you must have patience for it, it can take a while.

millet

Meanwhile, spend more time sat at that table doing things, talk aloud or sing so they can both hear your voice, play with toys with Smokey see if Flints interest spikes.

Trust me, he does not hate you, he is just a little frightened that is all. You are a new person and everything is stil new.

While you are building trust, keep buying toys for them, choose destructable things where possible as they are lovebird faves - cork, mahogany pods, sola, paper, cardboard - so keep an eye out if you see any of those things in toys. The toys you have are ok but your birds won't be able to destroy them so it can sometimes lead to them not being touched. You can literally grab some kitchen paper rolls, egg cartons, paper straws, gift bag paper and things like that poke holes in everything and thread onto some hemp string and you have a destructable toy. Another option would be to import toys.

The only problem with your outside space is you don't have many perching spots, and you have that windowsil, birds like being up high so naturally he flies up there and you can't get close. If you ever cage them, that is the time to spend time by the cage and feed him through the bars.
Though do not cage both of those birds together. They are not bonded and one could hurt or even kill the other.

To recap;
add more perching opportunities
add more destructable toys
spend as much time hanging out with them out there as you can
feed smokey treats near flint
be patient

Thank you so so much for your reply, it is so nice of you... Just to let you know (they are very very close to each other and very good friends) they play together, eat together, and I only keep them caged at night where I cover the cage so they can sleep "and so can I too"

They are very good with each other, and Flint I feel has more power, so when I am playing with Smokey for a long time, he starts making some calling noises and Smokey would go to him.

If it is OK, I will share a new video tomorrow. showing more of them... I also want to Say today I bought them a shower and Smokey used it..

I will explain all by the Video tomorrow... Thank you so so much all

 

[birdee-man]

Thank you so so much for your reply, it is so nice of you... Just to let you know (they are very very close to each other and very good friends) they play together, eat together, and I only keep them caged at night where I cover the cage so they can sleep "and so can I too"

They are very good with each other, and Flint I feel has more power, so when I am playing with Smokey for a long time, he starts making some calling noises and Smokey would go to him.

If it is OK, I will share a new video tomorrow. showing more of them... I also want to Say today I bought them a shower and Smokey used it..

I will explain all by the Video tomorrow... Thank you so so much all

Hello All,

here is the new video

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[birdee-man]

Hello All,

here is the new video

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

sorry wrong one

 

[birdee-man]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

There, This is the one

 

[birdee-man]

here is the full one, sorry i am not good with technology

 

[Emma&pico]

Can you sit at the table with the bowls very close to you once he comes to eat a few times hold bowl in your hand once he’s ok with that have the seeds in your hand no bowl
it may take a while few weeks months but if you do it every day he will get comfortable eating near you then you can work from there