Re-training my sisters Tiel

[CheekyandMalolo]

I've been thinking lately of re-training my sister's young Tiel. He's hand-reared, he kind of has that indifferent view towards people and doesn't understand just how good scratches can be.
I'd love to have him a fair bit more sociable, he has no issues with people, but just prefers to go sit in the window with the other boys, unlike Mali who would spend 24hrs a day on a person.
I guess I wondering where I should start, he steps up, but not always reliably. Should I start with target training? I think I'd have to take him into another room to do anything with, he focuses far too much on Mali and stresses when he can see her but can't be with her.

[kaylayuh]

Sometimes I find that certain birds prefer to be in the company of other birds rather than with people. I don't necessarily see a problem with it. My budgies were too stressed out by training that I felt it was best to just let them hang out with eachother and just give up with the training.

That said, it's much harder to train a bird if they're focused on their flockmate. I'd move him to a quiet area where he can focus on you. At that point, I'd probably start with target training and getting the bird comfortable stepping up.

[CheekyandMalolo]

I just think that since he's only about 15months old, it'd be nice to have him much better behaved and socialized. Especially in the case that he needs rehoming, he's living with us ATM because my sister can't have a bird at her rental house, but mum hates having the Tiel's here thanks to their dust. I don't even necessarily want him to learn tricks (altho a shake or wave would be cute), I just think the process would most likely improve his opinion of people and his confidence in them.

[kaylayuh]

I think target training could work for that. My budgies seemed so traumatized by people and hands that I kind of just stopped trying to train them and let them hang out and do their own thing. My landlord knows about Cheney Bird, but doesn't know about Pigpen or No Name, both of which came before Cheney Bird.

I taught both Pigpen and No Name to step up by offering them millet that they could only get by stepping onto my finger. Since they're flighted now, they seem to be unwilling to step up and would prefer to fly away from me.