Scared cockatiel

as29

New member
May 31, 2020
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Hello, I have cockatiel since november and he is scared of my hands.

He will step on my finger only if i bait him with some treats in the other hand, only if he is in his cage and even then he will eat a little then step down then step up again and eat a little. He also hisses if get my hand near him without any treats in sight.

What should i do?

Also english is my second language i'm sorry if i made any mistakes.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
Your english is fine-- I wouldn't have known if you hadn't said something.
1. Stop pushing contact to the point that you get a fear response (hissing). It is probable that you have been pushing him to do something he isn't ready for and that you are setting back trust every time you rush things-- so you are building trust, then breaking it, then building it, then breaking it (over and over).

There is plenty of hope though, so don't feel like you ruined your bird. You will bond with him if you start to slow things down and move at a pace that is comfortable to him.

Does he get out of his cage at all?
If I were you, and only IF it can be done safely, I would open his cage door and allow him to come in and out of his cage as he pleases (while building trust and without pushing contact, but NEVER unsupervised). You do not want him to become cage-bound and it is possible that he is on that track if he has been in there for months. If you do this, you DO NOT want to have to towel him or chase him to get him to go back inside, which is why you will need to be very patient and set aside plenty of time. If he comes out and goes back in, do not shut the door right away. You want to see 1. if he will even come out, and 2. prove that if he does come out and then re-enter his cage, it doesn't mean getting locked up every time.

Beforehand, I would also block off unsafe parts of the house/room ahead of time and cover windows/mirrors or put up decals so that he doesn't fly into them if he chooses to fly (consider blocking access to high ledges as well and makes sure all ceiling fans are off and that no one could accidentally walk into the room and scare him or allow him to fly out during this time)..shut any open windows as well.
There is some risk to trying this, but at this point, I think I would risk it if I had the time and a safe room to try it in. You don't want to be up close and personal during this time--- just sit in the distance and pretend to read or something and see what he does. If he leaves the cage, the hope is that he will eventually return to eat and drink, but if he doesn't you will need to find a way to bribe him back there without causing more fear or getting into a chase/towel mode. You want to keep it as low stress as possible. Keep in mind that a bird does need to eat fairly frequently, so if after a few hours he is still not returning to the cage, you will have to start brainstorming ways to get him back or provide food out of the cage--- mind you, a hungry bird will be more likely to return to their food source, but you don't want your bird to become hypoglycemic due to lack of food either.

I will also post a thread on building trust. http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up for a bit and associate yourself with low-stress activities (unless he is very willing to step up and doesn't seem scared). If he hesitates to take food from you, don't push that either. Just letting him see you place his favorite foods in a bowl can help with building trust if he is nervous about taking it from you directly. Try to read to your bird, and talk about your daily activities as you do them, but don't get in the bird's face or try to touch him unless he shows interest.If he doesn't hesitate to take food from your hands, that is fine--- that is a way to build positive associations between your hands and him, but the fact that he is hissing at times means that he is scared or threatened, which harms trust.
 
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as29

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May 31, 2020
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Does he get out of his cage at all?
Yes he does every single day for 2-3 months now, he mostly spends that time around his cage but still. Unfortunately I had to catch him 3 times because it was bed time and he was planning on sleeping outside.

My suggestion would be to stop trying to pick him up for a bit and associate yourself with low-stress activities
Ok then, i will continue to give him treats. It's just that i feel i am stuck there for some time now.

Thanks for advice.
 

noodles123

Well-known member
Jul 11, 2018
8,145
472
Parrots
Umbrella Cockatoo- 15? years old..I think?
If you had to catch him or scared him, you could have taken away the trust you built (not completely, but it likely set you back so that it feels like you are running in place).
It takes very little to set them back before you have a really solid relationship, and if you keep building and destroying, then it can make you feel like you are, indeed, stuck.

I could be wrong, but that's what I believe.
 
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