Taming a 9 year old cockatiel

[tcald429]

I don't know if taming is the correct word. I have a male cockatiel about nine years old. The first few years I handled him all the time, he was comfortable outside of his cage. I began neglecting taking him out of his cage as much and now he has grown afraid of me handling him. I know he knows who I am, he gets excited and real chirpy when I come home and am in site, when i walk up to the cage he will jump on the side of the cage where I am and talk to me. I will hold my hand close to him from outside of the cage, sometimes letting his feet touch my finger through the cage, thinking maybe he would get used to my hand being close to him. But as soon as im inside the bars is when it stops. When I open the door of the cage and move my hand in his direction he gets scared. He will run his beak on my finger, not biting hard but warning that he doesn't want to be touched. He will sometimes run to another corner of the cage. I don't think he dislikes me, i just dont think he trusts being in my hands. I'd love to be able to take him out the cage again and interact with him more. Can anyone give me any tips on getting him out of his cage again and getting him used to me handling him again? Thanks!

[Shellybird]

Some great tips would probably be:

-Don't stick your hand in the cage. Use a familiar object to him, such as a perch or a ladder, etc. and take him out with that. ALWAYS use that object whenever you wish to take him out; he'll be more comfortable that way. He may not get on it at first but you just have to be patient.
-Take him to a secluded area (a small space) where there isn't a lot of distractions and such and work with him there. Try getting him onto your hand slowly; no sudden movements and just keep it slow.
-Talk softly to him; this should also make him more comfortable.
-Whatever you do, do not get angry or frustrated if he isn't doing what you want him to. Birds have like a 6th sense; they can sense when something is wrong and may be affected by that.
-Do these sessions several times a day for 10-20 minutes. If he gets tired and doesn't want to do it anymore, take him back on the familiar object you used.

Hopefully this helps. :]

[tcald429]

Thanks! I never even thought to start with one of his perches or something. But one thing im afraid of is if I take him out of his cage, that he might fly around the house resulting in me not being able to get him back in when im ready for him to. Do you think I could have problems with this?

[Shellybird]

Ah, that can happen.
Where exactly is his cage? If he is in a room where you can close all the doors so he can't get out of the room, go for it.

Just try not to be in a place that has a lot of distractions. From what I read in your first post he does really like you, just not your hand. So I'm not really sure if you will have a problem with him flying away. He may fly away but it may be onto you, but you never know.

Again, slow movements and try not to jostle him too much when you are carrying him to the designated location (a bathroom or a room he hasn't seen before is a good place).

BUT, if he does start to fly around, don't chase after him; that is typical predator behavior. Follow him calmly and (with that perch in hand) talk softly and wait until he calms down. Then try to get him onto the perch. If he is high up, be persistent but still calm (and still talk softly to him)- get a chair or something. Lol.
If he does land up high and you manage to get him onto the perch be slow when going back down. When I had to catch Kiuu when she flew away, sometimes I would get her back and then she would be right back to where she was because I moved too fast when taking her back down. I guess it was the urge to fly, I'm not really sure.

I hope I didn't miss anything!

[RedFeather]

I'd say follow the advice given, and be patient. Work at the bird's pace, don't try to force too much on him.

Beau is about seven years old - at least, that's how old we believe her to be. My husband was told she was about 5 when he adopted her a few years ago. So we think her to be around seven. She already knew how to step up and all, but she was so untrusting, it took her a while to warm up to us. But over the past couple of years, she's made a lot of progress, and she continues to do so. She lets me give her scritchies now. Just to let you know, it can be done.

[Shellybird]

RedFeather is right- I forgot to mention it may take a lot of time and patience. You have to be willing to work for that trust again. It isn't going to happen right away (even though we want it to). Lol. :]

[tcald429]

Thanks for all the advice. His cage is in our living room, so we could close all the bedroom doors but he would have the hall, living room, and kitchen to fly around in. I assume this would be a big area with alot of distractions, especially with two dogs...

