How to get a cockatiel used to scritches?

[kiwi_and_emma]

Hi
I am a tiel owner and I see a lot of people saying that their tiel will practically beg for scritches Kiwi will sometimes bowl for me, but she won't let me touch he. Is there anyway to get them used to being pet (only on the head of course) any info will be appreciated thank you!!!!

 

[texsize]

Only 2 of my Tiels will let me give neck/face scratches.
They are 2 of the 3 Cockatiel I raised from an egg (with parents help).
They do indeed begg for scratches and compete to see who can get more scratches.

The rest of them .... no . I have had Lucky for 20 years and he only tolerates me to step up on.
I don’t know a magic cure to help.

 

[chris-md]

I think this is a situation of “if they don’t like it, respect their individualism”.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Some like it,some don't. BB was 4.5 months old when he came home with me and almost from day one he loved head and cheek scrithing. He is so bonded with me tho I can do anything I want with him..pick him up and kiss him,hold him in my hands and kiss his beak as he makes kissy sounds back..even put him in my robe pocket and walk around as he pokes his head out to see whats going on. Goofy bird that he is.


Jim

 

[kiwi_and_emma]

Oh, ok thank you so much for your advice, I guess she still isn't very used to me yet but I will give her more time!

 

[Tman]

This is how I have been able to get all the cockatiel I have had to want scratches. If your teil is bowing it's head, then slowly very lightly touch the very top of its crest
Touch it just once. Very lightly you him to want more
If you go in for a big scratch he may feel threatened.
Take a deep breath and relax, don't push him. Very small touch and that's it. Wait to see if he looks up and puts his head down again. If so. One more light touch on the crest. Just keep doing this. For a while, so that he keeps wanting more. Also try not to put you hand over his head try and come from the side.

 

[LaManuka]

Our boy Fang loves a head scratch but very strictly on HIS terms. Our previous cockatiel, Twinkle took about 8 YEARS to come around - one day it was like a switch flicked on in her little head and she was a total fiend for a head scratch from that day forward. As others have mentioned it is a highly individual thing - some don't, some do, and some REALLY do, but if you allow your bird to dictate the pace of your interactions I think you will find that level of trust will come eventually

 

[Laurasea]

I don't have cockatiels. But what has worked with me with other parrots, is to hold onto tge seed treat im giving a little longer. Then to stroke the side of the beak . So I hold the seed kind if farther back between my thumb and index finger and and rub the sides if the beak as they take it . Then after they get used to then i try and rub the side if their cheek..
I also give dry smooches . And side of face to face rubs...
That evolves into head scratches..
Especially for my most recent Orbit who had fear of hands . Often we still have to do side to side smooches before he let's me rub his beak them his cheek then he bows for scratches ..I dont know if that will help. Sometimes he beak spars, its like a negotiation. He want tge scratches but he has fear, then like oh yeah this us great ill take a hour of cuddling now

Or when you have them on your hand bring them right next to you chest under your chin. Just briefly while yiu praise or make smooch sounds..Get them used to this over and over. Then you csn start bringing up your other hand like you are sheltering them to you. Just briefly .. over time when you do this you start stroking the side of the face. Its kinda an art,, kinda a conversation, and building trust..
My budgie, we started with hand feeding. Then smooches. I forgive and ignore a lot of soft nips and reactivity . Of course never pushing them so they feel they have to bite, I mostly avoid anything like that.

 

[necrosacorporis]

Hi
I am a tiel owner and I see a lot of people saying that their tiel will practically beg for scritches Kiwi will sometimes bowl for me, but she won't let me touch he. Is there anyway to get them used to being pet (only on the head of course) any info will be appreciated thank you!!!!

It depends on how long you've had her, maybe she just needs time to adjust, maybe she's not in the mood, or maybe she's that type of bird who doesn't like scritches at all :33: Some birds (just like humans) just don't like being pet and that's ok.

 

[wrench13]

All good advice above! Salty, and to some extent Max ( my deceased BeeBee Parrot) both learned to love scratches. Learned, because its not an automatic response. Both let me start by rubbing the sides of the beak, progressively time by time rubbing a little closer to the nares and progressing to the area adjacent to the nares. Always respect their desire or not desire, to receive a scratch. Max would take it anytime a scratch was offered, he absolutely LOVED scratches. Salty though has to be in the mood for a scratch, and even then he sometimes likes a good hard scratch and sometimes he wants one so incredibly light, the merest touch, and sometimes he wats no part of it. He likes different areas to be scratched too. Sometimes its the feathers right next to his nares, sometimes its the area adjacent to his eyes and ears, and sometimes he like a good deep almost a massage, on his neck and at the base of his skull. You can see he is picky and I need to read his body language to give him what he wants, but hey, what else is a well trained body servant good for!

 

[ILOVEKIWI]

I'm don't have any tiels (although I would love to adopt one later on!) and I'm definitely not an expert, but when I first got my My lil Kiwi (a GCC) at 1.5 or 2 months, he didn't like scriches either then he slowly started to warm up to me, now we're extremely bonded he lets me pick him up, he follows me, he LOVES being stroked (on the neck and head and cheeks), He likes falling asleep and preening on me, he rubs his face mine, and when I make kissy sounds he makes them back and its so cute I can't even-

In conclusion like the other replies say, he might just need time or he might just not be a bird who doesn't like being scritched and that's ok! We'll love those crazy, smart, flying bundles of cuteness and joy anyways

Also: From what I've read the time it takes to bond is a process and how long it takes differs from bird to bird. Someone told me to think painfully slow with birds and bonding, not like cats and dog. This might not be your situation but this was great advice that really helped me
I made the exact same post a while back, only a couple weeks after I got Kiwi and look at us now
Hope this helped