My new cockatiel

CHRISTINACO

Hiya, I got my male cockatiel yesterday..he is aviary bred and is 3 months old.he is in great health. Bright-eyed and lovely plummage. I named him zazu.
I could do with some advice on how to tame my tiel so he can become the loving pet I would love him to be.
So far he has only hissed at me twice. Once as I put him into his cage for the first time,straight from his carry box as advised from the breeder and the second hiss came when I tried to fix his water bowl. He has raised his crest a few times and actually stepped on my finger when he mistook it for his perch. He has chirped merrily quite a bit but he is still feeling uncomfortable. I know it will take time and patience and that's what I have.
At the moment I have his cage on a table beside me in the sitting room and earlier he liked watching the tv. I was getting worried he wasn't eating so I moved his seed bowl closer to his perch and he dove in.eating and watching me at the same time. I was drinking my tea and asking him questions from a crossword just so he could hear my voice and he seemed to edge closer to my side of the cage..
Am I doing anything wrong and what else can I do..?he is a beautiful tiel and I hope he will be happy here.
Regards

Sigma Force

Sounds like you are doing everything right so far, he's going to be nervous for a good while just ensure the room he's in hasn't a smokey open fire or any candles etc. lit which can irritate birds.

I have a reasonably tame tiel but he will hiss the odd time, some can be tempramental but your guy is young and should come round, hissing is a warning and tiels will let you know if they are upset or unhappy about something.
The cage is his little territory if you want to protect your fingers start by using a spare perch and holding that to get him to hop onto the perch and take him in and out of the cage that way, he won't be as nervous is there's a perch between him and your hand.

Just talk to him a lot and repeat one word only to start with until he starts to say it so he doesn't get confused with too many words, keep them short and simple. Tiels seem to almost automatically say hello so that's an easy one. Then perhaps his name then go on to any other words, they love to wolf whistle and if you pick a tune you like (ensure it's one you like otherwise when he learns it it will do your head in after a while) whistle a short version to him often.

Use an over exagerated (sp?) happy tone when speaking to him they seem to like that.

If you google cockatielcottage it's a great website for tiel owners.

Do be mindful of his diet and health care and get informed but try not to get paranoid some sites paint the worst case scenario and frighten the life out of you because birds can be delicate but in general tiels are hardy.

Bribe him with his favourite food (millet sprays are popular with most tiels) he'll soon be feeding out of your hand but give him time let him come to you.

portgirl123

im actually go through the same i actually got a tiel from a member of this board about 3 weeks ago, he is maybe 6 months or so old, he does the same. im after getting advice of a great person that breeds all sorts of birds and hand rears them. she said with a lot of time and patcience i MIGHT get him semi tame. thats as best as i can hope for
i am actually getting a hand reared tiel of her end of next week, i have talking to ppl that she has sold birds to and their all singing her prases. of course i will be keeping this guy and working with him. he is already coming over to side to me and will scream at me when he hears my voice, he also loves singing and dancing with the tv. cant go near him though as he would taKE THE HAND OF ME. who cares still nice to see and listen to.

CHRISTINACO

Sigma Force wrote: »

Sounds like you are doing everything right so far, he's going to be nervous for a good while just ensure the room he's in hasn't a smokey open fire or any candles etc. lit which can irritate birds.

I have a reasonably tame tiel but he will hiss the odd time, some can be tempramental but your guy is young and should come round, hissing is a warning and tiels will let you know if they are upset or unhappy about something.
The cage is his little territory if you want to protect your fingers start by using a spare perch and holding that to get him to hop onto the perch and take him in and out of the cage that way, he won't be as nervous is there's a perch between him and your hand.

Just talk to him a lot and repeat one word only to start with until he starts to say it so he doesn't get confused with too many words, keep them short and simple. Tiels seem to almost automatically say hello so that's an easy one. Then perhaps his name then go on to any other words, they love to wolf whistle and if you pick a tune you like (ensure it's one you like otherwise when he learns it it will do your head in after a while) whistle a short version to him often.

Use an over exagerated (sp?) happy tone when speaking to him they seem to like that.

If you google cockatielcottage it's a great website for tiel owners.

Do be mindful of his diet and health care and get informed but try not to get paranoid some sites paint the worst case scenario and frighten the life out of you because birds can be delicate but in general tiels are hardy.

Bribe him with his favourite food (millet sprays are popular with most tiels) he'll soon be feeding out of your hand but give him time let him come to you.

thank you stigma force..great advice there...he seems to be in better form today..no hissing so far:)

CHRISTINACO

portgirl123 wrote: »

im actually go through the same i actually got a tiel from a member of this board about 3 weeks ago, he is maybe 6 months or so old, he does the same. im after getting advice of a great person that breeds all sorts of birds and hand rears them. she said with a lot of time and patcience i MIGHT get him semi tame. thats as best as i can hope for
i am actually getting a hand reared tiel of her end of next week, i have talking to ppl that she has sold birds to and their all singing her prases. of course i will be keeping this guy and working with him. he is already coming over to side to me and will scream at me when he hears my voice, he also loves singing and dancing with the tv. cant go near him though as he would taKE THE HAND OF ME. who cares still nice to see and listen to.

aww thats great portergirl..i will stick with my tiel too..he is way too cute..i put a musical tigger in wit him and he seems to love that,there is bird sounds coming from it so it might help him feel more at home..good luck with ur tiel..he are doing fantastic so far..you have obviously bonded with him:)

Sigma Force

Check out the northern parrots website they sell DVDs for birds to watch, our tiel loves his Birdy Show dvd gets all excited when he hears the dvd player opening.