Hi all,
I don't have a bird yet, but I was wondering approximately how long I should wait before giving my bird direct attention. (I'm likely going to get a cockatiel). I've heard that most, if not all birds, take several days to weeks after arriving at their new home to actually be ready for handling. So, my question is, how long should I wait to start bonding with my bird directly? Or, how long did you wait to do this? My current plan of action was just to kind of "ignore him" for the first days and only change his food/water/litter and otherwise leave him be. I wasn't certain if this would help or hurt, as I wasn't sure if he might get more stressed and lonely if he's completely alone, but might get stressed if me and my family are hanging around him too much also. Should I just sit quietly around him until he gets used to me? Should I leave him alone? Thirdly, would placing the cage in a quiet pace be a better option until he's settled in? I figured after he was settled, it might be easier to move the cage into my living room, so he'd have more attention after we've built up a bit of trust.
What do you guys think?
I don't have a bird yet, but I was wondering approximately how long I should wait before giving my bird direct attention. (I'm likely going to get a cockatiel). I've heard that most, if not all birds, take several days to weeks after arriving at their new home to actually be ready for handling. So, my question is, how long should I wait to start bonding with my bird directly? Or, how long did you wait to do this? My current plan of action was just to kind of "ignore him" for the first days and only change his food/water/litter and otherwise leave him be. I wasn't certain if this would help or hurt, as I wasn't sure if he might get more stressed and lonely if he's completely alone, but might get stressed if me and my family are hanging around him too much also. Should I just sit quietly around him until he gets used to me? Should I leave him alone? Thirdly, would placing the cage in a quiet pace be a better option until he's settled in? I figured after he was settled, it might be easier to move the cage into my living room, so he'd have more attention after we've built up a bit of trust.
What do you guys think?