How to tame frightened cockatiel

[Tiellove]

Hey guys! Im new to this forum, so sorry for any awkwardness. Anyways, I recently bought a two month old cockatiel from a local pet supermarket. I named him sunny because of the way the yellow kind of fades throughout his body. I got him and the first few days he didnt do anything. He started eating after two days, and now hes eating better. Whenever I give him a sunflower seed in his cage, he sometimes eats it, sometimes he flutters away. His cage is next to the parakeets' cage, and theyre all in the living room. I try to leave the cage door open so he can try to come out, but he doesnt. Whenever he DOES come out though, he will be scared of EVERYTHING, and will not go back in his cage unless I force him to step up on a perch and put him in. Now jes scared of the perch, and its even harder to put him in the cage. Today when I took him out, he just sat in one spot, crest erect, and did not move. Even when I tried to scratch him (he hates that and bites me) he didnt react. One day hell do great with training (he'll eat sunflower seeds and target), and the next day he'll be as scared as the first day I got him. I dont know what to do, and I might return him if he doesnt get used to us soon because I dont want him to live a life of fear of people, and I want him to have a good house to live in, which im afraid is not our house since hes scared of everyone. Ive had him for five days. He has not made any significant progress, so can you guys please help ASAP? Sorry for the long post but thank you guys so much.

[Tiellove]

UPDATE: I had to grab him with a towel to put him back in his cage, and now im afraid he wont like us at all.

[shiraartain]

How long was it before you started trying to touch the bird and take it out? I need you to stop grabbing the bird. If getting it back into its cage is really an issue, open the cage around evening and do NOT feed it out of its cage. it will go back into its cage once it gets hungry for the food. Do not try to touch it at all. Just close the doors and windows and remain in one spot, read a book maybe, as it leaves and until it gets back into its cage.

Start uncovering the cage at dawn and covering it at sunset. This will help your bird get used to a steady schedule and prevent physical harm.

Also, you're supposed to quarantine a new bird for about 90 days after you get it, in order to prevent diseases from spreading from your new bird to your existing ones. I don't know what to advise you since you've already placed the cages next to one another, hopefully another member will have more advice regarding that.

Cockatiels are lovely and friendly birds, but you need to remember that to this bird you are a complete stranger who is gigantic and it is in a completely new environment. it is completely terrified. It will take time and effort for the two of you to develop the sort of bond that can be found in youtube videos and across the internet.

I'm not an avian expert and I've only owned one cockatiel before, but this is the most basic advice I can give you until someone more experienced replies.

[Tiellove]

@shiraartain
Thanks for your advice, and I touched the bird after I thought he was not scared to eat out of my hand which was in about three days. I think I messed up when I tried to handle him outside his cage. Thank you so much for your help!

[Wolf]

Hi;
I just saw your post. and I think that this can be turned around and get things moving in the right direction. Shiraartain has given you some good advice about your new friend, Sunny.
It is always advised to quarantine a new bird for a period of time and I am not sure that it will do any good at this point as you have made some mistakes and already stressed the bird. Well we will hope for the best on this front. There are others with more knowledge of this than I and ,I would recommend listening to them when they reply to this.
Lets consider backing off and starting all over again and see if we can make things better. Sunny should be getting up at dawn and going to sleep when the sun goes down, just make sure that in this process that he is exposed to the twilight at dusk as the combination of the wavelengths of the light at this time of day along with the total length of the day are the things that set the birds biological clock and keep his endocrine system functioning properly. The next thing to consider is his diet. He needs whole grains and lots of fresh vegetables and some fruit to eat during the day and a good seed mix for dinner, a budgie seed mix would be ideal for him. You will find several recipies for a basic gloop, which is what we call the mix of cooked beans, grains and vegetables that some of us feed.
Now as to handling Sunny, I would recommend that you set aside three or four 15 minute time slots each day to devote to taming him. This is basically a way of reassuring him that everything is ok and that you mean him no harm. It allows him the time and space to learn to accept your presence and that you can be trusted and also that you bring him good things to eat. During this process learn to watch him closely without looking directly at him as you need to learn his body language. Now for the 15 minutes just talk to him in a calm voice and bring 3 or 4 pieces of millet for treats and offer him a short piece through the cage bars. Talk for a few minutes and offer a piece of the millet while continueing to talk to him and offer another piece a few minutes later. Continue in this way until the time is up. When he takes the treats from you calmly and willingly for the entire session then you move to the front of the cage and do the same process only with the door to the cage open. Don't put your whole hand in the cage, just your fingers and let Sunny come to you to get his treats. Then when he is taking these treats from you offer him the treat in such a manner that he needs to step onto your hand to take it. if he doesn't do this just back off to the previous way and let him get the next treat from your finger and try again for the next treat. When he will step on your hand to take the treats, you are ready to begin target training him. Remember to be patient and let Sunny set the pace. Never crowd, or push him into doing anything as it will interfere with the formation of your budding bond. He needs to know that he can trust you.

