New bird help...

[CHook88]

I got a blue mask from a man who couldn't care for his lovebirds anymore. I brought the bird home and made his new surroundings as stress free as possible. After having him for three weeks I noticed two things: he's very timid around people, he freaks out when ever i stick my hand in his cage to give him food and his beak looks weird to me...

I know the picture isn't the greatest, but you can see the line going from his nostril. His beak looks flaky to me as well.

So my questions are:
1. Why does his beak look like that? How can I fix it?
2. How can I tame him, get him to trust me?

I have another lovebird, a peach face named Little Boy that i've had for two years. I've had him since he was a baby but i'm lost with Atlas.

Little Boy sitting on my desk lamp as I type to you all.

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

I would give him time and millet for treats it has only been a little while since you got him it will take time for him to trust you read to him and just give treats in his bowl at first

 

[CHook88]

I do that for him but I had to stop giving millet because that's all he would eat instead of his actual food. He scoots to the other side of his perch when ever i come near him, but he doesn't flip out and cling to the cage bars anymore.

 

[Monica]

First and foremost, get him to an avian vet. A beak like that is usually an indication of some sort of infection in the sinus cavity. After a good vet visit, I'd say we can work from there.

 

[Sailor's Mom]

I agree, I would take him for a check up.

 

[Anfsurfer]

First off, that was very sweet of you to take him in and care for him. You have a big heart.

The beak...hmmm. It looks like a deformity to me. Were you able to ask the previous owner about it? I would take him to a vet and have them look at it. They can tell you whether it's permanent, or whether something happened and if there's hope it will change over time.

It will take time for him to grow comfortable with you. But as far as the being afraid when you put your hand in his cage, a lot of birds freak out about that. Some of my birds are very tame and step up beautifully, but they'll still jump to a corner if I put my hand in the cage. Only a few will step up onto my hand in the cage.

 

[mrstweet]

His beak looks like something that happened to my green cheek's - she rubbed if repeatedly on something and it caused a divot where she wore away that section of beak. The new stuff is growing in normally, so if yours is similar it may not be a problem.

He's a cutie!

 

[CHook88]

Thank you all for the advice. I will most likely take him to the vet just for a check up, since i don't know much about his health. he is eating well, and drinking plenty. Atlas is also active in his cage but generally mellow. He doesn't pluck his feathers and hasn't shown any other unusual behavior. He likes to chat back and forth with my peach-face and sometimes i bring him up to interact with Atlas, but they have not met face to face yet.

 

[AZReno]

Congratulations! Like everyone else said, I agree it'll just take some time for him to settle in and get used to you and begin to trust you. On his beak, you've gotten a lot of possibilities, so it could be just about anything. Personally, knowing lovebirds and how fierce they can be with each other, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a fight injury.

 

[LovieLuvr]

I do that for him but I had to stop giving millet because that's all he would eat instead of his actual food. He scoots to the other side of his perch when ever i come near him, but he doesn't flip out and cling to the cage bars anymore.

Stitch used to do that to me too. I learned to break small pieces of millet from the millet spray itself so it would allow me to give him a treat, then when the small piece was gone he would go back to his pellets.

 

[CHook88]

I solved the problem by not putting any millet in there for a couple of days. He eventually started eating his seed and now i give him small pieces of millet as a treat.

 

[AZReno]

For a bird that you're not trying to coax to eat...that's what it should be =)