[Shellybird]

Ohh yes, most likely. A lot of birds can be drawn to things they can sit on or bite or just anything that catches their eye. You should definitely train him in a smaller room, such as a bathroom.

and your welcome. :]

[Sun_angel00]

I have 2 things to add.

- Clip his wings. I know you may not want to but it will make him be more depent on you too help him if he cant fly.

- Leave his cage open and do something in the same room. Allow him to come out on his own and explore himself, it will make him more comfortable in his surroundings.

[RedFeather]

Ohh yes, most likely. A lot of birds can be drawn to things they can sit on or bite or just anything that catches their eye. You should definitely train him in a smaller room, such as a bathroom.

and your welcome. :]

Mmhmm. But make sure the toilet lid's closed.

[Shellybird]

Mmhmm. But make sure the toilet lid's closed.

Lol oh yes. Can't have the birdie falling into the toilet. D: That would be horrible.

Also, Sun Angel has some pretty good advice. The first week after I let Kiuu settle in I would just leave the door open and she finally (after a day or so) came to the front to explore. It really does help when they see you moving around and doing things that spark their curiosity.

Clipping his wings could be a good idea too, but I worked with Kiuu when her wings weren't clipped and still got her pretty used to me. It depends upon how you feel about it. :]

[tcald429]

I think I will give it a shot without clipping his wings first. Unfortunately I will have to wait a few days to start this with the hurricane arriving here tonight.

[schlisa]

I think I will give it a shot without clipping his wings first. Unfortunately I will have to wait a few days to start this with the hurricane arriving here tonight.

Aww... stay safe! Is it supposed to get bad there?

[Shellybird]

Oh my... I hope everything goes all right there Tyler! :[

[sammiesmom]

you have gotten alot of great advice...good luck! Stay safe! i was watching the weather last night here in MN and they had hurricane coverage on...YIKES! stay safe!

[tcald429]

Aww... stay safe! Is it supposed to get bad there?

I'm sure you all heard of Hurricane Katrina, we recieved 45 mph winds during Katrina in our area. This one is supposed to be pushing 100mph where we are. They also said some places could recieve up to almost 2 feet of rain. I don't think I know what to expect, but I'm sure we can expect lots of flooding and power outages, just hope the water doesn't get to us and we don't see any tornados.

[schlisa]

Oh no! that doesn't sound good. Good luck!

[RedFeather]

Dang... good luck.

[tcald429]

Well, we got a mandatory evacuation so we drove about 25 miles more north to my grandfathers house. I dont think they are expecting as strong of winds anymore. More like 70-80mph. Just ready to get it over with so I can work on getting Buddy out of his cage!

[schlisa]

You have one tiel right? Buddy is with you at your grandfathers house? Good luck!

[tcald429]

You have one tiel right? Buddy is with you at your grandfathers house? Good luck!

Just one, I couldn't leave him there, he does pretty good on a car ride. I also ordered a few new toys for him the other night...unfortunately i'm sure all the shipping companies over here are going to be pretty backed up :-(. I'm anxious to get them.

[schlisa]

Lol I figured you took him with you but sometimes people arn't as furtunate to take their animals with them. I'm just glad you and Buddy are in a safer place!

[Erus]

though i hate clipping any bird's wings, the first step that i always take when tamign a "wild" or unhandled bird is to clip their wings. This step along with the suggestions that others have given here has always worked.

I have used wing clipping as a form of discipline for some of my parrots as well. If they revert at all after they are tame, their wings are again clipped and they are handled. Many times after clipping their wings once more, they become well tempered again.

[tcald429]

Well by no means do I know how to clip a birds wings myself, wouldn't some random person handling him to clip his wings freak him out? How do they go about clipping a birds wings that doesn't want to be handled...I'm starting to think this might be a good idea to start him off with his wings clipped, I wouldnt want them to stay that way but maybe atleast for the taming process.

[Shellybird]

It really is up to you- you could have an avian vet do it if you are unsure about how to do it yourself. ^^