First love bird

Question
Hello Sarah, I am getting my first pet love bird on saturday, It is a peach faced hand-fed baby and is just weaned this weekend, The lady assures me they are very friendly and is even willing to show me the perant birds. My questions are:

How long should it take for my new pet to get used to me and its new surroundings? & can I play with him his first or second day here?

I've got this awsome cage its got a playtop on it and its on a stand it stands 56" at the top of the play stand, its 18 inches tall & deep, this is ok for a single lovebird isnt it? I do not plan on him being in his cage much anyway I already have a really nice play gym that goes on a counter or stand for him also.

And lastly this is what scared me away from love birds for years... that everytiem I went into a pet shop and tryed to get the handfed ones on my ahdns they would shy away in the corner of the cage and snap when your hand went near... I've since read about love birds and seen many pictures of them on peoples shoulders and even giving kisses so I was wondering do handfed tamed love birds bite? because the petshop handfed ones were and will always be evil lol they are handfed I assure you,

Thank you for taking the time to read my questions, I value your option and hope to hear from you soon, Tara.

Answer
Hello Tara,

All GREAT questions!!

I've personally had a lovebird, AND raised them, so I can easily answer your questions! :)

First off, it will probably take your new baby a couple of weeks to even a month to get completely settled in. I wouldn't take him/her out for the first few days until she seems to be at home, eating and chirping happily, flapping wings, etc. First day she might just sit in her cage kind of scared and very unsure of herself. Just give it some time and take it slowly.

That cage sounds perfect, and I'm glad you have extra playstands for your new addition to play on as well. These are quite important for her! :D

Now, I currently work in a pet store, and I completely understand why you would be a bit scared by the "handfed" babies there. They are indeed handfed, the problem is that most of the time the people there have very little time to properly socialize the babies they are handfeeding, making it next to pointless. There are many other things that need to be done in a pet store, and it seems that socializing comes last to running the business properly which is very sad. Anyways, these babies with some TLC will be less "fearful" of hands. Well socialized babies won't normally be this way, and will in fact COME to you in the cage, or out, not try to nip or flutter away.

On the other hand, all baby birds go through a slight nipping stage. When this happens it is best to distract them with toys and other things that are acceptable for them to chew on. Also use a stern no when they bite, and gently grab their beak and pull it away from your hand. I find this works best. As I said, I had a lovebird which I purchased from a big time breeder. She wasn't very friendly when I got her, quite nippy, didn't want to be with me, but with daily handling and proper discipline she grew out of it and become the sweetest little bird you've ever seen. Just be patient, everything takes time. Another good way to discipline, if she gets FAR too rough and won't stop nipping, put her in her cage. While you're doing this, explain that she's been a bad bird, biting is NOT allowed, and she's being put in the cage as punishment...then later on if she misbehaves again, threaten to put her in her cage, they tend to smarten up quick! hehe

If you have any other questions, I would LOVE to answer them!

But not to worry, if they are well socialized, you should have a very sweet little bird in your first week home! :D Ask the breeder how often she spends with her babies a day to get an idea. At LEAST an hour is good, more is better of course.

Sarah