Rescue Lovebird

[Tahlee]

I have a fischer's lovebird named Bria who I rescued last November. (I have no idea it's age or gender but I just call it a she)
She flew into a spiders web in my yard and I eventually caught her. I looked for her owners for months and no one came forward so she now has a loving, forever home with me.
When I caught her, it was getting dark and there were some predator birds near by that were eyeing her down so I was in a rush to save her and I grabbed her in my hands before she could fly away. This obviously scared her.
She is a very sweet bird, she loves to sit on my shoulder and give plenty of kisses. She will happily perch on my arm but she hates my hands with a passion.
She used to chase after them whenever she saw them and give them a pretty nasty bite. I have slowly gained her trust, so now she will sometimes sit next to my hand or take food from it without attacking it, but I wonder if she will ever trust them enough to step up on my finger? It has been 9 months and she still is quite aggressive towards my hands, especially when I am changing her food and water.
Is there any way to get her to trust my hands again, other than that she is a great bird. (I don't mind if she doesn't, as she will always have a home with me, but it would be nice)

Also, should I invest in another lovebird to keep her company? I know it can be quite difficult to introduce 2 lovebirds, especially as I don't know her age and gender, and she is quite territorial...
I let her out of her cage most days but I do go to University most days from morning to afternoon and I worry she gets lonely.

 

[zoo mom]

Welcome. I will tag some lovie owners for you.
@Garet @fluffypoptarts @Lovebirdlover

 

[DoubleTake]

Well it would be hard to know her age but knowing the gender only cost $20. I'd be curious if you took her to a bird store, in a carrier how she would would react to other birds. Also, seeing how she came from you from an unknown origin. Would probably be a good idea to test her for diseases as she could be a carrier and infect a new bird.

 

[Shezbug]

Welcome the site

 

[remazera]

It has been 9 months and she still is quite aggressive towards my hands, especially when I am changing her food and water.
Is there any way to get her to trust my hands again, other than that she is a great bird. (I don't mind if she doesn't, as she will always have a home with me, but it would be nice)

Hi there!
It could be she just hate hands (previous owner .. previous experience) .. it will take time to build trust. I noticed a lot of difference between hand reared and aviary bred lovebirds. My Skai hated the sign of my hands, so I had to have a continuous and consistent schedule of him eating millet's from my hands and hoping onto them to be able to eat. I would suggest first giving the treat outside the cage and gradually inside the cage .. this helped ease the fear my lovie had from the hands.

Not sure about your case, my lovies would hate if I had a band-aid or even nail polish on my fingers/hand. They would entirely treat me differently like they would treat a strangers hand.

Sexing your lovie might be good idea as well. I cannot input on getting another lovie part, but the reason of getting one should be clear for you and you have to be convinced, and that you'd be able to handle them both cuz as you said hey might not get along if they have not picked each other from the start.

 

[Garet]

Some of my birds really don't like hands, and that's okay. It's sad, but it happens. You could always use a perch to get your bird to step up.

Another bird might be a good idea, but you're going to need a new cage just for the new guy. I've noticed that my male Fischers are a little less territorial than the girls, but it would still be a good idea to give them both their own space. My birds all chose when they wanted to share.

If you're uncertain of your bird's gender, I'd get a male. Try to get either a Fischer or a black mask. My peach face does get along with my other lovebirds, but in much smaller doses.

 

[nu2birds]

I think it's fairly common for birds to not like hands........but with Love birds I think it is more pronounced. If you want to get Bria a friend, I would take her in and get her tested for health issues and then just have the vet DNA test her from a feather or drop of blood. If you do decide to get a friend for Bria then you will want another cage so they can get to know each other but not harm one another. Eventually you may be able to let them out under supervision and see how they interact with one another. By the way........I have two Fischer's boys that were siblings in the nest and they get along really good as they grew up together. Good luck with Bria and let us know how it's all going.