My Cockatiel LOATHES hands

[SarahKate]

Hello everyone! I need some help....

My sister's friend gave us their pet cockatiel since they couldn't take care of it anymore. She told us he was a mean little bird and she were not lying. I don't know what happened to him to make him traumatized of hands, but its not getting any better.

You can put your face in front of his cage and he will just stare at you like "wassup", but the second he sees even a finger he is all open beak, spread wings, he actually comes closer to your hand so he can try to bite it (In the beginning he would just move away from it). My sisters boyfriend had to remove him from his cage for transportation and he tore his hands UP. Its crazy.

I wish I could give him out of cage time, but I don't think i'd be able to get him in the thing again! Or out of it, actually, he never tries to escape when his doors or top are open (we have a cage that can open from the top about like 2 1/2' wide) and he doesn't even bother to get out, he just sits there ready to attack because he sees hands. Honestly I don't even know if he knows how to fly.

I looked online when we first obtained him and read that I'm supposed to just place my hand in the cage and talk nicely to it and over time he will get used to my hand, but that never happened..

There was 1 magical moment where I actually got him to sit on my hand and eat out of it..idk what got into him haha, but that never happened again. He just bites me now and ignores the food.

Is there anyway to salvage the trust of a possibly traumatized mean little Cockatiel?? I'm afraid i'm only good with mammals haha.

 

[veimar]

I'd handle him in gloves - if you don't handle him he never changes. I have a rescued tiel, and he still hates my hands, but he is much better now and steps up pretty well. I got him in July almost 2 yo, parent raised, never handled or let out of cage - he was just wild! When I got him I used think beige leather gloves to handle him, otherwise he would have ripped up my hands too (I really need them for my work!). I handled him A LOT just to make sure he gets used to the hands and to the fact that he'll be handled regardless of his hissing and lunging/biting. In summer I took him to hikes and grocery stores with me, and I take him to showers with me all the time. He always bites in cage, but when he is out he is fine. How old is your tiel?

 

[SarahKate]

I'd handle him in gloves - if you don't handle him he never changes. I have a rescued tiel, and he still hates my hands, but he is much better now and steps up pretty well. I got him in July almost 2 yo, parent raised, never handled or let out of cage - he was just wild! When I got him I used think beige leather gloves to handle him, otherwise he would have ripped up my hands too (I really need them for my work!). I handled him A LOT just to make sure he gets used to the hands and to the fact that he'll be handled regardless of his hissing and lunging/biting. In summer I took him to hikes and grocery stores with me, and I take him to showers with me all the time. He always bites in cage, but when he is out he is fine. How old is your tiel?

I have no idea how old me tiel is :/ Is there any way to tell?

I'm not sure if he knows how to fly, even though his wings are not clipped. Like I said he never attempted to fly out of his cage or anything. I'm worried to take him out and never be able to get him back haha. DO you think he would come back to his cage for food on his own? I discovered today that he will let me hold him if hes on his favorite pineapple toy so thats good <:..until he noticed my finger that is, but he didn't care as much since there was so much between us.

Update: I took a risk and got him on that pineapple he loves and took him out and i have him in a low ceiling bedroom with the curtains closed and mirrors covered and I discovered he is just a weak flier and all he can do is hover at best, but I can always get him back by sticking the pineapple under him. He even climbed up my arm and onto my shoulder a little bit ( I'm afraid hes going to bite my ears though haha). I'll keep doing this and i'm sure he will get better : ) Thanks so much!

 

[Dopey]

You're making progress.

 

[DoodlesMom]

Tips for Bonding and Building Trust: This article is extremly detailrd and informative. I also had a hand hating bird. By utilizing the info from here Doodle is stepping up onto my hand now.

The article is written buy a fellow member, Delfin. The article is in the GENERAL PARROT INFORMATION of our forum.

 

[veimar]

That sounds good! I have 6 rescues and taming each of them was very different process. My tiel was the only one whom I actually handled a lot (I can't even think of doing this with my IRN), but I asked for expert advice and that was what most ppl said. Tiels are cuddly birds and should actually like physical interaction. My Murzik became very cuddly in these 4 months I had him - and quite frankly I handled him a lot even while he hated it. It really worked for him. Now I can just "wear" him on me for hours - we've went for long walks together (I had food and water with me for him, and let him poop on the ground) and I let him take naps with me - he sleeps right under my neck. So just do what you're doing and trust your guts too - usually you would feel and see what is working and what is not.
There is no sure way to tell your adult tiel's age, but there are some tips - just google it up.

 

[Allee]

Here you go. This is the Sticky that DoodlesMom was referring to.

