Looking for advice with new cockatiel

[dryeyes]

Hi all,

I am in need of some help as a first time bird owner so for some context: I picked up my young cockatiel (I think the breeder said 4-5 months but it's me who's forgotten) around 2 weeks ago. For the first maybe 10 days she seemed nervous and quiet and didn't do much throughout the day. Around 3 days ago she started flock calling incessantly (while I'm in or out of the room and whether I ignore her or not) and had 2 really bad days of it basically all day, today has been a little better. I also opened up the cage around 2 days ago and she jumped out and started looking around the room, she is still scared of me and won't step up but does settle on the floor. I've had to get her to stand on a dustpan so that I can pick her up and get her back into the cage for the time being. She won't step onto my arm or shoulder either, though she did try to fly up there but she isn't good at flying so just flapped while she slowly descended to the floor. She also won't eat from my hand or through the cage yet, which I've seen are supposed to be "first steps" in taming your bird which I seem to have skipped inadvertently (her choice not mine).

Do you guys have any idea how I can approach to start getting her to trust and accept me me so hopefully the flock calling will become less frequent and to make her feel more at ease?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Have you tried putting a long (18 ) perch stick (a dowel rod) directly in front of her lower breast and encourage her to step up onto the perch to move her back to her cage
Using a dustpan would scare any bird.

You need to slow down and let her get used to your presence before trying to handle her or train her. Spend time sitting close to her cage reading or watching TV, etc. You should try to get her used to your hand in her cage by holding it inside her cage with treats on it for a while, even if she doesn't approach it. As she gets used to it, she may begin to grab treats from it. This will take a time.

Her wings must be clipped, right? Once she becomes tame you should let them grow back so she can fly and not just flap to the ground.
For now, when she ends up on the floor, as long as you can supervise her closely, let her walk around and explore for a while. Sit on the floor near where she is and talk to her softly. Try holding treats in you hand while sitting there. She will eventually get comfortable with you and not run away. Start doing the stick perch training from the floor (like I said above).

As for the contact calling, she's probably trying to find her flock that she left behind at the breeder. There's not much you can do about it. She will make noise and you need to get used to it. Ear plugs help muffle it a bit.

Female cockatiels tend to be pretty quiet, at least as adults. Are you sure it's a female? How do you know? Was she DNA sexed? It's not easy to sex very young cockatiels - they all tend to look like females.
After their first moltiher sex will be more obvious. If she is really a female, once she calms down and becomes more used to you and tame she shouldn't be too noisy.

I hope you enjoy your new cockatiel friend. Please slow down and work at her pace which may be slow. Spend as much time as you can in the room close to her without pressuring her. She will come around.

 

[GaleriaGila]

What Donna said!

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