The Fresh baby

    So you now have your baby, and every time you go to play with him he runs away or tries to bite or does both.  You do not know what to do, you talk nice to him, you bought him hand tamed or hand fed, you talked with the breeder, and you have read all the books, but still his freshness continues.  What to do??

Let's break it down and find out why he is acting like that first.  Then we can work on a solution.

First thing is how old is he?	Do you have 2?	Do you have a mirror in or near the cage?
Is it a female?	Is he an adult?

First thing is how old is he?  Is he going through the terrible sixes? At age 6 months babies reach sexual maturity, and go through a very awkward stage.  They become nippy and stand offish,  the usually sweet loving baby is now a vicious attack bird.  When before he nibbled softly he now draws blood.  If you have spent time with him before this age and he was a sweet baby then after the stage he will be an adult but will also go back to your sweet baby.  This stage takes anywhere between 2 weeks to a month.  At this time you still want to give him attention, but do not push him.  Let him have a little more freedom.  When the stage is over go back to regular play with him.

Do you have 2?  2 Lovies will bond to each other no matter the sex.  They are very hard to tame because they usually want to be together and could care less about you.  Single birds depend on you for attention.  If you insist on having 2 lovies as pets, buy a tamed baby lovie.  Bond with the baby for at least 6 months to a year then buy another baby.  The first baby will be bonded to you and you will be able to easily work with both birds.     

Do you have a mirror in or near the cage?  Lovies will bond to the mirror thinking that it is another baby and will want nothing to do with you.  So take out the mirror.

Is it a female?  During breeding times females can become very nasty.  They will defend nesting areas.  There is nothing you can really do about a female protecting her eggs.   

Is he an adult?  Adult birds that have not been played with regularly will not be as nice as a baby who has been played with.  Adults usually will never come around to be the loving birds that babies are.  But you can still work with them.  You want to make sure that their wings have been clipped so that they will not fly away from you.  First try to get the adult interested in you.  Keep the bird in a safe room but a room that you always are in.  Talk to him and and offer special treats from your hand only.  When handling be careful, adults will draw blood if given the chance.  I use a hand towel or garden gloves when handling naughty adults.    

What to Do
So your baby was hand tamed by the breeder but now you have gotten him home and he does nothing but try to bite.  Make sure that his wings are clipped.  First thing is do not play the chase game.  If he jumps down off of you do not chase him around the house.  Catch him as quickly as you can.  Place him back to the original spot.  If he tries to bite say the word NO sternly (DO NOT HIT HIM, YOU COULD HURT HIM).
 

In the Dark

Time Out

Wet the Feathers

In the Dark
Go into a room that you can make completely dark.  I recommend a small room like a bathroom.  Remove all harmful objects and cover windows with a towel.  Turn off the lights and hold your bird.  You can have him perch and go through his training.  He may try to still fly away but is less likely because he can not see where he is going.  I found this method to work very well with older birds.

Time Out
Place him in his cage or place him in a time out box.  A time out box could be a carrier or a cardboard box.  Make sure that the box is dark.  Leave him in there for about 10-15 minutes.  Resume playing with him.  If you have been playing with him for a very long time give him a rest even birds need a break.

Wet the Feathers
If he keeps on flying try wetting his top flight feathers only,  just enough so that he can not fly.  You will find that you will have a calmer bird and one that will listen to you.  (I found out this trick one day when a baby kept flying away from me and flew into the dog water dish, when I took him out he was 100% different bird, calmer and nicer.)