4 month old tiel heading home . . .

[Angeldove]

Okay, I've got a 4 month old tiel heading this way and I need some pointers.

It has not been hand fed and is not tame.

How should I begin?

[Marrie]

Let the tiel adjust to the new surroundings before you really start anything. Talk, read a book, sing, etc to get the birdy used to your voice but don't try to interact if it is not comfortable yet. After that you can get closer to the cage, go at whatever pace the bird prefers. Then when he/she is comfortable with you by the cage, you can put your hand just inside it, not moving to get the bird comfortable with that. Then you can add a treat stick or something to your hand (long works best) and shorten it as the bird gets comfortable eating closer and closer to you, until he/she will eat out of your hand.

Most important thing is be PATIENT - my hand raised tiel took a month to warm up to me, so don't be discouraged if it takes a while to get your bird to trust you. It is well worth the wait to get a good bond with a tiel, right now mine is on my shoulder singing his morning song to me and making kissing noises when I first got him, he was scared to death of me and was too shy to overcome it quickly.

[Angeldove]

Thank you for the reply!

My parakeet shared a big cage with a tiel until the tiel recently died.

Will it make the new tiel feel more comfortable having the parakeet in the cage?

[Marrie]

You don't want to put two birds together until they are bonded, it can lead to fighting and keets as little as they are, will bully tiels because of how docile their natures typically are. One or the other would feel that the other bird was an intruder. You can introduce them on neutral ground though, after the tiel settles in a bit.

[Angeldove]

Thank you so much!