Overly obsessed 'tiel

[thermodynamic]

Howdy! I have a coworker friend who has raised a cockatiel since it was 8 weeks old.

It incessantly screams when she is not around.

She has sometimes swapped toys, to no avail.

It has bonded to her and in an uber sort of way...

She has a family and, as I recall, it gets along with them... but it remains ever so clingy, flying to her from a distance and everything...

What might she do to keep the tiel happy but at the same time wean it off of her so it won't be hyper-attached to her?

Thanks!

 

[lene1949]

I would like to know how old this bird is now?

When you have a baby bird, or any baby-something, it's very easy to be over-loving... I have that at the moment with my baby Eclectus... I would just love to cuddle him for hours, and he probably would love it, too, but I know I need to leave him, so he can learn to play by himself.. I spent probably an hour after each feed just stroking his beautiful feathers, but after that he goes back into his cage with some fresh fruit and vegetables... I see him trying to do things - like getting back down from the top of the cage, and I really want to help, but I know I have to let him make mistakes... and I cringe, when he gets on the bottom of his cage so awkwardly...

It's not that the cockatiel is obsessed, it's just that it hasn't learnt anything different...

Depending on the age of the bird, it might be a long road ahead, which is why I asked about this bird's current age...

 

[Stahhhscream]

It may be a good idea for her and her family to sit in the room while the bird is in the cage. That way it can see that it doesn't need to be on her to be close to her. I think a lot of it also just has to do with tough love. Every time she goes to it when it screams she is rewarding the bird for bad behaviour. So it knows if it screams, it gets attention.