My baby lovebird does not play with toys.

[mctx]

Hi Everyone,

My baby lovebird does not play with her toys. I got her 5 different toys and she does not play with it. She's not playful. She will scream so I will let her out from her cage. In her diet, I'll have fruits, veggies, pellets and seeds, but she will ONLY have the seeds and nothing elses.

Please give me suggestions on what I should do. I don't want her to be malnurished and unhealthy.

Thanks!

[Andie]

How old do you mean by "baby". This will make the answers vary a lot.

You should post some pictures of your new baby!

[shosh]

Seeds are fatty and yummy and birds will go for them before anything else...( mine do the same thing and you'd think you are DEPRIVING them when there aren't enough seeds)..you can either alternate their seed dish with a pellet dish at different times of the day or you can mix the two together, with more pellets than seeds, and when they are done the seeds you just let them eat the pellets....adding maybe a few seeds here and there. They'll get the hint...

Give fruits and veggies separately in a dish....at midday, perhaps, and leave there for a couple of hours so she can try it. You can also introduce her to veggies by putting them on top of her regular food so she'll have to pick at them to get to the regular stuff. But make sure to remove the veggies after a couple of hours. Hanging up a lettuce leaf ( swiss chard or other dark, leafy greens are the best) is always a hit. And sometimes, just trying to give her some by hand works very well....gives them a chance to actually TRY it and some prefer that way than eating from a bowl...the little spoiled birdies!

As for toys....some birds grow into their toys. If she is young, she may well need time to still grow up and learn about the fun of toys. My bindi didn't take to toys at all until she was several months older and now she just tears them apart with great glee. Most lovebirds love their toys but some are different. Some like to shred more than others, other like to bang toys about and others are just happy with the occasional tear or whatever. I have one rescued Fischer, Lucy, who rarely plays with toys....she likes to chew a bit on coconut fiber or the sisal rope...rip a bit of cardboard now and then...but that's about it. Her cage pal, Linus, is a blue masked who tears at rope and paper like it's the best darn thing on the planet. To each his own, I guess.
I wouldn't worry about it.....give her a bit of time and supply toys of different types and textures to see what she may prefer.

[mctx]

Originally Posted by Andie

How old do you mean by "baby". This will make the answers vary a lot.

You should post some pictures of your new baby!

Hi Andie,

I was told by the breeder that she was 7 weeks old and that I had to hand feed her for about a week. Therefore, makes her about 8 weeks old.
I can probably get more suggestions from all of you to be a better lovebird mommy.
Thanks!

[mctx]

Originally Posted by shosh

Seeds are fatty and yummy and birds will go for them before anything else...( mine do the same thing and you'd think you are DEPRIVING them when there aren't enough seeds)..you can either alternate their seed dish with a pellet dish at different times of the day or you can mix the two together, with more pellets than seeds, and when they are done the seeds you just let them eat the pellets....adding maybe a few seeds here and there. They'll get the hint...

Give fruits and veggies separately in a dish....at midday, perhaps, and leave there for a couple of hours so she can try it. You can also introduce her to veggies by putting them on top of her regular food so she'll have to pick at them to get to the regular stuff. But make sure to remove the veggies after a couple of hours. Hanging up a lettuce leaf ( swiss chard or other dark, leafy greens are the best) is always a hit. And sometimes, just trying to give her some by hand works very well....gives them a chance to actually TRY it and some prefer that way than eating from a bowl...the little spoiled birdies!

As for toys....some birds grow into their toys. If she is young, she may well need time to still grow up and learn about the fun of toys. My bindi didn't take to toys at all until she was several months older and now she just tears them apart with great glee. Most lovebirds love their toys but some are different. Some like to shred more than others, other like to bang toys about and others are just happy with the occasional tear or whatever. I have one rescued Fischer, Lucy, who rarely plays with toys....she likes to chew a bit on coconut fiber or the sisal rope...rip a bit of cardboard now and then...but that's about it. Her cage pal, Linus, is a blue masked who tears at rope and paper like it's the best darn thing on the planet. To each his own, I guess.
I wouldn't worry about it.....give her a bit of time and supply toys of different types and textures to see what she may prefer.

Hi Shosh,

Thanks for all your suggestions. I probably need more advices as a new lovie mom. I love Lemonita, my little baby lovebird and I just want the best for her. She's so adorable, she'll wake me up with her screams in the morning, so I play with her. (At least that's what I think - so I'll wake up and play with her).

Ooh, Lemonita does not take baths on her own, is that normal? I think she fears water or something - she'll scream when I replace her water dish or when I bath her as well. What is a better way to adjust her to that.
Ooh, one last question: How do I know if I'm feeding her enough? I don't want to starve her.
Thanks!

