First Cockatiel

Hello!

We recently got our first little tiel after a lot of research and I'd love to know if everything here sounds normal!

She has a little bit of an issue with screaming to get our attention. To fix this we've read that it's best to ignore screaming entirely and to go to the bird when she's quiet or making normal cockatiel noises, which is what we are doing. She also screams a bit when we both leave the room and she is alone. So far she hasn't responded to flock calling - it's not enough and she continues to scream until we come back.

She does have her (few!) moments where she is good and we leave and come back into the room with no trouble. Is this a good sign?

Usually there is someone in the house, however there are sometimes periods of 3 hours or so where will be alone and we're worried that she may be screaming when we're away. We have hung around outside the house to see if she's screaming when we are gone and there usually isn't any sound.

Today was the first day we let her out and she was very good. She doesn't like us taking her out of the cage but when we leave the door open, she comes straight to us and quite happily sits on our hands or shoulders. She is very quiet when she's out of her cage and even snuggled our faces. Fingers are a different matter but we'd like to work on that, does anyone have any tips?

Thank you!

I have no practical experience but I've been doing my reading, too, and theorectically it sounds like you are doing everything right to me!!
I know it takes time, so be patient. <3

I'd love to see some pics!!!

When nobody is home leave a radio or tv on and that kind of keeps them company.

By the way welcome to the forum and congrats on your new birdy. What did you name her

Thanks for the advice! And her name is Ziggy.

I think we are worrying a little too much about not seeing results very quickly, these things will take time and we just need to keep going with what we are doing. We haven't had any complaints about her noisiness so far so hopefully our neighbours aren't upset haha!

One thing we need a bit of help with in terms of her screaming and loud whistling is that she really doesn't like to go back into her cage if we are in the room or if she knows we are in the house. For example if we need to put her into the cage so that we can go into the other room and cook, she gets upset and wants to be out. How do we teach her that her cage is somewhere fun to be? It's very big and she has some more toys on the way.

Also we keep reading conflicting information regarding paper towels and paper as a toy for cockatiels. Would it be safe to give her some clean kitchen towel to play with and shred?

First, welcome to the forum and I have a feeling that Ziggy is going to fit right in. How long has it been since you brought Ziggy home? Like the aliray suggeted, leave a radio on for background noise so Ziggy won't feel so lonesome. I too have read conflicting information about paper towels, especially the ones that are printed. I have used paper towels in the past, and if I do use them, I strictly by the plain white ones. Toys for cockatiels is great way to keep them from boredom. I usually change my tiels toys around the cage about every three weeks. One thing my tiel loves to chew on his a plain old white shoe lace. He will just sit on his perch and pull on it for a good period of time. Have you thought about an foraging toys?

Thank you for the reply! We've had her for four days

Usually when we're in the house we leave the television on even when we leave the room, but she still screams as though she knows we're still in the house. We've tried flock calls but so far she just continues to be noisy even when we reply to her. When we leave the house she's quite loud but we've tried to hang around outside when we leave, and when we come back, and we don't usually hear her.

Is a radio a good idea for when we go out to work or for a few hours?

We've given her some plain white kitchen towel and she seems to like playing with it. She was unsure at first but I think she'll get there.

Do you have any foraging toys you'd recommend? Or DIY ones? I've read they're great for tiels but I'm not sure where to start with them. I'd just like her to be happy when she has to entertain herself for a while. I'd hate for her to be upset or scared the whole time we're away.

everything sounds like you are doing everything just right! I give some of my birds non colored newspaper shredded and whole pieces, some dont like it but some of my birds LOVE IT!! as for paper towels they are fine as long as they arent scented or colored. as for foraging I stuff lots of things like, toilet paper rolls, anything round with holes,with treats and alfalfa hay! and I give natural wood branches that are safe and leaves off trees in my yard after I clean them and since they are from my yard I know there arent any chemicals on them!

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I really appreciate all the help.

I'll try some of those out, is it best to pop the hay and foraging toys into a tray in the bottom of her cage? We do need to get her loudness in the cage under control, we want her to be happy in there

It's frustrating how quiet she is when she's not in the cage. She barely peeps for hours when she's hanging out on our shoulders.

For finger training, there's a few very important things. You need to not react with any sound other than a calm, no bite when bitten. This takes practice. Then you need to not jerk away, take the bite so she learns your finger will not leave and she must get used too it. Talk gently to her the entire time you work on finger training. It takes time and practice on both parties, also try to remember, a beak is another hand for a bird, not every time her beak touches you is meant as a bite. She'll explore things by mouthing it.

For getting her used to fingers as a good thing, point your finger, thumb and the rest curled. Make sure she is looking at your hand. Now slowly move it towards her. When she nips or bites, curl the finger slowly away, no bite. Do not move the hand. When she calms down, uncurl and make sure she is watching, move your finger closer to her beak. When she is gently mouthing and exploring your finger, even grooming your nail for you, you will be ready for the next step. Remember to do it slowly though and talk calmly. If you make a big fuss over being bitten, some birds love the sounds you make and the reaction a bite can cause. It's almost like when a kid can make a parent break down and have a tantrum, the kid finds this hilarious because a grwonup is acting like a kid.

