[emirm990]

Hello, i have adult male cockatiel, he is with me 8 months
I got him from some guy who was mistreating him, he is not socialized, and he is scared of hands.
So far with taming i got him to eat from my hand. He is exploring around cage, coming close to me and that is it. Next step should be to get him on my finger, how i can we achieve that?
He is scared of hand and will hiss at me when i got to close, if i have food he will eat but with constant looking around for dangers.
What can i do to show him that the hand is not danger to him?

 

[CaliTiels]

Just keep doing what you're doing. Once he stops acting so timid when you offer him food, then try to go a step farther

 

[emirm990]

While i was checking on thread i was holding millet in my hand and he had decided to jump on my finger He was eating for few minutes and flew to his cage

 

[CaliTiels]

Great! :thumbu: Remember to go at his pace and don't push him to move faster than he's ready

 

[emirm990]

Sure thing Ty for reply

 

[sunnysmom]

You can also try getting him to step up on a perch or on your arm rather than on your hand at first. My tiel was afraid of hands when we got him. We started with him stepping on my arm, then my hand flat. He still prefers that to fingers, and as long as he steps up for me, I don't really care how he does it.

 

[shaenne]

First of all, maaaajor kudos for doing such a lovely thing! This guy deserves to be with someone who will love him and it looks like he found the perfect human

Your progress sounds great! Just keep doing what you're doing. It sounds like he is learning quickly that he can trust you, which is a big big thing with birds. He is coming along in leaps and bounds considering he wasn't treated right before he came to you. Congrats!

I also agree with the above about using your arm or a perch to use for him to step up to begin with. When I was training my conure, he was terrified of fingers so I used a spare dowel perch to get him to step up, and then gradually shortened the perch by moving my hand closer to the end as he got more comfortable. By the end he was stepping up on my fingers without a problem

 

[crow]

You are doing great. Keep doing it slowly and don't push anything.

 

[emirm990]

He loves me when i have millet :clap: So far, 3 days in a row he was eating on my hand I had even toched him with my nose while he was eating and he just gave me a look and kept doing what he was doing

 

[emirm990]

Today he stayed on my hand even after he was done with millet There he is, eating

 

[freckles]

That's Awesome! Great job! He's a really good looking bird.

 

[vampiric_conure]

Yaaaaay! Congratulations! I wish my non tame birds would do that for me, LOL.

 

[Janalee]

scared cockatiel

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job! He is a beautiful bird! I am so sorry he had to have a rough intro to humans. But now he has a fantastic owner and will warm up to you more and more. Keep up the good work!

 

[vipolaszi]

I know holding a stick/perch but have your fingers close to the end and getting him to step up works until they're confident enough

 

[emirm990]

We made huge progress in few days Now he is staying even longer on my finger after he had enough millet and even he steps up on my other finger while eating