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Thread: my cockatiel is still scared of me even though he seems comfortable

 
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    zaawarudoo's Avatar


    Parrots

    a cockatiel named benji

    my cockatiel is still scared of me even though he seems comfortable

    ive had him for almost a month now, im being extremely patient with him, not pushing him into doing anything, im avoiding proglonged eye contact, im keeping my voice soft, when i got him home i left him alone for 2-3 days, then slowly started introducing myself, i put my hands around the cage and into the cage like youre supposed to, i went about my day in the room hes in, and i spend most of my time here as well, he's heard my voice quite a lot and has seen me frequently. he grinds his beak, sings and moves around and plays with his toys sometimes, but hes still cautious of me
    ive even gotten him to eat from and sit on my hand, but he still lunges and hisses at me sometimes, and now he wont even get out of his cage? no trauma or bad experience has happened to him in my house though when i tried hand training him he wasnt happy that my hands were coming towards him (this was recent) also he did come from a petstore and had been there for at least a year, am i doing something wrong, is this normal? any suggestions as to what i should try?

    also a few notes that might help?
    - when i let him out i dont force him out but i do have to carry/bring down his cage from a dresser and thats always something he seems to hate, but i dont have any room for him elsewhere :^( when i do bring him down i put his cage on the floor, and the first 2/3 times he came out of his cage he came out flying (trying to, hes clipped) and screaming, they werent necessarily bad experiences i think, but i feel like he doesnt enjoy coming out, i have two perches for him to sit at and the only things he's done is walk around my room, sit on the perches, and he's had to try hand training step ups

    today i started hand feeding him so his bowl is now out of his cage

    tldr ive had my cockatiel for almsot a month, done everything i can to make him comfortable, and he seems like he is but he's still biting and scared, how can i fix this?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    Be patient, it took six months for Casper to realise that I was a nice person and a good source of scritches that he didn't need to bite.
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

  3. #3
    Super Moderator
    Dragonlady2's Avatar


    Parrots

    Willy-Eclectus, Oliver-alexandrine, Mookie-Senegal, Bella- Australian King, Joey and Peewee- Barrabands, Peachiegirl-Peachfront conure, Pepper- crimson belly conure, Peanut-plum head, Babyblue-parrotlette, Harry and Louie-canaries.
    Why do you have to bring his cage down from the dresser? That change in his space might be making him feel less safe.

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    zaawarudoo's Avatar


    Parrots

    a cockatiel named benji
    well that is comforting to know for sure, at least i know we can still make some progress and he's not going to be scared of me forever lol, did you do anything differently with him? or how did you go about gaining his trust?

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    zaawarudoo's Avatar


    Parrots

    a cockatiel named benji
    it's too high for him to come down from, so if he wants to come out i have to bring it all the way down, but today i tried just keeping it open, he didnt manage to come all the way out for a good 40-60 minutes, so i had to let him onto my hand with some millet bait, right now he's on his perch
    and yeah i completely understand that, i was thinking that might be a big reason he feels unsafe so i think i'll find other ways to get him to come out

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Casper's 2nd best friend's Avatar


    Parrots

    Casper, a blue fronted Amazon. Loves banana. Hates plastic bags and red coats.
    Quote Originally Posted by zaawarudoo View Post
    well that is comforting to know for sure, at least i know we can still make some progress and he's not going to be scared of me forever lol, did you do anything differently with him? or how did you go about gaining his trust?
    He was already friendly with my wife Margaret (hence my forum name). He was on her lap having his neck scritched and was enjoying it so much he had his eyes closed so I took over the scritching and when he opened his eyes he realised it was me giving him nice feather ruffling. That was the turning point, he still didn't trust me fully but his bites were no longer so hard that they drew blood and gradually the bites happened less often.

    He came to us age 25 and in his previous home the man was not nice to him so I had to overcome that mistrust.
    "A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom

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