[Claudine]

Hi there,
I am a first time bird owner and just got a young, 3 months, I think, cockatiel from a local pet store.
Her name is Bumble. Although I am not entirely sure what sex it is.
My son has budgies and is extremely good with birds so I was encouraged to get her.
At the store, they would take her out of her cage and she would perch happily on my finger and let me pet her and the employee would have no trouble putting her back in her cage.

She has been home with me for about a week and half.
I did leave the cage door open so she could get out if she wanted (wings are currently clipped - not my decision). She did and my son got her back in,(he is the bird whisperer!)
I opened the cage door everyday and sometimes she would just ignore it and other times (rarely) hop out and wander around the floor...but getting her back in is so awful.
(My son lives with his dad part time so not here to help). I ended up stressing Bumble out and now, I believe, that any trust earned is gone.

So, she hasn't been out of her cage in 3 days because I am scared to stress her too much trying to capture her to get her back in.
I have been spending time beside the cage talking to her, hands on the cage (which she tolerates but still moves away).
She calls to me and I talk back to her so I know it is progressing but I feel super guilty for not letting her out the past few days.

Any advice or words of wisdom is appreciated.
I just want her to have a great life and not be freaked out by me.

 

[Julie in Ohio]

I think you are more lacking in confidence than anything else. And she is picking up on that. Put your hand in and push against her chest fir her to step up. Sometimes you need to put your other hand behind her so she doesn’t have an easy out. And feed her all her favorite foods by hand. Have a few sunflower seeds, kale , grated carrot so coming out and hanging with you is a big win for her. Talk and whistle to her. Getting her back in might be a little tougher until she adjusts to you. But you could consider a net of you have a hard time getting a hold of her. It might be a bit scary for her but if you can. Get her with a bet in two minutes compared to chasing her around for an hour it might be easier in her. And once you get her, hold her for just a minute and skirt her head. You want to make all her interactions with you as pleasant as possible.

 

[adelpks]

I had similar difficulties when I got my first tiel Clover, particularly as he was really scared of my hands. I found that initially I was able to get him to hop into my head by gently bringing my hands closer in each side of him. And then got him back in the cage by putting my head close enough for him to hop onto a perch. Does your tiel like being in the cage? If there’s something in the cage that attracts him/her it might help.
I have another tiel more who is hand raised and she just loves to fly and doesn’t Always want to go back in the cage. I leave one of the doors of the cage open for her and leave the room And most of the time she will go back in by herself for food or to be with Clover. When I’m in the room she wants to be with me so it becomes a distraction. I only bring her out in a room where I can close the door And leave her And she’ll be safe. Don’t know if any of this will work for you but just thought I’d share my experiences.