Hi new member

[simigirl]

Hello everyone.
I've just bought a young gray cockatiel 9 wks old not hand reared last week.
I've looked online on how best to hand tame him but there's to many videos etc which show you how to get them to step up and I'm no where near that yet lol.
I've been sitting close to his (I hope ) cage chatting he got passed the hissing at me every time and started shouting for me when I left the room then he had his wings clipped ( as I'm unable to catch him as I'm disabled hoping I won't have to do it again).which had him hissing again so starting from beginning ,I've noticed he hisses more if I take my glasses off lol.
I don't want to stress him out anymore .
Any advice on how I can get him to stop going mad when I put hand into cage ,Or would be welcome as I don't want to push him or get bitten lol.
Thanks

 

[dhraiden]

Welcome Simigirl!


Give it time, and take it slow. Spend time with your new friend, but do not "intrude" on his personal space overly much. If it is possible for you, sit nearby with his cage door open, and allow the bird to come out on its own. Try to ensure the room is comfortable, well-lit, and that there are no sources of loud, sudden noises or other "stressors" that could cause him alarm.



Then it is just a matter of waiting patiently for the cockatiel to want to explore, and you showing it that you are nearby, not a threat, but a source of stimulation and good things it wants - like treats, for instance.

 

[Laurasea]

Hi welcome! It takes time, sounds like you are off to the right start. There are tips on bonding thread. Sometimes letting them out and letting them climb on top of the cage and working with them like that can help. I don't know your experience level, so we always mentione that Teflon coating on pots and pans is deadly to birds, I only use stained steel and cast iron for cooking. Many cleaning products are also deadly. I hope you will or are offering lots of fresh veggies, just never Avacado or onion. Welcome others will have good bonding ideas, I have been lucky I guess mine all jumped right onto me...

 

[ChristaNL]

Hi simigirl,

sounds you did your homework and doing great getting to know each other.

LOL, mine go crazy about my glasses too!
First they steal them, and then freak out about my 'naked' face ...

You have read al the usefull sticky's?

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/3100-bond-forming.html

this is a great one for parrots that are a bit scared of hands:
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/60435-clicker-target-training.html


Take your time, you have many, many years together.

 

[simigirl]

thank you

Forgive me if I've put this in wrong place.
Thank you all so much I knew i was doing right by not pushing him I don't care how long it takes he will come to me if and when he's ready.
I had a budgie and tiel years ago both talked very well and were very tame lol I remember my father making me sit on his knee with my hand full of seed in my budgies cage telling me not to move and to talk softly and then sitting with door closed talking to him so that's what I've been doing taking things at gino's place .things seem or seemed to have changed quite a lot from the videos and post online which didn't sound /feel right to me which is why I came here I'm so glad I did.

 

[TiredOldMan]

Welcome, come on in!

Sounds to me like you are doing it right.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed. At the top of every sub forum there be stickies ( permanent messases) so important that they are never evererased. It pays to read all of them, sveral times, as your new friend explores his new world. Having never written any of them, I can attest to their value and validity.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome!

See? You're already fitting right in!

I'm glad you found us. So much to learn and share. May I offer a few more ideas which new folks often find helpful?


Most of us swear by our avian vets in the event of health concerns. I don't know where you are, but here are some links. I only have USA info...
Certified Avian Vets
https://abvp.com/animal-owners/find-an-abvp-specialist/
If none are near you...
Avian Veterinarians
http://www.aav.org/search/custom.asp?id=1803
In my opinion, any of the vets listed here should be better than a regular vet.

What's the diet? That's critical for health. Too many are kept on seeds or other poor-nutrition things. They need veggies, legumes, grains... pellets are a good staple. Here's what I use.
Harrison's Bird Foods
I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff, like fruits and vegetables! My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. I also like Harrison's via mail because I never have to worry about out-of-date products.

Since you're new parront, I'll just drop a note about avoiding teflon pans, which are lethal to birds if even slightly overheated.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you and Gino! You chose an ideal species for avian companion. Your initial instincts together with excellent advice thus far should help fully socialize Gino. Be patient, often progress is two steps forward, one step back.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you!

