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Advice Please, Am I doing this right?

861 views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  qsgdvsjcdef 
#1 ·
My daughter and I have had our new cockatiel since Friday, the first day he was really scared when I opened the door to change his food and he ended up flying out and into my daughters room. So I went in the room and closed the door, I just sat on the floor and very slowly got closer and closer until he stepped up on my finger, (took over and hour) then he startled when I tried to cover him with the other hand so he didn’t fly away ( my mistake) we tried again slowly and he sat on my shoulder so i could walk him back to his cage where he went back in. We left him alone for 2 days just talking to him when we passed by, eating beside him and talking to him from afar. He started pacing back and forth one night and wouldn’t stop until I sat beside him then he would settle down beside me in his cage and sit quietly. I read he may be wanting to stretch his wings ( as he was allowed out at his previous house) so I moved the cage to my room where it was safe and opened the doors and he eventually figured out how to get out and was chirping away. He did eventually come to me on my bed and ate beside me from his bowl, then some from my hand, he was very nervous when I asked him to step up to put him to bed but he did eventually and then he sat there while I talked to him and asked him a couple more times to step up while my hand was in the cage. The Next morning when I put my hand in to change the food he freaked out again by trying to get away, later that night I did the same thing and brought him to my room, he sat on my shoulder for a bit this time and even cleaned himself and tried picking at my earrings, but when I needed to get him back to the cage as he was sitting on my bookshelf not moving he hissed a bit but would step up. Today I put my hand in the cage, he does a tiny hiss ( not very loud) and he steps away from it but doesn’t thrash around unless I get too close. Is this normal and I am making progress or am I pushing to much and destroying his trust?
 
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#2 ·
You are not destroying his trust but you are pushing jim to his limits a lot. Cockatiels and birds in general need to get out of their cage everyday for several hours.
I would suggest, when you want to clean his cage you let him out so you wont freak him out and if he doesnt know how to get in a trick i use is i open the roof of the cage so its easier for my birds to get it (i would highly advise it.
Also, i would suggest, every time he steps up on your hand you give him a treat so he will connect stepping up with a pleasant experience
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply,
He doesn’t like any treats, I’ve tried putting food in his cage to see what he likes but so far he just eats his seed, he may have tried his pellet once or twice. He tried mullet but he only took one small bite and then hasn’t touched it. Do I just keep trying eating in front of him and saying how yummy it is? Also my cage only opens at the food trays and two doors at the front that perch inwards, I have a arch ladder on top of the cage that I hang a toy off of and for him to perch on top. I was letting him out in my room as I know he needs to be out of the cage but worried if I let him out in the main area(I live in a condo) I wouldn’t be able to get him back in and then it would stress him if I had to catch him so at least my room is smaller and the door can be closed if I need to open outside doors, until he is tamed and trained to comfortably step up without me chasing, then he can have free roam of the house, should I continue it this way? I don’t want to push him and scare him. My last teil I was told to take a T-shirt and hold him to my chest and pet him etc and he did well with it but he was hand fed, I have a feeling this guy was not even though they said he was. I appreciate any help or suggestions :)
 
#4 ·
Cockatiels are picky eaters so you shouldnt rush it, and he just might not be into millet spray. My female cockatiel doesnt care much about millet but she absolutely loves sunflower seeds, so as a treat i give her those! Find out what he likes to give him as a treat. You should try mixing pellets with his seeds for a while, slowly inscreasin the amount of pellets to seeds until he only eats those
Hope this helped :]
 
#5 ·
He does have a favourite seed that is in his mix just so small it’s hard to pick out, I don’t think he is big on sunflower seeds either. I opened the doors for him today but he just sat inside and didn’t come out so I just let him be. I put the millet in his cage to see if he would eat it out of his bowl as maybe he just didn’t want to eat it with me so close. I will definitely mix his two foods together I just didn’t want to stress him while we were getting him used to our house and being away from the other cockatiels, I wanted him to eat but now that he is eating comfortably with us around his cage I’ll start mixing them. I’ll just slowly work with him, I was just really worried I broke his trust already and that I ruined our chance to bond. Thanks!
 
#7 ·
I just had to share, this is currently happening right now and he is preening himself and crawling up and down my arm investigating. I opened the doors to allow him access to the whole condo today ( as I have nowhere to go so not worried if he takes forever to go back in.) he came out almost right away and starting exploring, he flew to me when I sat down and hung out for a bit and then he found he was back into his cage, I’m sooo happy our first interaction in his normal area was very positive! Also after leaving a piece of millet in his bowl and mixing his seeds into his pellets, he ate the millet so now I have a tasty treat he likes and is used to eating it off the stick, and he is eating his mixed food nicely. Such great progress
Watch Comfort Gesture Grey Knee
 
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