My lovebird anytime I approach them even with treats or whatever run to the furthest part of the cage trying to avoid me. But once I finally get them in hand they love being stroked. You would think since they like it they would welcome it but it’s always the same.
Hi Jack,
That is definitely not ideal – parrots are prey animals, so when you chase them around it triggers their fight or flight instincts. Luckily this sounds like good natured birds so it’s a matter of changing what you do. To begin with, it is hard to tame or train birds if they have a companion in the same cage. The point of having a pet bird is that you are the companion for it. If a bird has another bird as a companion, they tend to turn away from humans. I’m guessing these are young birds, but in a few weeks or months, their behavior is more likely to turn towards each other and they are less likely to tolerate you. Which means it is best for each bird to have their own cage. They can interact out of the cage, but as long as they are together, you will have a hard time establishing any type of bond with them.
I’m going to give you the links to our pages on behavior and taming & training. You need to understand more about bird behavior to know how to work with them. Using treats is great, but you also need a lot of patience and you need to be consistent. They do not understand punishment, so everything needs to be done with praise and rewards, and bad behavior is ignored. Again, they need an incentive to accept you – as long as they can be together, they will choose each other over a person.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
