Taming a skittish but friendly lovebird

[flappingly]

I got a new lovebird ~6 months ago (he's almost one and a half), and I've slowly made some progress taming him, but it's been especially slow for a while now. He can fly, so I bring him to a bathroom for clicker training to limit his flight space. I'm able to get him to step up and sit on my shoulder once he's out of the cage, but it can be like pulling teeth at first. Mostly, he's really finicky about when he listens. For example, I can only get him to step up when he's standing on the right side of his stand or when he's sitting on the towel rack (not currently, though). I can't get him to step up if he's already on my shoulder or anywhere else. He also only listens in that specific bathroom. I've tried taking him to two larger rooms (one where he was first quarantined), but he'll only let me approach him. If I stick my finger out towards him, he'll fly off. If I move him back to the bathroom, he'll start listening again. Even in the bathroom, he'll refuse to listen if the shower curtain is pulled back (it's usually pulled forward). It feels like our progress is often two steps forward, one step back. I used to be able to carry him out from his cage or carry him from stand to towel rack, but now he'll just fly off after stepping up. It's worth noting that he doesn't seem stressed during these times (rarely in the bathroom, more frequently in the larger rooms since I end up having to keep him out of trouble).

Typically, I'll feed him a bit of millet by hand (inside his cage) every morning and take him out for bonding ~3 times a week. I've also tried showing him how comfortable my sun conure is with me, but that hasn't had any effect.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm considering getting his wings clipped, but he's already skittish, so I'm worried that temporarily removing his ability to fly might be counterproductive.

 

[animalgirl]

My bird was like that, too. Training is like that, taking 2 steps forward and 1 back. With time and patience, you'll begin to see the results!
If you clip your birds wings, it will make them rely on you to go from place to place, and may help improve your bond. But it is up to you! When I got my lovebird, he had his wings clipped, and I had success in taming and bonding with him, although we are still working on recall!
Have patience!
Good luck!

 

[flappingly]

Thanks for the reply. It looks like I'll just have to be patient. One thing I forgot to mention and which might be relevant is that the breeder I got him from seemed to have no trouble handling him. I'm guessing it's a trust thing, but it's a bit confusing since he acts wary of hands when he, presumably, wasn't before.

 

[animalgirl]

Your bird is probably just nervous and is getting used to you. Imagine that you grew up knowing and trusting someone, and all of a sudden you were given to a complete stranger. It would take a while to learn to trust them. But it will happen!

 

[Zara]

It is not uncommon for a bird to be seemingly "hand tame" around the breeder and then not around the new person. It just takes time.

Instead of training in the bathroom, spend more time in the main living area trying to lure him over by piquing his interest in something - food, toys, treats, singing, etc
You want to focus on building trust first.

As for the clipping, I really don't recommend it. Lovebirds are prone to anxious personalities and feather picking behaviours. You want to lessen the chance of that as much as possible.

 

[flappingly]

Thank you for the suggestions. I like the idea of getting out of the bathroom. I was reluctant to do so because I felt like I would "lose" progress, but as you and animalgirl have said, the process takes time and patience. That time would be better spent moving towards the goal rather than staying comfortable at a lower level. I don't think I'll clip his wings either since he's more of a runner than my other birds.