Hey! I've recently gotten my son Kinako, a lutino cockatiel when he was around 8-10 weeks old? I forgot honestly, and I've had him for around two months!
Everything is all good overall, he loves coming out of his cage (he whistles loudly and paces until I let him out every morning), he knows how to spin and goes insane for millet, likes scritches on the head when he feels like it and really good with strangers.
But I feel like recently I haven't been giving him enough attention! I used to give him at least 1 hour of outside of cage time but recently (due to exams) its more like sometimes I let him out for an hour or longer and sometimes only 45 mins...
I try to take him out when im relaxing but all he wants to do is go on the table and chew on my ipad, ingesting the plastic!! and he bites on my phone too which has broken glass!!! And yes, I put a toy he likes on the side to distract him but alas he wants to ingest the plastic.... It just makes it hard to wind down with him cause he doesnt like sitting on my shoulder for long
Also I feel really guilty, recently when I scratch him on the head I noticed his crest lowering everytime my finger approached him and didn't know it meant he was upset/apprehensive! and then I got surprised when he hissed and did that flurry of bites cockatiels usually do...How do I tell when he wants to be scratched?? Sometimes I raise my finger and he ducks his head but when I scratch it he keeps moving around but not particularly edging away...what does he wanttt
Another question; how do I tell my cockatiel I dont like what hes doing? if he bites my lip piercing (unhygienic as hell) or glasses i just move him away and stretch my hand out for a bit and look away to ignore him, and then bring him back...is that the right thing to do? Like ignore him for a bit so he knows if he does something bad the attention ceases? Also i saw somewhere that if they bite too hard you should yelp and put them down because thats the way birds communicate in the wild, but then some people say no dont because it scares them...? im so confused!! Please help!! I really just want a healthy relationship with my baby.. I give him lots of treats and vegetables and fruits he likes (he particularly likes mango hehe)
sorry this is super messy..i just need tips
Everything is all good overall, he loves coming out of his cage (he whistles loudly and paces until I let him out every morning), he knows how to spin and goes insane for millet, likes scritches on the head when he feels like it and really good with strangers.
But I feel like recently I haven't been giving him enough attention! I used to give him at least 1 hour of outside of cage time but recently (due to exams) its more like sometimes I let him out for an hour or longer and sometimes only 45 mins...
I try to take him out when im relaxing but all he wants to do is go on the table and chew on my ipad, ingesting the plastic!! and he bites on my phone too which has broken glass!!! And yes, I put a toy he likes on the side to distract him but alas he wants to ingest the plastic.... It just makes it hard to wind down with him cause he doesnt like sitting on my shoulder for long
Also I feel really guilty, recently when I scratch him on the head I noticed his crest lowering everytime my finger approached him and didn't know it meant he was upset/apprehensive! and then I got surprised when he hissed and did that flurry of bites cockatiels usually do...How do I tell when he wants to be scratched?? Sometimes I raise my finger and he ducks his head but when I scratch it he keeps moving around but not particularly edging away...what does he wanttt
Another question; how do I tell my cockatiel I dont like what hes doing? if he bites my lip piercing (unhygienic as hell) or glasses i just move him away and stretch my hand out for a bit and look away to ignore him, and then bring him back...is that the right thing to do? Like ignore him for a bit so he knows if he does something bad the attention ceases? Also i saw somewhere that if they bite too hard you should yelp and put them down because thats the way birds communicate in the wild, but then some people say no dont because it scares them...? im so confused!! Please help!! I really just want a healthy relationship with my baby..
I give him lots of treats and vegetables and fruits he likes (he particularly likes mango hehe)sorry this is super messy..i just need tips