 

[noodles123]

Yes, time is key and it is often WAY longer than what feels comfortable to us. Try to resist imagining a future where you can't handle your bird etc. It is easy to psych yourself out when, despite your efforts, you see very little progress.
It will come.

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to our community!!! You've definitely found the best bird/parrot forum on the web, by-far, we have many very experienced bird owners, breeders, hand-raisers, trainers, etc. that can answer pretty-much anything and everything, and if we can't we will help you find the people who can!

Congrats on your new family member! Cockatiels are such great parrots to add to your family, they are very intelligent, sweet, and usually love to play, snuggle, cuddle, and just love being with "their people"! Does he/she have a name yet? Was he DNA-sexed by his breeder/pet shop?

****The very first thing you are going to need to do, if you haven't already (as it seems you've done your homework prior to bringing him home, so that's great!), is to make certain that you dispose of and replace any pots, pans, bakeware, etc. that have a non-stick coating that contains Teflon and/or any Fluorinated Compounds such as PFOA's,
PTFE's, etc. Usually the most-common items in the home that contain these deadly compounds are the pots and pans; typically it's any pots and pans that have a black color non-stick coating on their bottoms that are the lethal ones, though this isn't always the rule; usually it's safe to assume that any pots and pans that have a black colored non-stick coating/inside bottom are unsafe and do contain Teflon/Fluorinated Compounds, but just because a pot/pan doesn't have a black colored non-stick coating/inside bottom doesn't mean that it doesn't contain Teflon/Fluorinated Compounds. You absolutely cannot use any pots/pans that have a non-stick coating/inside bottom that contain Teflon/Fluorinated Compounds anywhere inside of your home when your birds are inside of the home, regardless of how far away the birds are from the kitchen or the place you're using them, and regardless of whether they are behind a shut door. Unfortunately the deadly fumes released from these coatings permeate throughout the entire house, through every little crevice/door crack, up and down to different floors of the house, and right through shut doors...And if you bird breathes in one little whiff of these lethal fumes, they will die almost instantly. There is nothing you can do to help them/save them once they breathe these fumes in, they typically die within a couple of minutes of breathing them in, and there is nothing that you, a Vet, or anyone else can do to save them. There are hundreds if not thousands of examples of people who thought it would be okay to keep their Teflon pots and pans and use them in the kitchen if they placed the bird on a different floor of the house and on the opposite end of the house, and then behind a closed door, and literally minutes after they started cooking their birds passed-away. So you absolutely must throw away, sell, just simply get rid of any and all pots, pans, bakeware, cookware, any flat-top griddles, hot plates, George Foreman Grills (notorious), etc. that have a Teflong or Fluorinated Compound containing non-stick coating immediately. Right now.

***The safe pots and pans that are fine to use around birds include the Ceramic Non-Stick (most popular and most common, usually have a white colored non-stick coating on their inside bottoms), Cast Iron, Stainless Steel, or REAL Copper (non Copper-plated, as their insides are not actually Copper and they are typically coated with the lethal compounds)...In addition to getting rid of the pots and pans, which is most-important because they are 100% lethal when the fumes are released/off-gassed, you also cannot use regular Household Cleaners, no all-purpose cleaners, no kitchen cleaners, no bathroom cleaners (the worst, harshest), no carpet sprays or powders (the carpet powders are all pretty deadly to birds, including the "pet safe" Arm & Hammer carpet powders), no room scented room sprays like Febreeze or similar, no Bleach, no floor cleaners or waxes, and no furniture dusting sprays or polishes. You basically have to change the entire way your clean your home, using either White Vinegar and very Hot Water, Red-Wine Vinegar and very Hot Water, OR any of the unscented, specially made "natural" cleaners that are 100% plant-enzyme based and are typically clear in color. "GreenWorks" is the most common one of these and is available everywhere, but a lot of grocery stores, specifically the grocery stores that specialize in All-Natural/Organic products, manufacture and sell their own or other brands of all-natural, unscented, 100% plant-based cleaners that are bird-safe and work very well. I live in the Northeast US (PA) so we have "Wegman's" grocery stores, and they have a huge "Natural Living" section in their stores that includes all-natural, 100% plant-based, organic soaps, shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc., all kinds of personal hygiene and care products, but also have an entire 2-sided aisle that is nothing but these types of cleaners! They have everything from kitchen and bathroom cleaners to carpet cleaners and stain removers, to laundry detergent and bird-safe bug killers. Other grocery stores like Whole Foods and Harris Teeter have the same, and even smaller grocery stores sell "GreenWorks" all-purpose cleaner, and some also sell other plant-based, unscented cleaners. Also, you cannot use any scented products in your home, such as candles,
incense, anything you "plug-in", oil burners, wax burners, etc. Basically anything that produces odors, meaning fumes, smoke, vapors, etc. are big no-no's...

