Out of Pod Experience

Fellow denizens of Eve!

I recently adopted six year old Lovebird from a local animal shelter. He came with the name Ricki which is just unbearable because it reminds me of that terrible talk show host Ricki Lake. Anyway, this is a nice and sweet and very friendly bird. Likes to chirp at people for attention, likes to crawl around and hang out on shoulders / arms / etc. However, whenever there is a finger nearby it's 100% MURDER DEATH KILL mode.

Now, I imagine the previous owner did a lot of poking / smacking / grabbing / other unsavory acts with his fingers to this poor bird. This bird hates fingers. The thing is, I'm not sure how to fix the behavior. This is my first birdo and bird training is a new experience for me.

I've ordered some bird training DVDs and am poking around various sites, but I was wondering if anyone in the Eve community has handled and rehabilitated psychologically damaged birds. Can you offer any advice?

He's really cool otherwise and he keeps me company while I work. If I can fix the finger issue he'd be perfect. I know that it's going to take time (probably a LOT of time) but apparently I have another 15-20 years to do it. So... Help me train my Lovebird to have more LOVE and less MURDER DEATH KILL!

I used to have a few birds back in the day. Anytime they'd try to bite me I'd just grab their beak and start petting them. At first it just pissed them off, but eventually they stopped biting altogether (besides love bites)

Let it get used to the house, keep it in an area where it can only see out one side of it's cage (lets them feel more secure...until your gigantic body blocks their only escape route, but that gets them used to you, too), and make sure to spend as much time in the same room as possible. Talk to it often. After a week or two, let it sit on top of its cage with you in the room.

When you move on to holding him (if you're going to) you can either put your finger under his belly or just grab him around the wings...he won't like the latter, but it can be faster...and they do eventually get used to it.

That's pretty much all I can think of. It's late.

What has worked for me (with a cockatiel and an African gray parrot):
-Get at eye level with the bird. (They hang out in trees to avoid predators below them. Having a creature above them makes them a little nervous).

-Talk to the bird in a calm, friendly voice, just saying whatever. Sound and vocalizing are a big deal to birds too. They communicate that way. A silent creature makes them nervous too.

-Put on a glove and just let that bird have at it with its biting. Don't flinch your hand a bit. Keep on talking calmly in your friendly voice and keep eye contact with the bird.

-You'll probably see that the bird goes into kind of a panicky biting frenzy, when it sees that the first bite got no reaction. Like, "Dammit, I can't hurt this guy!" Keep letting him knock himself out, keep talking, and keep up the eye contact. Your objective here is to let the bird know that you're the more powerful creature, and that it can't scare you. But at the same time, you're a friendly talking friend. You have to stick with it until the bird gives up and admits defeat. You'll see it happen,like you can visibly see him get flustered and depressed. It's kind of pathetic to see, really, but you have to do it.

-Once the bird has stopped biting and things are peaceful, try to perch him on your finger, or do whatever pleasant interaction you normally do with him. You might have to do a few of these sessions. It's best to do them as often as possible (at least once a day) to get the habit and the expectation set. If you wait a few days between sessions, the bird might go back to that aggressive defensive behavior. It doesn't mean he hates you, it's just a set habit he's in. Also, that biting might pop up again a few months later. African grays will do that, just to check your reaction and see if you still think you're the boss. You just do the same thing again and let them know you're not scared of them.

(One last thing about lovebirds-- They're kind of weird, in that they like to get into cuddly places. My sister's lovebird would get under my sweatshirt and just sit there as long as I'd let him. Also seems to want to forage around in people's mouths for food. Also, if he ever disappears, look in your towels, blankets or laundry. They like to burrow into that stuff).

P.S. This might work for parakeets too, Michael. Parakeets seem to have more distinct individual personalities. I've had luck with some, but others just always seem to stay skittish. I'm no expert, though.

I think its just him. My little brother bought a parakeet way back in the day and none of us knew how to take care of them so we bought a book. Well the book said that they should be in pairs. So my friend and I go to the store to purchase a second one and here we are staring at a cage with 50 of them, 49 on one side and one little green one on the other. Guess which one we picked.
We brought him home and introduced him to the other one and the first thing he does is promptly beats the living crap out of it. 2 years later we found my brothers bird dead at the bottom of the cage and we are pretty sure that Sparky did it.

I was at one point able to hold him though he would still attack, and I was the only one in the family who could. But since I left the house my room was converted into the computer room and he's spent most of his time in there alone. I recently got him back because my mother is moving and she doesn't want to take him to the new house and he is still just as obnoxious and angry as ever. I'm pretty sure this is the biggest case of little napoleon that I have ever encountered.

I have a peachfaced lovebird. They do like to nibble a lot. My girlfriend has a tactic for dealing with finger biters that works most of the time. You put a finger in front of an close to the bird and talk softly to it, and let the bird get used to the finger. Eventually the bird will just take a cautionary nibble on it, but will eventually learn that fingers are not its enemy.

I decided that Sparks has been alone for far too long so after work I made a quick stop at Zamzows. My first order of business was to get a larger cage as I was reading up on them a bit and the cage that he's been in for his whole life is deemed too small. And then I went to go pick another bird out and thought that maybe Spark will be too aggressive with just the one so I decided on 2, at the very least with hopes that they may team up if need be.

Currently all 3 have been in the cage for 2 hours, each in their respective corner. Funny enough sparky took up his usual perch in the corner nearest to me. Occasionally he scoots over to the yellow one who is one the other end and they harass each other a little before he moves back. The blue w/ green mean while is on the other side of the cage still trying to comprehend what the hell just happened to him. On the plus side Sparks appears to be a bit more active now so I think he's enjoying the sight of company.

Now I need a name for the other 2. Sparky is actually Spartacus, I just usually shorten it. Want to kind of go along those lines.