[shosh]

Your little Lemonita is very young...and the breeder should not have given her to her if she was not totally weaned. That was not good. She is not too young to come to you...it was just unprofessional of him to give you a bird that wasn't totally able to eat on her own and still needed to be fed baby food.
That being said, it's too late. What are you handfeeding her??? Is it weaning formula? How many times a day is she getting that still?
It's no surprise that she is not eating veggies yet....that will take time. you can start by giving her a few to try from your fingers...little itty bitty pieces...peas are yummy...carrots are excellent....broccoli bits, alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, etc.
She trusts you, so she will start to try a bit here and there.
As for the toys, she will also learn to start playing with those....give her time.
babies cry a lot...even bird babies, so she may cry for lots of reasons. Don't push the bath issue...mine will sometimes bathe in their water dish....but when she is more comfortable in her home, you can mist her gently with warm water ( use a spray bottle and make sure the water you put in is HOT so it's warm when it comes out of the hose.) Mist her from ABOVE so it isn't too strong a stream. But WAIT....she has a lot of other stuff to get used to first...no need overwhelming her.
Make sure she gets LOTS of sleep....12 hours would be ideal. She needs it, as do all birds. If she calls to you and you go play with her, that could be establishing bad habits at a very young age. Just let her call...she'll quiet down ( especially if it is in the middle of the night....!)
How long has she been at home with you now?

[MicahEspudo]

No offense to you or anything.... but why would you buy an unweened bird.... when you don't really know a super lot about birds?

[shosh]

I would assume that the poster didn't know any better....an unscrupulous breeder will tell you that handfeeding will bring you closer emotionally to a bird, which is rubbish, and that it is good to get a bird you can handfeed for several weeks. I've seen several ads like that on kijiji or craig's list and I have emailed them to tell them of their rather unhealthy practices....essentially, they tell me to mind my own business and that there is nothing wrong with selling an unweaned bird as long as the new owner feeds it properly. So there ya go. Someone without much knowledge would probably not think twice about it.

Don't knock yourself over the head about it...I'm sure your baby will be fine with lots of love and proper care.

[mctx]

Originally Posted by shosh

Your little Lemonita is very young...and the breeder should not have given her to her if she was not totally weaned. That was not good. She is not too young to come to you...it was just unprofessional of him to give you a bird that wasn't totally able to eat on her own and still needed to be fed baby food.
That being said, it's too late. What are you handfeeding her??? Is it weaning formula? How many times a day is she getting that still?
It's no surprise that she is not eating veggies yet....that will take time. you can start by giving her a few to try from your fingers...little itty bitty pieces...peas are yummy...carrots are excellent....broccoli bits, alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, etc.
She trusts you, so she will start to try a bit here and there.
As for the toys, she will also learn to start playing with those....give her time.
babies cry a lot...even bird babies, so she may cry for lots of reasons. Don't push the bath issue...mine will sometimes bathe in their water dish....but when she is more comfortable in her home, you can mist her gently with warm water ( use a spray bottle and make sure the water you put in is HOT so it's warm when it comes out of the hose.) Mist her from ABOVE so it isn't too strong a stream. But WAIT....she has a lot of other stuff to get used to first...no need overwhelming her.
Make sure she gets LOTS of sleep....12 hours would be ideal. She needs it, as do all birds. If she calls to you and you go play with her, that could be establishing bad habits at a very young age. Just let her call...she'll quiet down ( especially if it is in the middle of the night....!)
How long has she been at home with you now?

Hi Shosh,

Thanks for all your comments and advices. I'll definitely need it!
I was told by the breeder that to get a younger bird will make her a more tame & personal pet and by handfeeding her - Lemonita will trust me more and not bite.
I no longer feed Lemonita her baby formula (using a syringe) everyday - she doesn't like it any more. Lemonita will not open her mouth when she sees the syringe and fly away). The baby powder formula was given to me by the breeder. He told me to feed her for about a week and then wean her to seeds/pellets/veggies. I still feed Lemonita once in a while since I'm afraid that she might go hungry.

I need to make a correction. When I got her, I was told she was around 7 weeks, so I have her for almost 3 weeks. Which makes her about 10 weeks old. Sorry for the wrong info in the previous posting.

How will I know, if she's crying, do they make a particular/distinctive sound? Around Lemonita's bedtime (8-9PM), I'll put a towel over the cage, is that okay?
I'll post Lemonita's pictures.

Thanks again for your advice and suggestions!
I really appreciate it.


Lemonita with the house plants.JPG

Lemonita sleeping.JPG

[mctx]

Originally Posted by MicahEspudo

No offense to you or anything.... but why would you buy an unweened bird.... when you don't really know a super lot about birds?

Hi MicahEspudo,

The breeder informed me that it's better to get handfed babies so that they won't bite, be more tame, and be personal pets. In my side, I believed the breeder - felt that the breeder must know a lot more. I really love my little one. I will definitely be open for suggestions for Lemonita to be a healthy/happy lovie.

Thanks!