Help needed with Cockatiel's Trust

[CrazzMc]

Info about my cockatiel is here, the actual problem is in the last paragraph, thanks!

Okay, so I got my cockatiel from a Local Pet Store which really doesn't take care of birds and he was completely scared and un-tame when I got him. It has been almost a week and now Simba is clicker conditioned, targets all around his cage and today he even did it all around the outside of the cage. However, I still can't get him to stand on a moving perch like a perch in my hand. He doesn't trust it and he still doesn't trust my finger/hand even when I put it close to him from outside the cage he still backs away a little.

Is there anything I can do? I mean I feed him millet out of my hand and he tries to nibble on my fingers but if there is no millet there he is totally scared. He always wants to play and wants to come outside of the cage, but I still have worry of him flying around and getting hurt or I have to force him to get back into the cage.

I barely got him back into the cage today 'nicely'. I had to kinda lure him in and close the doors while he was standing on them, after he did that I gave him a bit of food and he was fine.

He also was chirping a lot(first day he really did it)! I play my Xbox near him and whenever I'm playing Halo and I'm in a game and he loves the sounds and starts chirping, he gets pretty happy haha.

He is getting used to me, but not my hand so I tried this: I closed the cage doors and he sits on the perch closest to the front of the cage. I put my finger through the bars and the second before he started moving away I clicked and rewarded... will this work? I don't think it was working too much but I still kept doing it.

Thanks,

-Raj

[WVUSAE]

From someone with a similar situation, your best ally is to leave his cage open (make sure he cannot escape and room is parrot proof) and let him come to you. Give him some time and be around him.

[CrazzMc]

From someone with a similar situation, your best ally is to leave his cage open (make sure he cannot escape and room is parrot proof) and let him come to you. Give him some time and be around him.

Alright thanks! Today I fed him some millet and with my other hand I pet him a bit on the head He still was scared and pulled back a bit, but not to the point where he was freaking out. Then later on he stepped onto my hand about 5 times. For some reason he doesn't trust when I'm holding the perch, but he comes onto my finger a bit easier than the perch.

Just glad I'm making progress.

Thanks again

[Shelby]

Well, holding the perch is kind of the transition between the bird sitting in the cage and getting it to come to you, so it's not bad that he kind of skipped that step and went straight for stepping onto your finger. I don't know if you've tried this yet, but only feed the big meals in the cage and only give little treats outside the cage during training. Try taking him out before you feed him his morning and evening meals, so he is hungry when you put him back and he learns that both you AND the cage are good places to be.

[liz]

Go for the [i]tickle tickle[i] method.
Say tickle tickle and wiggle with one finger to touch his feet. He will learn what tickle tickle means. When he gets used to that tickle with one finger on his chest while you say it.
I have been working with Myrtle since March. Now I can tickle her feet, up her chest, around her face and head and even her neck. It took a while but she has no fear of my hands now.

[CrazzMc]

Go for the [i]tickle tickle[i] method.
Say tickle tickle and wiggle with one finger to touch his feet. He will learn what tickle tickle means. When he gets used to that tickle with one finger on his chest while you say it.
I have been working with Myrtle since March. Now I can tickle her feet, up her chest, around her face and head and even her neck. It took a while but she has no fear of my hands now.

see its really weird about a week ago my cockatiel stepped up and now he doesn't I did everyday and he kept getting more and more uncomfortable... I guess Im going to start taking his food out at like 2:00 when I come back from school and then at 4:00 train him and then give a nice meal after. I think he just needs motivation however he wont step up but when hes eating out of my hand he will let me pet him odd little bird but I still love him, hes still quite un-tame its taking longer then i expected but I wont give up and thanks I'll try that!

[liz]

Don't with hold food. Just try tickle tickle.

[Michael]

http://TrainedParrot.com/Taming

[CrazzMc]

http://TrainedParrot.com/Taming

Trying just taking a while, wasn't treated good at Pet Store. Its definitely happy, just doesn't 100% trust. I'll take it slower and train a bit more.

I tried petting him w/o food and he just lunges for my finger. Hasn't bit me yet (reached it but once he touches it he realizes its safe, but then he just backs away-- i close the door get on my laptop and 2 minutes later he wants to play again haha), and he likes the feeling because when I am petting him while he is eating he doesn't move back.

[WVUSAE]

What I did to gain trust is what I saw a lady do on youtube. She would take her hand and move it towards the cockatiel. When she reached closely, she rewarded it. As it gets more comfortable and can touch it, the more desensitized it was to the hand. Maybe try it? It worked with my one bird to where i can pet his head and his beak but my other one is coming off of an injury so training isn't on the menu currently.