How can i get my cockatiel to except being pet?

[silverhuntress]

So as the title states, (sorry for the long post) i need help getting my cockatiel thor (changed his name from peaches to that.) because it suits him. he is brave a loving... when he wants to be... but the thing is, is that when i first got him, he used to attack me. so i gave him a couple days off and spent a lot of time by the cage watching movies and what not. and then i moved. and we went back to square one.. and finally i got him to the point where he loved coming out and sitting on my finger and what not... but he was also flying by this time... so a friend of mine (who had a cockatiel before) told me to clip his wings. wear gloves when doing it as he hates being touched and will lash out...
So long story short i looked up online how to clip there wings. put my winter soft gloves on and cliped a very upset birds wings. he was pissed but warmed up to me even more. to the point i could put him on my one year olds shoulder and he didnt even care. infact it looked like he was enjoying it.
I then had looked up how to hand tame you cockatiel online. and thats when i seen that when you try and pet your cockatiel. but as soon as he tries to attack you stop right there wait till he finishes (even if it hurts, as because it shows them they cant get away with it.) and i did as soon as he finished i would remove my hand. it got to the point where i could finally pet his back but he would walk away. but as soon as i would get too his head we where at square one again. and yet he would let me pet his beak no problem. as for his chest i couldnt pet him there either...
but after buying him a few things for his cage he once again wont let me pet him... im coming to doubt ill never gain the trust of my little tiel thor...

Please let me know if im doing it right if not how would i be able to. i spend all day with him (he sits on his play gym and just cleans himself and sleeps) as i dont want to stress him out as much as he had this past week.

 

[Julianna]

Your strategy may work eventually to tame your cockatiel, but I wouldn't recommend it because some birds simply don't like being petted, and you have no way of knowing if your 'tiel would like being petted, since he's not comfortable with you yet. I wouldn't try to pet him until after he is tamed. Also, birds are usually most open to petting on the head, by the way. I think you'll have better luck doing some training or just spending time close to him. One way to tame a bird is to bribe him with treats to come closer and closer to you. First, you can just give him a treat for moving slightly towards you, then for walking towards you, then for coming right next to you, and eventually for stepping onto your hand. Trick training is also a great way to form a bond with a bird (or just about any animal, for that matter). You don't need to touch your bird to do a lot of training, and this helps to build trust between you and your bird. Do a little research on easy bird tricks to train and you'll find something you can teach Thor pretty easily. Always keep in mind with training/taming birds that it WILL take time, and lots of it. Taming a bird can take anywhere from a day to a year, so you've got to be patient and persistent and keep on taking small steps until your bird is tame. It's good that you've been spending time with him and trying to interact with him, so I'm sure you'll form a bond soon. I hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[TessieB]

Some birds want to be a pet and some want to be a partner. Accept your bird for what he is. Remember he's not really a domesticated species, and you will have to do your homework to get him to accept your company. He will always have certain birdy behaviors that may get on your nerves. He may never like being cuddled or petted-that's his personality. Find out what he likes to do and start from there. Take your time, and remember you look like a predator to him-so be very patient.

 

[MikeyTN]

Couple great posts above!!! Not all cockatiels are the same, some just basically don't like to be petted no matter how tame they are. I have one that I raised, he's like that. Just don't push the envelope if they don't like it.

 

[lisascannell]

My Rocky is 120% tame, and even he doesn't like me to touch his chest!

 

[strudel]

That's a good point, lisa. There'll be places some animals generally don't like being touched and you also need to make allowances for the individual "person". One of my cats is head-shy, my little dog goes mental if you touch his feet. Get to know him personally and accommodate his preferences.

You can still have a good relationship without touching. I haven't "tamed" my weiros, but I think we have a good relationship. I talk to them and they come over and talk back, they don't "hate" me, they just aren't tamed and I am happy to let them be. They are less skittish than they used to be, but if they never want physical contact, that's fine. I won't force them. We're working on it, but que sera sera (as Doris would say).

 

[Megapixel]

My 14 year old black-capped conure never liked being touched on his back and only tolerated head scritches once in a great while and then only briefly. About two years ago that all changed. Now I can stroke his back and give all the head scritches I want and it only took 12 years.