New to Cockatiels, searching for advices

So I am new to cockatiels and am searching for as many advises as possible to give mine the best possible life.

So I recently got my Cockatiel Luna from the breeder. She is trained by the breeder to sit on your hand and shoulder and accepting pets, unsure if handfeed. He told me different things on how to handle and bond with her some of his advises was not something I think would work in the long run. The things he told me was
• have her out of her cage 2-3 a day for 15-25 minutes (which i am pretty sure is to get her used to everything)
• if she doesn’t want to come out at least 1-2 times uses a perch to get her out (she needs to get out and use her wings)
• he told me to NOT use treats to train her and he also didn’t use them (here I don’t think this will work long run, when I down the line will begin to actively train her, where now I just try to bond with her)
• he told me to if she bites ignore her and continue tru with what I’m doing (here I think that if she bites and it’s my fault I need to respect her)
• he wanted me to take her out of the cage latest the day after I got her, even if it meant using force.

What are your guys stands on these advises?

I have had her for a bit over a week now and it’s a mix of ups and downs, I can take her out of her cage using my hand almost always atleast 1 time a day. She is still eating the seed mix the breeder gave her (I got some of that with her to make a smooth transition to the seed/pellet mix I have for her) and is eating the veggies she gets daily. The last couple of days she has been really aggressive (possible fearful) when she is near her food bowl and I have my hand in her hand, but I can be on the other side of the cage right beside her with no problems. Yesterday night when I was preparing her to go to sleep, she was biting at me on the other side of the cage when my hand touched the cage (first time happening) whereas before she has only done this one or twice near her food bowl and not at the other end of her cage.

Sorry for the long post, want to make sure to give enough information to make sure there’s context. Any advises is wanted and sorry if my English isn’t the best, it isn’t my first language.
Thanks in advance

I agree with most of what your breeder says but I don't see the harm in giving treats especially for training purposes. I would also STRONG suggest not using force on a bird for ANY situation! That's a real good way to lose your birds trust after you work hard to build it up. Since you haven't had her all that long, I wouldn't worry to much about her behavior right now. It takes time for them to seattle in and get use to you and there new home. Keep us posted and send photos if you can.

welcome to the forum. Congratulations on Luna joining your home.
Its good to get them out as much as possible, no magic takes place in the cage . Many parrots will bite fingers stuck in a cage but are nice outside of a cage.
Do not rush tge transition to new food right now, yiur burd is under a lot of stress going to a new home. Tgey often eat less these first few days. She us eating veggies that's fantastic. I recommend getting a digital kitchen scale, yiu csn put a sturdy non tipping dish with some seeds and zero it out, then plob the bird on to get a weight. When you start to change the diet you can keep track of the weight to make sure she is eating enough.

Laurasea said:

welcome to the forum. Congratulations on Luna joining your home.
Its good to get them out as much as possible, no magic takes place in the cage . Many parrots will bite fingers stuck in a cage but are nice outside of a cage.
Do not rush tge transition to new food right now, yiur burd is under a lot of stress going to a new home. Tgey often eat less these first few days. She us eating veggies that's fantastic. I recommend getting a digital kitchen scale, yiu csn put a sturdy non tipping dish with some seeds and zero it out, then plob the bird on to get a weight. When you start to change the diet you can keep track of the weight to make sure she is eating enough.

Click to expand...

I don’t rush changing her diet, I make it so she always has fresh veggies in a second dish bowl besides her other one with seeds and besides her being somewhat territorial sometimes, she is happy. She ate after 10-20 minutes in the new cage and often stand on one led and beak grind.

And I know she is scared, I try to give her the space she needs and still socialize with her when she is open for it ( snacking on something besides her when she is eating, talking to her, just reading or watching something besides her cage where she also can see what I’m doing and recently just holding my hand in her cage to show I’m not a threat.

About the treats I plan on beginning to introduce them to her slowly since she newer have gotten them before, for now I have millet and sunflower seeds.

As for the picture, here is one from a couple days ago. As mentioned previously she was trained by the breeder and is very sweet out of the cage although nervous, normally i just sit with her on my hand and if she flies away from it i let her chill where she decides to land.

When i first got her the only thing that worried me was some bald spot on her wings and her head, but was told it was her mom that was a tad aggressive when they were eating and the missing feathers seems to be slowly growing back out.

Awwww such a beautiful baby

I agree with everything said above. Forcing a parrot to do things is the best way to lose their trust. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with giving her treats.

Also, Luna is VERY cute!

Welcome to you and Luna, thanks for joining. She's a beauty, having her perch on your hand is sign of progress!! We appreciate thorough introductions, your English is superb!

Though I don't have cockatiels, in general it is best to progress at the bird's rate to avoid setbacks. This popular thread shares tips for bonding and establishing trust: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

First, Thanks for all the kind words. Second I’m introducing her to millet and sunflower seeds and are looking to buy a click trainer soon to help train her. Also she is really trusting when perching on my hand, I’m pretty sure she fell asleep on my hand today while standing on one leg, so all in all it’s looks great.

As mentioned previously this thread is for advises to make sure to give to best possible life to Luna, already before I even “reserved” her (the breeder is a popular one and put them up for sale 2 weeks before they can leave for their new homes) I already did a lot of research as preparation to getting her and are constantly taking what I learn from her to make it better for her (making the perfect perches, giving her stuff to play with, destroy and forage and learning her personality and body language)


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