[Pajarita]

The advice given is good but it sounds to me (I might be wrong on this as I am actually making assumptions here) as if you got yourself a parent-raised and clipped baby and this kind of babies take longer to bond (if they do at all) You kind of messed up big time and he is now traumatized so you have your work cut out for you but returning him will be unfair to him and to his next owners as they will inherit the consequences of your mistake (you can't treat a parent-raised bird as if he was hand-raised). First of all, he needs two types of soft food, served fresh twice a day. I seriously doubt he will eat fruits, mine don't but they love love love their leafy greens (and broccoli) and their gloop. Secondly, he needs for you to stop trying so hard to make him interact with you. It's not helping at all, it's actually making things worse because he now does not trust you at all. Put a couple of perchs on the outside of his cage, open the door cage, walk away to a good distance, and let him do whatever he wants (and don't stare at him, watch him out of the corner of your eye). If he wants to come out, fine. If he doesn't, fine - just keep on doing it until he feels more comfortable and secure and learns that you won't be forcing him to accept you.

Tiels are lovely birds... beautiful, smart, accommodating, sweet-tempered and quite low maintenance compared to almost all other species of parrots so, if you put enough time, patience and love into it, he will reward you with his friendship and devotion. But you need to realize that this is something you need to work for, he doesn't owe it to you and forcing the issue will get you nowhere real fast.

[Angel85]

I have 2 cockatiels that took me about a month to tame. With them, what won them over was feeding a favorite treat by hand (millet or seeds) It takes a while for them to come around sometimes. You mentioned he was 8 weeks old. Was he handfed or parent raised?

Keep in mind he is scared and in a new environment. One of my tiels was exactly the same as Sunny as you described, but just reciently started to look and wistle for me. He now calls for me and when I open the door, he runs out and climbs on me. He likes to be pet and hops onto my chest to be cuddled. I didnt think he would ever be tame but was pleasantly surprised. Hope that may at least be encouraging

[Wolf]

Hi Angel;

It sounds to me that you may have an interesting story on the taming of your cockatiel, I for one would love to hear it in more detail.

[Angel85]

He was Handfed but became skittish of people due to lack of handling...I have had alot of free time to work with him. All I really did with this guy was feed his favorite treats (seeds, millet) by hand every time and talk sweetly with him. His staple diet is Roudybush pellets so the seeds were a special treat. I also worked on slowly introducing my hand to pet him on his head and crest, which he enjoyed.

Now he comes to me when he sees me. I open his door and he climbs onto my hand. I am sure that being handfed played a role in helping him tame easily. It did take alot of time and patience

[Angel85]

He was Handfed but became skittish of people due to lack of handling...I have had alot of free time to work with him. All I really did with this guy was feed his favorite treats (seeds, millet) by hand every time and talk sweetly with him. His staple diet is Roudybush pellets so the seeds were a special treat. I also worked on slowly introducing my hand to pet him on his head and crest, which he enjoyed.

Now he comes to me when he sees me. I open his door and he climbs onto my hand. I am sure that being handfed played a role in helping him tame easily. It did take alot of time and patience