[A.Khateeb]

Hii..
I need help with my cockatiel please..so this is his background story;
I got a male cockatiel around a year ago.. he's about 2.5 years old...
When i got him i learned from his previous owner that he has always been a caged bird they never opened the cage for him to fly and he was in a small cage.. very bad conditions and they only fed him sun flower seeds which is a horrible diet for birds..

So ever since i took him in I worked with him.. At first when i opened his cage he didn't even leave his cage.. as if he lost his will to be a bird it was veryyy sad...
And he refused to eat any vegetables or fruits (still does)... I slowly changed his diet to a better one (as much as he allows me)..

Now he loves leaving his cage and he made friends with my budgies.. He calls me to open the cage and he lovesss climbing up and down... eats from my hand and sometimes he step up... he doesn't like to be handled much but I know that he loves and trust me..

The problem is... he is soooo lazy because he was caged all his life.. he never flies unless he is forced to somehow... and because he doesnt fly much... his flying ability is very week... I'm worried that it would affect his health...
How do i motivate him to fly around.. play more...and move around more?

Thank you soo much in advance 🙂

 

[AstronomicalArtisan]

Based on what you've said, it's true that his flight muscles would be very weak, since he was caged in a small area all his life. I assume you have him in a larger aviary, which would allow him the ability to stretch his wings; that's pretty essential for any bird. If you don't, I suggest getting something more fit for him.

With motivating him to fly, that'll take a bit of time and training.

I linked a time from the video 'Mia The Macaw' on the youtube channel 'Mikey The Macaw and Friends.' It shows their process with helping Mia learn to balance herself between perches, and flight training because she had had her wings clipped and also lived in a very small cage all her life. Hopefully this'll be informational and helpful!