Cockatiels out the cage - not tamed .... advice please

Hi guys

I had to take a nesting box out of my cockatiels cage and in the process they got out which tbh i expected big box in a small cage and they are only 5 months old! which I don't mind in fact I would like them out as much as poss for excersice and play etc.

However, I only got them yesterday, they have been out 3 hours and seem to be happily perched and nodding off. I have tried them with food and approaching slowly but the female hisses and runs off and the male just runs off.

They have been out for 3 hours now, I am wondering will they go back on their own when they are hungry or will I need to try and catch them? .... If I do how best is it to do so ? videos suggest a small towel and quickly get them in, i'm terrified of hurting them!

I have a few hours so not worried as yet. but thought I'd check before it get's to late!

Thanks for all your help guys! I'm a novice at this so it's all a learning curve

Best thing to use is a butterfly net or yes, a towel to drape over them.

What also works for me personally - I have two not tame cockatiels that will not step up, they are afraid of hands. My other 2 step up fine. When I do want them to go back in, I just use my hands cupped to slowly approach them. They usually take off flying to the other side of the room when I get too close, so I just repeat and walk to where they are, slowly try to cup them in my hands and they go flying.

I do this about 5-10 times until they start to get tired. I stay very calm and relaxed.It's a process that can takes up to 15 minutes. I have a lot more energy than them and it takes effort to fly across the room, so basically I make them too tired to escape and then am able to pick them up and gently restrain and put them back into their cage. Sometimes yes they can bite but I just ignore it. If they're really big bitters you can try to cover them with a towel as they sit perched and pull the towel over them so hey can't get away and use the towel to secure them and place them back into their cage. You will have to work with one at a time. It helps to block off a part of the room if case there's too much space to fly -- I cover the hallway entrance with a bedsheet so they can't fly into the kitchen as I do this.

One of my non-tame birds will accept defeat and let me hold her without fighting, my othe female will fight and try to bite but I still try to work as calmly as I can. Getting frustrated doesn't help as it will only spook the birds more.

I find this also works with tame birds that don't want to go back into the cage. They get a bunch of exercise too lol!

Good luck!!

netting or catching them is going to destroy any trust you might have----so if your goal is to bond, I would wait to try that method...not saying it won't come to that (or that trust can't be re-built), but that leaves a pretty strong taste in a birds mouth (especially if you are not familiar with said bird)

Yes- it may come to that but I wouldn't do it YET if bonding is the goal...I think you need to pay close attention to when they ate last, as they are young, and decide if you will feed them out of the cage (or if they will be too scared to eat-- in which case, you will have to towel/catch eventually). Birds can get hypoglycemia and they are stubborn, so Google feeding time-lines and see where to go from there I guess.

If you can do it safely, I would just put food in the cage and on top of the cage and wait---again, only if you can do it safely. Toward evening (if you feed and water them outside of the cage), you could dim the lights and they might head back. My thing is, if you scare them, you set yourself back (but if it is needed for safety, you may have to).
The other thing is, you don't necessarily want them to see themselves as being forced into the cage every time they go to it or they will be less likely to go back when they are "free" (for fear of being locked up). Unfortunately, since they are so new, they may not think of their cage as a home-base yet...

Make the cage top as appealing as possible and then put the best stuff inside..Eventually I would hope that he would want to return to his "flock mates" (are they bonded)?

I would seriously try not to lock him in the second he enters the cage though (if he does) or you will just prove him right.....that he gets locked up every time he goes near the cage...

Don't try to feed them from your hand-- if I were you, I'd camp out and read a book or something...BUT they do need to eat food eventually (or they can have blood sugar issues), so if it goes on too long, you may have to catch them..had they eaten? Young ones need food more than older birds..

Thank you! I think they are bonded, they eat together and are currently snoozing on the floor next to each other.

I don't have a butterfly net so I will maybe wait a little longer, and see what they do, but they seem quite content on my desk or floor just napping away! I have spent all day very slowly trying to get them on a perch or their food bowl, I stay low on their level and get about a foot away and they freak and hiss so I back off.

The cage is high up, would you suggest putting it lower down so they can walk into it? or would it confuse them moving it?

Honestly thank you so much for your help guys! x

I out the cage on the floor and they walked in yey!

YAY! Did they go back in? If so, you might consider letting them out more often when you have the time, so that they don't think of it as a punishment, but as a place of food/safety.

Yes, I put a tiny bit of food on the floor near their cage, the female went first and he followed, they were both very hungry so hardly noticed the door close!
Both very tired, I'm guessing normal after such an experience!

I will do I will practise taming in the cage also, they seem to be happy enough with me near their cage now too! small but stead steps I guess! x