Shirt bird, nipping, and treats

[Salami]

Hello! I'm a new lovie parent, and am in need of advice on day 2 with my new child.

Here are my bird specs:

name: not quite sure yet, but am thinking about ''Pistachio''
age: more than 9 weeks old
sex: apparently a female, not DNA tested
weaned: yes, was able to find and eat pellets on day 2, although seems to eat a lot
flight: used to flying and is able to fly well
other pets: nope, only child

Here's my curse/blessing:

My new lovie is not shy at all. She flew to me day 1 and was landing on my head and shoulders. Then she discovered she could go into my shirt. It was a big mistake to let her do that. Now she won't even go near my fingers, and will fly directly to my shoulder in an attempt to go into my shirt or hide in my hair. She just wants to sit there all day, and will start nipping (not strong enough to bite yet) when she's hungry... but refuses to move out. There is no way to remove her other than taking off all my clothes and trying to shake her off by jumping. Even then it's hard to get her back into her cage so that she can eat.

I did read other people's advice on baiting them with their favorite food, but all I know about her is that she likes apples and bananas, and only eats them cut up into very small pieces. The format would make it very hard to hold in my hand and give out as treats. She also refused to even try what I offered her because she didn't want to come out of my hair/collar, and I can't train her like this. She has also started to use her beak to nip at everything, and is starting to bite hard.

I really want to instill good behavior into my lovie while she is young, but the fact that she refuses to be anywhere else than in my hair/collar makes all the other training advice seem unusable. Any suggestions?

Also here is a pic of her on day 1, before she discovered what a warm place my shirt was:

 

[Nobirby]

Long sleeved turtle necks for now?

 

[Zara]

I really want to instill good behavior into my lovie while she is young, but the fact that she refuses to be anywhere else than in my hair/collar makes all the other training advice seem unusable. Any suggestions?

You will have to clamp down and not allow her in your shirt or under your hair at all. While she is young, she is learning all of these things and it is best for you to cut them all out now.
She is only looking for comfy spaces, but this can later turn into cavity seeking and in turn spark some territorial behaviours.
If you are a woman, maybe tie hair up, wear a strappy cami top, or long sleeved tight top. If you are a man, again if you have long hair, tie it back. Wear tank tops or even a hoodie that you can pull the drawstring to keep her out.

Once you have blocked her out of these spaces, things should be a little easier.

If your bird is not eating in the cage, be suer they are actually in the cage at points of the day ie not out free roam all day. A young bird is still learning and will happily go with no food to be with you, be sure to put her in the cage every few hours to eat and have a nap.

As for the nipping, try your best to not encourage this behaviour by not allowing the bites to land. If she gets nippy, stand back and ignore her for a half minute. (Don´t return her to her cage as ¨punishment¨, that will not work.)

 

[Duel]

My lovie used to go into my shirt a lot and would try to bite if I wanted to take him out so then the next time he tried to go under my shirt I grabbed my collar and pulled it so the shirt is holding on tight to me and my bird couldnt lift it to go in. I waited till he gave up and started making him do stuff like stepping up then letting him afterwards but removed him right away if he got aggressive. Now I dont have those problems anymore.

 

[Salami]

You will have to clamp down and not allow her in your shirt or under your hair at all. While she is young, she is learning all of these things and it is best for you to cut them all out now.
She is only looking for comfy spaces, but this can later turn into cavity seeking and in turn spark some territorial behaviours.
If you are a woman, maybe tie hair up, wear a strappy cami top, or long sleeved tight top. If you are a man, again if you have long hair, tie it back. Wear tank tops or even a hoodie that you can pull the drawstring to keep her out.

Once you have blocked her out of these spaces, things should be a little easier.

If your bird is not eating in the cage, be suer they are actually in the cage at points of the day ie not out free roam all day. A young bird is still learning and will happily go with no food to be with you, be sure to put her in the cage every few hours to eat and have a nap.

As for the nipping, try your best to not encourage this behaviour by not allowing the bites to land. If she gets nippy, stand back and ignore her for a half minute. (Don´t return her to her cage as ¨punishment¨, that will not work.)

Yes, I will definitively be limiting time out of the cage. So far she's been eating in the cage correctly, but seems to be more interested in going outside than playing with her toys.

And yes, I'll be trying to wear less so that she doesn't have anywhere to hide. I'm hoping that she'll be more interested in something that's not on me for long enough for me to train her. Then it'll be avoiding nips while still managing to get her back to her cage.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Salami]

Long sleeved turtle necks for now?

Actually... The first time she got into my shirt I was wearing a long sleeved turtle neck haha. She clawed her way in into my collar, and I let her. That was definitively on me, I shouldn't have let her at all. Never thought it would lead to such an attitude

 

[Salami]

My lovie used to go into my shirt a lot and would try to bite if I wanted to take him out so then the next time he tried to go under my shirt I grabbed my collar and pulled it so the shirt is holding on tight to me and my bird couldnt lift it to go in. I waited till he gave up and started making him do stuff like stepping up then letting him afterwards but removed him right away if he got aggressive. Now I dont have those problems anymore.

Wow I'm impressed! How long did it take? And how did you remove him after he got into your shirt without getting bitten?
And did he learn to step up already before going into your shirt?

 

[Duel]

Wow I'm impressed! How long did it take? And how did you remove him after he got into your shirt without getting bitten?
And did he learn to step up already before going into your shirt?

Sorry for not replying sooner. I dont remember how it took for him to stop being aggressive under my shirt but I think it was a little over a week. I took him out by sticking my hand in under my shirt (doesnt matter from where I just did whichever side of the shirt he was closer too) and taking him out since when I have my fingers around both sides of his feet even when angry he steps onto them (he was already used to this when I pick him up like that from off a table) and then I put him down and walk away to make him think im mad at him. If your bird flies to you when you do that then let him on you but pull your collar so he cant put his head in and wriggle through. Stepping up was one of the first things I taught him, he didnt know how much he loves going under my shirt until he accidentally went under a few months after getting him. Oh yeah about avoiding his bites, well the thing is I had to especially endure his bites when taking him out without flinching so that he learned that biting wont make a difference in whats happening.