Michael wrote:Breeders generally dont have a clue how to handle birds. Most of what they do involves catching birds and sticking them together to lay them little eggs full of money. Loving and developing a relationship with the bird isn't a primary objective. Don't be too dissappointed that the bird isn't tame though. Most arent and even if it were, sooner or later it would revert to being wild if you don't work with it.
Thank you, Michael.
I'm in a similar situation, where I contacted a local bird store/breeder for advice; I adopted a young (approximately a year old and male, according to vet) black masked lovebird that was rescued from a dog's mouth. The lady that rescued him saved him from her German shepherd in her yard. According to the vet, he is most likely an escapee from a backyard breeder, as he has no chip or leg band, and I did search for his owner, but nobody claimed him. She had him checked at her vet and he was in severe shock and dehydrated from the dog incident but otherwise unhurt. However after a day at her house she decided he wasn't going to be happy on top of her refrigerator with three big dogs jumping at him. She posted on Facebook and I got in touch with her and picked him up the same day, this was in August, 2015.
I set him up in a large flight cage (30" wide x 18" deep x 36" high) with many natural perches, a good mix of pellet and seeds and plenty of fruit and veggies. I try and work with him several times a day for 5-10 minutes at a time, but so far he hasn't gotten over his extreme fear of everything. He freaks out when his cage is approached, unless I approach very slowly and sing to him or whistle. I was able to get him to eat a bit of millet if I held a long piece to him and stood very still and sang to him, but he panicked and flapped around his cage frantically when I moved my hand to take it out. I'm afraid he might hurt himself.
It's obvious "Houdini" wasn't hand fed as a baby, so I contacted the bird store to ask if there is any hope at all that I will be able to gain his trust. He seems so sad and scared all the time, I don't want his life to be just filled with fear of me. His life so far has been so scary between dogs and car rides in boxes and vets and wing clips. I have put him in a bright spot in my living room so he has daily exposure to people, and he does chirp and play, but he won't let anyone near him.
The bird store guy came back with the "hold him with a towel and pet him until he calms down" idea, and all I could think was that would give the poor little bird a heart attack because he'd think he was back in the dog.