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

 

[SarahKate]

That sounds good! I have 6 rescues and taming each of them was very different process. My tiel was the only one whom I actually handled a lot (I can't even think of doing this with my IRN), but I asked for expert advice and that was what most ppl said. Tiels are cuddly birds and should actually like physical interaction. My Murzik became very cuddly in these 4 months I had him - and quite frankly I handled him a lot even while he hated it. It really worked for him. Now I can just "wear" him on me for hours - we've went for long walks together (I had food and water with me for him, and let him poop on the ground) and I let him take naps with me - he sleeps right under my neck. So just do what you're doing and trust your guts too - usually you would feel and see what is working and what is not.
There is no sure way to tell your adult tiel's age, but there are some tips - just google it up.

If i push my finger underneath him he will get on my finger and walk up my arm, but not without a bite on the finger first. Is that what you mean by handling him even when he doesn't like it? I read on the article one of the other posters linked that if you keep ignoring his warnings you will get bit, and I got two very hard bites later today after doing what I described, even though I wasn't hurting him or anything. Should I keep getting him on my hand like I was?

 

[veimar]

I got bitten a few times pretty bad in beginning, but he was completely wild, probably much worse than yours. Hissing and lunging at my hands all the time! But he somehow really liked me from day 1 (he probably still has no idea that my hands are part of me)! That's why I used gloves (those were skin color suede and looked like hands). I didn't let him step up until about two months later - he just wasn't ready for that and got panicky if I pushed under his chest. I let him sit on the bed near me or put him on my lap when I practiced piano. Is yours sitting still or running around? Mine has been always very still and I used to take him on the windowsill near me, and could sit there for hours with his food and water. Mine still bites, sometimes harder in the cage, but most of the time it doesn't really hurt or even feel. If I didn't gently force him he would never get out of his cage, hang out with other birds, step up and ride on me, get to the play stand, etc, etc... I think you are doing these things too early maybe - it all takes time, weeks and months. Some birds are more stubborn than others. But if you don't handle him he never gets used to handling. If he bites really hard I'd use some skinny leather gloves at first (I only used them for about 3-4 days). And of course talking, talking talking. I don't talk to my hubby as much as I do to my birds. LOL

 

[SarahKate]

I got bitten a few times pretty bad in beginning, but he was completely wild, probably much worse than yours. Hissing and lunging at my hands all the time! But he somehow really liked me from day 1 (he probably still has no idea that my hands are part of me)! That's why I used gloves (those were skin color suede and looked like hands). I didn't let him step up until about two months later - he just wasn't ready for that and got panicky if I pushed under his chest. I let him sit on the bed near me or put him on my lap when I practiced piano. Is yours sitting still or running around? Mine has been always very still and I used to take him on the windowsill near me, and could sit there for hours with his food and water. Mine still bites, sometimes harder in the cage, but most of the time it doesn't really hurt or even feel. If I didn't gently force him he would never get out of his cage, hang out with other birds, step up and ride on me, get to the play stand, etc, etc... I think you are doing these things too early maybe - it all takes time, weeks and months. Some birds are more stubborn than others. But if you don't handle him he never gets used to handling. If he bites really hard I'd use some skinny leather gloves at first (I only used them for about 3-4 days). And of course talking, talking talking. I don't talk to my hubby as much as I do to my birds. LOL

Yeah he isn't afraid of my face or anything, just my hands. And yeah he stays still most of the time. I'll look into some gloves <: thanks!

 

[EdwardH]

If I push my finger underneath him he will get on my finger and walk up my arm, but not without a bite on the finger first.

Rather than forcing him to step onto your finger, try to encourage him. Place you finger or a wooden dowel in front of him and offer him some millet. He will step up to reach the millet. Do this a few times and he learns that stepping onto your finger means millet snacks! They key to stop the biting is to build trust. At the moment he sees your finger as a threat which he can't avoid - so he bites that nasty thing.

 

[SarahKate]

If I push my finger underneath him he will get on my finger and walk up my arm, but not without a bite on the finger first.

Rather than forcing him to step onto your finger, try to encourage him. Place you finger or a wooden dowel in front of him and offer him some millet. He will step up to reach the millet. Do this a few times and he learns that stepping onto your finger means millet snacks! They key to stop the biting is to build trust. At the moment he sees your finger as a threat which he can't avoid - so he bites that nasty thing.

He doesn't like any kind of treats and his food is mostly millet anyways. He doesn't even try fruits, veggies, other treats, or anything. Just his food. He runs away from perches i'm holding because he sees my hands. Hes gotten 100% more aggressive since I posted this and hes drawing blood and flying at me and attacking me when I'm just trying to close his cage door.. I'm about to give up u__u I stopped letting him sit next to me because he starting biting way to hard when i carry him on his pineapple because he sees my hands. I leave him in his cage mostly but with the door open so he can fly if he wants, but now hes flying at me and attacking me and my clothes when I try to close his cage door. I had to take my sweatshirt off that he was on because he wouldn't get off of me and trying to bite.

I really don't know why hes gotten so bad. I'm not acting threatening or aggressive towards him. I mean he was a mean bird before, but this is getting really bad.