Next step is, see if a cupped hand, or a single, slightly bent finger is less scary. Where the finger game, you are aiming for having your finger near her beak, you want the cupped hand/bent finger over her head. When she freaks out and bites or nips, stop. Leave the hand where it is and say no bite. When she is looking at you, move a little closer. You want to go over the head and touch the back of the head/neck area. Right now,lightly. Gently stroke the feathers up, not down. This is grooming and she'll slowly learn that your finger or fingers touching her is nice. Again, if you are bitten, stay calm, do not move away and wait until she calms down. When she is enjoying your stroking, push your fingers lightly under the feathers to touch skin as you rub the feathers upwards. They love it when they realize you're grooming them, when you really dig in! But...you know, not hard to hurt them. Take baby steps It will take time for you both to learn. Eventually, she will have fun grooming you and may let you move to stroking or grooming more than just her head.

My Poopie, a tiel, loves to groom me when I allow him anywhere. Even my gums, I make sure I've brushed my teeth recently before I let that cute little head in my mouth, but he is gentle and will insist on grooming my entire head. He even grooms my ears and attempts to get in my nostrils. He does get mad and nip when I shoo him away. Once in a blue moon, the old fellow will lift a wing and ask me to rub beneath it, but this on his part shows a whole lot of trust. Mostly he's more a, I'll groom myself on you, groom you, let you rub my little head off and leave tiny poops all over you kind of guy. He's in his twenties and he literally begs me to rub his head as he turns it from side to side. I've timed it and he will have me rub until my finger is sore, two hours once and he still wanted more! I was worried about rubbing his feathers clean off and my finger was tired. But now I usually only do it for thirty minutes straight, tops. He's a spoiled oldster and knows it.

I'm special in his eyes, I'm the only one he lets touch under his wings and the only one he wants to rub his beak, under his chin, his neck and cheeks. Everyone else must rub the back of his head or get a good bite. He's a little cage aggressive, but I may have to change cages on him to fix that. He bites others, but nips and yells at me as he steps up. I attribute some of it to him being old and old guys are allowed to be cranky.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your new girl and I'd love to help when I can. I love seeing people learn with their birds the do's and don'ts of handling. I feel it helps you strengthen your bond as you grow and learn to trust one another, together.

Also, touch training works wonders. You do need to have a stand alone perch, a thin dowel ( about finger width ) and whatever treats she adores, this will take some doing to find out! If she is cage aggressive, teach her to step up on the dowel. You can use this in the cage to bring her out. Do not chase her with it. This is also why a lot of people get bit, they try to chase their bird around with their finger and corner it. When there's nowhere to run, they get scared and bite. Don't stick all of it in the cage, have it about thigh high and ask her to step up. If she moves away, be patient or come back later.

Target training, you work on with the step up from the perch. Like the finger game earlier, you want to move the dowel to her face, but sideways this time. When she bites it, say a no bite. Stay still and go a little closer when she is calm. When she touches it with her beack, say touch. Praise and treat her. Eventually she'll learn touch means to touch the object in front of her face with her beak. Two days with the dowel, then two days using your finger. Then the same concept with the step up. Do not panic or scold if she is gently using her beak, some birds like to use their beak to help them step up. It's like a third hand/foot. Like and elephant's trunk. Use the dowel first two days, then your finger the next two. Training for touch and step up work best with clipped wings and on a stand alone perch because they do not have the option of flying to escape you and not learn. But you don't want to scare her either. You can try it without clipping, clipping is a little stressful on a bird. This is why you want someone else to be the bad guy and clip, so you are seen as the hero as you rescue, cuddle and love on them that the scary thing had happened. Each bird is different and the feathers grow back around three to six months and they can fly again. By that time, working with her, you can teach her a lot. It's a matter of treating at the right time, learning what scares her and how to tell before she feels she has to bite and waiting for her to calm down before moving further.

Hopefully I've helped some and not just talked your ear off. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Thanks for the replies.

I've had a look at the Dr Fosters and Smith site and I think we'd like to make some foraging toys that are similar. Today while she was out we filled a box with shredded paper and scattered millet in it, hopefully she gets interested in that while we're out tomorrow morning.

I'm going to try to find a little radio for her tomorrow too, and a shoelace as suggested.

She seems pretty happy with us and not too scared I think, she is trying to preen our fingers and spends a lot of time mouthing them and our ears. She doesn't really go for bites unless she's inside her cage or is being put back in against her will. Today she was out for about six hours.

Thanks for the huge reply about finger training! It's going to be really useful to us! There's so much conflicting information online so we really appreciate you taking the time to explain your method. We'll give it a shot! Like I say, she's already trying to preen our fingers, and she bows her head so we can pet her with our faces (of all things...) so hopefully she's off to a good start. Is it best to use a verbal cue when she bites? We've just been tolerating her bites but not really using a particular phrase when she does it.

She doesn't really explore her cage too much, which is worrying to us. We've popped the little foraging box we made onto the cage floor but she's not been over to it yet. Today I had her and one of her hanging toys out of the cage and I tried to show her how to play with it. She paid it some attention when I moved the moving parts of it and she spent some time chewing it but she's really reluctant to play in her cage when we're in the room and unable to take her out. We know she's definitely playing with them somewhat as the wood is a bit shredded on it, but how do we get her to enjoy some time alone?

We're being most strict with not replying to her screaming and we're not taking her out of the cage, coming into the room, or paying her attention until she's quiet. (By quiet we mean making normal little cockatiel noises, not really loud whistles or screams.)