I have a cockatiel that has been in a small cage that I am upgrading today. How do I get him to like the new cage and sit in it instead of his old one?
We have always let our Amazons be part of the assembly of the new cage over a couple of days and then part of fitting it out with perches, toys and food as recommended above.
May your Cockatiel enjoy the new cage.
When I get a new cage I just put it in the room with all the doors open, set up with toys, food etc. and soon enough they will go and investigate. Once they're more comfortable and going in the new cage to eat more than the old one you can put them in the bigger cage for bed and remove the old cage.
I have 4 cages (3 in one room, the 4th for quarantining new birds or for vet trips) but they are only really for my birds to sleep and eat in since they are let out when I get up and only put back for bed time. I have one really big cage and two large (but smaller) cages. Each cage is basically for a different species. But all of them love the bigger cage and most of the time the other two cages go unnoticed. They all go to the big cage to eat, even though they are all stocked with the appropriate foods for the species lol. So I'm sure your cockatiel will love its new cage and probably take less than a week before he only uses that one =)
I had no choice with my boy when he got a bigger and much better cage, he was tearing up his wings really bad in the smaller one, every night he would smack them against the cage and they would bleed. I had to take his old cage out asap, but set up his new cage right in front of him and talked to him about it. For whatever reason, he changed literally over night, in the smaller cage he was aggressive, wouldn't "talk" or sing in front of us, wouldn't come out without injury ect. Now that his home has had a major renovation, he is handleable, and without the injuries. Somehow the benefits outweighed the consequences for myself and my bird.
When I got Beebs from his breeder I didn't know what type of set-up he was in there..he and his three siblings were on a table with raised sides with a few toys and tree stands. His house now is the one that Smokey had. I set it up for BB with toys and bowls and he sat on my fingers,looked at his new condo and jumped right in to bang around his hanging shiney dice( his favorite toy) just like he had lived there all his life. I doubt that your 'tiel will have any problem with his new digs