***Very important is finding either a Certified Avian Vet or an Avian Specialist Vet that is closest to you. If you have to drive a few hours one-way to get to the nearest CAV or Avian Specialist Vet who ONLY TREATS BIRDS, it is well worth the occasional drive, as there is no substitute for these Vets who have additional education and training in just treating birds. "Exotics" Vets are not even close to the same thing, they are usually just General Vets (dog/cat Vets) who are "willing to see" any and all species, meaning they have no additional education or training in treating birds, nor any of the other species they see and treat. They tend to do more harm than good, and a lot of the time with tragic outcomes. So it's imperative that you find the closest CAV or Avian Specialist Vet to you, and we can help you with that, as there is a great tool for searching for them, and it's posted all over this forum, specifically in the "Health" forum.

Finally, take a deep breath, because it sounds like everything is going very, very well with your young, non-tame Cockatiel. This will be a marathon, not a sprint, and it will have to go at HIS PACE, not your pace, because if you try to "force" anything it will only set you backward. You've only had him for a week, which is no time at all for a new bird. First he has to settle-in to his new cage, his new home, and then with you and the rest of the people in the house. The key is earning his trust, once you earn his trust then training/taming him can start. It's going to take patience from you, as this normally can take months and months to even longer, it all depends on the individual bird. Make sure that his cage is located in the "main room" of your home, the room where the "action" is, the room where the people who live in the home spend most of their time when they are there, such as the living room, family room, den, TV room, etc. The reason for this is because he needs to simply be in the presence of as many people as possible, and as often as possible, and have people walking past his cage all day long, etc. This will help to socialize him, but also help to make him feel much more safe, secure, and content, and he's much more likely to start happily entertaining himself inside of his cage with his toys if he's in the same room as the people of the house. So a lot of training/taming him and earning his trust is actually passive and indirect instead of being direct-interaction with him. So if he's simply in the same room as you and the other people of the house when you're watching TV, reading, playing video games, eating your meals, talking with each other, listening to music, on the computer, or in the room that people who come over to visit are usually in, this is going to help this process tremendously...Plus, whenever people locate the cages of their NEW birds in a spare-bedroom or a room that is not where people usually are,
this very often starts a problem with the bird screaming, because the bird can hear you, they know that there are people home, but they can't see them. So the new bird will start screaming, and the people will come back to the room where the bird is to try to comfort them, and this tells the bird that "anytime I scream they are going to come back here", so the bird continually screams, a lot of the time all day long (sometimes people mistakenly put their new birds in a room they designate as "the bird's room", meaning well)...So locating your new bird's "main-cage" in the "main-room" of your home will just help with this process all the way around. And don't worry about noise or light if you happen to stay up late watching TV, etc., as all you need to do is cover your bird's cage at HIS bedtime, and he'll be fine. (He should be getting at least 10 hours of sleep every single night, 12 hours every night is ideal)...

Welcome, good luck with your new baby, and please don't ever hesitate to ask questions, share photos, or just talk!!!

 

[noodles123]

Oh never mind, it looks like Ellen already mentioned the whole Teflon issue...Cleaning products and scented things (candles, perfume, air fresheners, carpet cleaners, diffused oils etc are also bad).


I was going to give the same speech.


Have you had birds before?