my little shark

[pi77]

i have had a love bird now for almost 8 months. she was a rescue and it between 2-3 years old. i am not sure if she is a she or not. she does stuff bits of paper between her feathers when they are available so i assume she is a hen.

i am probably her 3d owner. i was unable to find out anything about her birthing situation. handfed vs parent raised. breeder vs pet store etc.

all i know is that she bites hard. REAL HARD. i can withstand the bites of my spectacled amazon but i can not withstand her bites no matter how hard i try. when she latches on my instinct is to pull my hand back real fast. i can not count the times i have literally pulled my hand out of the cage with her firmly attached. its funny and its not!

i was going to call her shark but ended up calling her lola. i do not want to perpetuate her biting period and i thought that if i named her shark i would be tempted to not work on her temperment.

it seems that the only interaction that we have is when we play... catch. can she catch my finger in a death grip with her beak or not. she seems to live for this interaction. there was a time when i could not even change her water or food without her attacking me with very hard bites. this changed when i dumped her entire water bowl on her after she nipped me especially hard one day. talk about the proverbial drowned rat look. boy was she surprised. needless to say the attacking has nearly stopped when i am doing cage maintenance. if i dont pay any attention though it is back to ... 'i can catch your fingerrrrr hahahahaha'

on one hand it is kinda funny to see this bird patrol her cage looking for the first chance to catch me off guard.

on the other it is sad. i really dont want this kind of relationsip with her. when i handle her the only way i can is with a wash cloth over my hand.

in the entire time i have had her she perched on my finger once when she flew to where she shouldnt be. she surprised me an perched on my hand so i could put her back on the top of her cage.

a book suggested that even though she is a small parrot that she be trained as if she is a large parrot. meaning i should have her wings clipped so she can not fly. that way i can coral her and start her step up training. as it is now she just flies around until i leave her be.

a local bird store owner said that she will be a much better pet if i trim her feathers.

i so want her to be a real 'love bird'. i talk to her all the time and tell her how much i love her. i know she get jealous of my amazon as she watches me play with him on the couch.

i so want to get past her meanness and become fast friends.....

any suggestions would be appreciated.

btw i am a bird newbie. the love bird and amazon are my first birds.

tia

[LovelySydney]

Hi Tia. I have had lovebirds and they truly do have a mind of their own! It sounds like you may indeed have a female on your hands, or maybe just a bird that is cage territorial. It could also be that your bird doesn't know what its like to have a forever home, so the biting is just a symptom of being passed around from home to home - I hope this is her last stop!!

I do believe she will calm down once she realizes she is somewhere safe and also realizes she isn't leaving anytime soon, but even that being said she might never be a bird you are able to touch or pet. Some birds don't become cuddle bugs like others do. The key to taming down a bird is to take it at the BIRDS pace, not yours. You should never force a bird to do something - this deters the trust process and may harm your relationship in the long run. Patience, patience and more patience is the key. Take things day by day in little steps. This will build trust over time and although I KNOW its hard to be patient, the pay off is SO WORTH IT at the end!

Keep us posted - any other questions you have, feel free to ask!!