[Justinm]

I’ve had my cockatiel pippen for almost a year, I got him from a rescue , his previous owners didn’t hurt him or anything but they would leave him in his cage all day so he didn’t get a lot of attention, he is an older bird I’m not sure how old exactly,but he is hand tamed he will step up most of the time and let me give him head scratches but if I were to step him up and walk from his cage to my bed or just away from his cage at all 9/10 times he flies back to his cage within a few seconds, I’m just wondering what can I do about this, the goal is to get to a point where he’s fine with just chilling on my leg when I’m sitting or on my chest when I’m laying on my bed

 

[Daytontiel]

For him, the outside of cage world is scary. To overcome this, you can open cage door to see if he will start to explore out of cage. As an adult cage bonded bird, it will take longer time to overcome, this please be patient.

 

[Justinm]

Thanks for your response, however we’re far past the point of him coming out to explore, he comes out of his cage a lot because I keep his door open all the time so he doesn’t feel like he needs to be in there 24/7 like at his previous home, the only issue is more that when I step him up whether he’s in or on top of his cage and walk away from it with him he will just fly right back on top of it

 

[Daytontiel]

Give him his favorite treat after he stepping up for you. Cockatiel is not difficult to train if you reward him after he does what you want him to do.