Cockatiel afraid of empty hand

[dmallia]

I got a cockatiel about 1 month ago. At first he was very aggressive and after some time he began to eat sunflower seed from my hand outside the cage. Than I began to insert my hand with some millets and than began to lower his head and eat from my hand. When I try to insert my hand empty into the cage (to replace the cuttlefish bone or touch him) he hisses and defend himself. What do you think I can do to teach him that my hand is safe? Thanks before hand.

[Zain Abbas]

If your cockatiel takes seeds from your hand then you should start target/touch training. This is when you teach your parrot to touch the end of a stick in order to earn rewards. Before starting this you have to clicker train your bird. That means you have to teach your bird that clicks equal treats. So, each time you click, you should give the bird a treat. Somewhere along the way, you will notice that your bird understands the concept and starts to expect a treat after hearing the click. This means you are ready to move on to the next step. If you do not have a clicker then click this link to find out how to make one at home.http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200477580883695&set=vb.350953621654097&type=3

Next you should start touch training. Hold a wooden stick, such as a chopstick near your parrot and as soon as he touches it you should click at the exact second and then give him a treat. Continue training this way until you parrot is willing to follow the stick around to touch it. In a couple of weeks you should be able to get your parrot to step onto your empty hand. Basically your bird was afraid of an empty hand approaching it because it probably thought you were going to grab it. This way the bird is the one who approaches you in order to touch the stick. This is also a very handy technique to get your parrot back into the cage in case he is fussy about that.

Another thing you must do is stop forcing your parrot to step up or be pet if it doesn't want to. This way the bird will get emotionally conditioned and will stop hating your hand.

For more on parrot training visit http://www.parrotsoftheworld-amazingpets.webs.com/ and the facebook page http://www.facebook.com/potwap

Happy training

[dan4]

I think the easiest way to solve this is pay attention to hisses. My irn does this when he's tired or to mypartner, she rewards him by leaving him alone.....so he always does it. I ignored him and unless he's asleep he doesn't do it anymore

Get to the point of a hiss and continue to leave your hand until it stops, move on until it starts and so forth. The bird will learn that hissing does nothing and it's not thr behaviour to use against you. Reward inquisitive behaviour during this. My stuey nips me playfully when I'm in the cage now, it's a fun game but not vicious