I recently bought 2 lovebirds from a shop. They are finally calm in their cage at my home. I'd like to teach them to perch on my finger, and allow me to touch them. They spent a lot of time in a large cage with other birds in a noisy shop. Any suggestions for me?

Edited April 22, 20224 yr by ehs818

It may take time.. let them bond w/each other for a while and let it happen gradually at their own pace... 

 

 

Let them settle in for a week before you start taming them. 

 

If they are adults it will be difficult.  Babies and hand reared birds are easy to tame.

 

Sit and read a book or use you phone near the cage so they get used to you being around them.

 

After they are comfortable with you being near the cage (may take a few weeks), start offering them food treats they like...like millet spray or sunflower seeds.

 

At this stage take out the most of the sunflower seeds in their seed mix so they will only get them from you hand feeding them.

 

Once they are used to taking treats from you through the cage bars then try putting your hand in the cage with the treats.  Do not move you had toward them...always let them come to you.

 

It will take time and patience.  

 

They might not get tame enough for you to pet them...but they should get tame enough to fly to your hand, perch on your hand to take treats, and not freak out and be scared of your near them. 

 

Please make sure they get lots of vegetables to eat too....as seed mix is not a balanced diet and will make them sick in the long run if they are only fed this.  They should also have mineral blocks and cuttlefish bones to chew...and natural tree branches to chew and keep their feet healthy.

 

You can spray them with water each day to help them keep their feathers in good condition (if they won't take to bathing in a dish of water)

 

Also allow them free flight in a secure room.  They will get obese if kept in a cage.  They will go back into the cage on their own when they get hungry.  Do not chase them about to catch them...this will make them terrified of you.

 

Good luck with your beautiful new pets.

Birds should not be in cages in my opinion, and you can at least build them a large home with trees, running water, plants, stones and other suitable arrangements for the specie. 
 

I just hate to see birds in cages, and just another horrible things we humans do to animals. 

30 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Birds should not be in cages in my opinion

Why not?

41 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Birds should not be in cages in my opinion, and you can at least build them a large home with trees, running water, plants, stones and other suitable arrangements for the specie. 
 

I just hate to see birds in cages, and just another horrible things we humans do to animals. 

Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

Wife told me the other day after visiting her father that he caught two birds and is building them a big cage and she is going to take some wire we have laying around in the shed, I said no your not, she said why, and my reply was, only if he is going to move into the cage and lets the birds go, to her reply being, this is what Thai's do and my reply was, doesn't make it right, does it.

 

I then went on to say, seriously tell him I said to live in the cage, I will feed him and visit him daily to amuse myself, I want to see how he responds to his new environment, she went silent, didn't raise the matter again.

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

Birds should not be in cages in my opinion, and you can at least build them a large home with trees, running water, plants, stones and other suitable arrangements for the specie. 
 

I just hate to see birds in cages, and just another horrible things we humans do to animals. 

My wifes nephew and gf moved into my estate, they had 2 cats and a small dog. They just rented a room before and worked all day.

 

The little dog honestly thought it was a cat, it treated them both as HIS badies, very protective. It took some time for him to 1. act like a dog and 2. get used to the outside world, people etc. I have 3 rai of land and 4 other dogs.

 

This small dog is now part of the pack, nephew and niece moved out, i kept all the animals.

 

Thais ( and others ) often have animals just for show, never train them, never look after them properly.....sad!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll remove the sunflower seeds from their mix and put some into my hand which I'll put inside the cage. Hopefully they'll come for those treats. They do love those in the shell (unsalted of course), plus an occasional peanut. They love beans too, and watermelon rind. I hope they come around soon. I've had them about a month and would like to let them fly around my house too!

Discovered that they LOVE popcorn. No oil or salt, just right out of the microwave. Slow progress, and now each of them has been out of the cage and flown around the house a bit. They are so loveable!

This coming week will be 2 months that I've had my 2 cuties. They fly around the (big) room, love to listen to music AND a Youtube of other lovebirds chirping. And they let me come very close to them while then sit on the shelves above my desk. But they still won't let me touch or hold them, and certainly they are not ready to perch on my finger. But I'm a patient guy and appreciate the progress made so far. Both of them have independently got stuck in very small places and I had to rescue them. (In between the wall space behind the fridge, another narrow space next to the kitchen cabinets. I had to cut thru the wall, and remove some paneling for the other rescue). Both birds are OK but I sort of expected gratitude and trust from each of them. Clearly they don't think like humans! What a surprise, right? Hahahah.... They are cute and I'm getting very attached to them!!! Thanks for every ones feedback.