reeb
New member
So, Berry, my cockatiel, came from a breeder. He had a lot of birds - even in the room where he kept hand reared birds there were so many, and so I guess he didn't have a lot of time to spend with any of the older hand-reared babies who hadn't been sold yet. Berry was 4 months old when I got her, and the last of her clutch to be sold. She and was very, VERY shy when I brought her home, despite being hand-reared. From the moment I saw her I fell in love with her, and so when I saw the breeder grab her out of her cage instead of asking her to step up I knew I had a lot of work to do to regain her trust of human hands.
For the first week it was very hard. She spent all her time out of the cage sitting on one corner of the play stand, not moving at all or making a sound. She refused to step up, and I had to coax her with millet spray to get her to sit on my finger. After a number of days, I began to feel really disheartened, because I thought that all was lost, and that she would never trust me. But, I knew she was a sweet gentle bird (she has NEVER hissed at me or bitten through this whole experience, and has always been kind and calm around my other birds) and so I pushed on, despite my doubts. I only handled her when moving her places, and just spent time talking to her while she was in and out of her cage. I never forced her to sit on my shoulder, or held her when she didn't want to be held - I just let her do her thing, and I watched as she just started to blossom in my second and third week of having her.
She began exploring, slowly at first, curious about what my show budgies were up to, nibbling at the toys hanging from their play stand, tweeting as loud as she could, and even flying as well as she could (she has cropped wings which I didn't request, my birds are free flighted). She began to chew and hop from place to place, sometimes following the budgies and flying across the room. She then began to step up onto my finger eagerly in the morning, and so I carried on, picking her up when necessary, playing with the other birds near her, asking her to step up periodically, sitting near the play stand and talking to her - I just kept at it, I wanted her to trust me, to know that I am a friend.
And well, it all paid off. About a week ago, I was sitting on the couch right by their play stand. My budgies often come over and nibble at my necklace or groom my hair when I am relaxing there. This day, I watched little Berry gingerly hop onto the couch, and slowly inch her way towards me. She climbed onto my lap (I was so damn excited I took so many photos to send to my boyfriend) and then all the way up my chest, before settling on my shoulder and grooming my neck (and pulling at the necklace, of course). While it was brief, and she hopped away after about a minute, I felt so happy!
So after this, I began holding her more often, letting her sit on my shoulder if she wanted to. The more time I've spent with her, the more she has trusted me, and every day I get to have a new special experience with her.
Why am I posting this today, though?
Well today, Berry let me scratch her head. I never even thought to do it, because I didn't want to ruin our bond, and I thought it might be a bit much for her. I couldn't help myself though, I needed to see how she would react! My budgies HATE head scratches... but I have discovered that little Berry LOVES them. She closes her eyes, and sometimes makes these adorable little sounds. To me, this was a massive milestone. I brought her home as a scared bird, terrified of being touched for the fear of being grabbed and manhandled. Four weeks later, she comes bounding to me in the morning, tweets happily, sits on my shoulder and finger - and now, I can't even believe it, she even likes to be petted.
So I guess my message is this: even if your birdie seems a bit offish or shy at first, persevere! If you give up, you might be missing out on a very special friendship.
For the first week it was very hard. She spent all her time out of the cage sitting on one corner of the play stand, not moving at all or making a sound. She refused to step up, and I had to coax her with millet spray to get her to sit on my finger. After a number of days, I began to feel really disheartened, because I thought that all was lost, and that she would never trust me. But, I knew she was a sweet gentle bird (she has NEVER hissed at me or bitten through this whole experience, and has always been kind and calm around my other birds) and so I pushed on, despite my doubts. I only handled her when moving her places, and just spent time talking to her while she was in and out of her cage. I never forced her to sit on my shoulder, or held her when she didn't want to be held - I just let her do her thing, and I watched as she just started to blossom in my second and third week of having her.
She began exploring, slowly at first, curious about what my show budgies were up to, nibbling at the toys hanging from their play stand, tweeting as loud as she could, and even flying as well as she could (she has cropped wings which I didn't request, my birds are free flighted). She began to chew and hop from place to place, sometimes following the budgies and flying across the room. She then began to step up onto my finger eagerly in the morning, and so I carried on, picking her up when necessary, playing with the other birds near her, asking her to step up periodically, sitting near the play stand and talking to her - I just kept at it, I wanted her to trust me, to know that I am a friend.
And well, it all paid off. About a week ago, I was sitting on the couch right by their play stand. My budgies often come over and nibble at my necklace or groom my hair when I am relaxing there. This day, I watched little Berry gingerly hop onto the couch, and slowly inch her way towards me. She climbed onto my lap (I was so damn excited I took so many photos to send to my boyfriend) and then all the way up my chest, before settling on my shoulder and grooming my neck (and pulling at the necklace, of course). While it was brief, and she hopped away after about a minute, I felt so happy!
So after this, I began holding her more often, letting her sit on my shoulder if she wanted to. The more time I've spent with her, the more she has trusted me, and every day I get to have a new special experience with her.
Why am I posting this today, though?
Well today, Berry let me scratch her head. I never even thought to do it, because I didn't want to ruin our bond, and I thought it might be a bit much for her. I couldn't help myself though, I needed to see how she would react! My budgies HATE head scratches... but I have discovered that little Berry LOVES them. She closes her eyes, and sometimes makes these adorable little sounds. To me, this was a massive milestone. I brought her home as a scared bird, terrified of being touched for the fear of being grabbed and manhandled. Four weeks later, she comes bounding to me in the morning, tweets happily, sits on my shoulder and finger - and now, I can't even believe it, she even likes to be petted.
So I guess my message is this: even if your birdie seems a bit offish or shy at first, persevere! If you give up, you might be missing out on a very special friendship.
