Lovebird is scared of me

[Vparront]

So my grandpa gave me 2 baby lovebirds (around 20 days old) last month. Now they’re both fully feathered and can fly very well. I tried to bond with them as much as I can. Get them on my hand when I feed them. But lately, it seems like they’re scared of me. It gets really hard to feed them or just hang out with them cos they’ll always fly away from me and will avoid me at all cost (whenever i try to get them on my hand they fly wherever like on top of curtains or ACs) so its very exhausting. What did I do wrong? They used to be very sweet. Any advice will be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Zara]

Welcome to the Avenue Vina

Who fed the chicks?
Who interacted with them?
Could you tell us a little more of how they were raised?
Where are the parents? or are these purchased chicks?

21-25 days is a nice time to pull chicks from the nest as they will take to a human very quickly, but they need to be raised right so they can learn skills, develop and flourish.

 

[Vparront]

Thanks for replying, Zara!
I’m the only one who fed the chicks and only I interacted with them (my family does occasionally but quite rarely). My grandpa is a breeder, so he knows stuffs about lovebirds, but I don’t think he interact with them very much. I fed them with spoons from the very first start because that’s how my grandpa taught me. I’ve taught them to “step up” and “come”, and I’m pretty sure they understand these commands, but are now reluctant to do it unless they’re hungry and I’m handfeeding them. Although, they are almost weaned already, so I fed them twice a day. Morning and night. Whenever I let them out of the cage, they’ll go on top of the curtains and will stay there, so I had no other choice than to chase them.

 

[Vparront]

Welcome to the Avenue Vina

Who fed the chicks?
Who interacted with them?
Could you tell us a little more of how they were raised?
Where are the parents? or are these purchased chicks?

21-25 days is a nice time to pull chicks from the nest as they will take to a human very quickly, but they need to be raised right so they can learn skills, develop and flourish.

Oh I forgot to explain that since my grandpa is the breeder, these are the newborn chicks he had, and decided to gave 2 of them to me.

 

[Zara]

Chasing them is not a good thing. This will certainly make them not want to be near you.

After feeding their formula, offer some millet on the sprig. They will almost always go for it. Then those times they fly up to the railing, you can call them back with an extended arm with millet and they will be more inclined to return. If they don´t, don´t chase them, just give them a little more time and try again.
Though in saying that, you also want to add in other treats. To keep a lovebird keen, you need an element of surprise. So sometimes, no millet, they get a small piece of a smashed almond, or a little piece of their fave fruit or veggie. Mix up the treats so they cannot decide if they want X treat right now, they have to come and find out what is on offer first.
Have some toys spread out on a table, or a playstand, you can add millet there too, and a small bowl of chopped veggies.
When they are in their cage, spend time feeding them treats and talking to them.

Note that they are in their exploring stage and will naturally want to fly around and see the room. They also have a friend in each other so their bond will always be closer to each other than with you.

 

[Vparront]

Oh... okay I’ll definitely try millets and socialize with them. My lovebird, Lex, is already fully weaned in my opinion. He only eats 2 drops of the formula, tops. But his weight is stable, it stays on 44 grams. While my other lovebird, Ace, is partially weaned. She still eats around 3 tsp of formula in each feedings, but her weight has constantly decrease from 43 g to 38.5 g over the past week. I thought it’s normal because she’s weaning and fledging, but I’m still kind of worried. They don’t really like fruits and veggies. I’ve offered them some bananas, apples, corns, carrots, and now broccolis, but they don’t seem to eat them that much. But they do eat mixed seeds a lot(seeds with dried fruits and veggies). So its rather hard to train them, Lex especially, because seeds are quite hard to hold since they’re very small. Ace only wants to come to my hand whenever she’s hungry and I hold the formula where she can see them. Any advice on how to get them to eat fruits and veggies?

 

[Zara]

Lex, is already fully weaned in my opinion. He only eats 2 drops of the formula, tops.

This bird is not weaned.
A fully weaned bird is a bird that has not eaten formula for a week and is eating alone. In that week you could call the bird ¨weaned¨, but really they could regress at any day.

Going off of your profile picture, 44g is a good weight. Keep an eye on the other, 38.5 is quite low.

How often are you feeding the youngest, and how old are they exactly?

her weight has constantly decrease from 43 g to 38.5 g over the past week. I thought it’s normal because she’s weaning and fledging, but I’m still kind of worried. They don’t really like fruits and veggies. I’ve offered them some bananas, apples, corns, carrots, and now broccolis,

my lovebirds eat very little fruit. I usually only put in one type of fruit per fresh breakfast, sometimes kiwi, other times a blueberry or blackberry, strawberry. Try to offer more exotic fruits, mangos and papaya are good healthy fruits.
My little ones love greens, so romaine lettuce, canónigo, kale, green carrot tops, swiss chard, peas (those are a fave!), they also really enjoy red or orange peppers, red seems to be popular at our house. Broccoli and carrots are also good. I lightly steam the carrot, especially for younger birds.
Prepare some veggies, you can keep a small portion in the fridge for a couple of days, offering a spoonful in a small bowl at a time with some seed sprinkled on top. Offer this right after the formula feeding as that is when they will be most likely to try something new.
As they wean, you will want to wake up early, remove the seed bowl and offer the fresh foods as breakfast for your birds, they will wake with hunger and again, be more likely to try the veggies. If they eat, great, leave the bowl for an hour or so before removing it and replacing the seed bowl. If they don´t eat, swap the bowls back after 15 minutes as to not leave your little ones going hungry.

As they are still in the weaning stage, it is very important that there is always food around for them, seeds, pellets and offering veggies not only after feeding, but throughout the day.

 

[Vparront]

I’m really desperate. They don’t want to come anywhere near me when they’re outside the cage. Even when they havent eaten anything and im offering them formula. It gets so hard even just to feed them. When they’re in the cage, they’ll hop on my hand quickly. But once they’re outside, they’ll fly on top of the AC and stay there. I left them there for 30 mins, and it didnt look like they’re gonna fly down and eat. It gets exhausting to just finish the morning routine, cos I cant get them to stay still so that I can weigh them. They’ll stay on the curtains and fly away if I come near. What should I do??

 

[Zara]

Use a new room. Maybe a bedroom that is a little smaller, or a small reading room.

What is their home setup like?
Where are they living?
Do you have a photo you can share?