Greetings everyone, I'm new to both parrot ownership, and this forum!
6 days ago I got a young, white cockatiel lady. Everything was going great, and even though she was not handtame, we were making progress each day. She even whistled at me, and ate salad through the grates. Today I decided I'd try what the petshop employee told me, and held still with the foodbowl inside her cage. when she eventually did climb on, I was ecstatic. I slowly directed her towards my lap, and let the bowl sit there with her on top. After a few minutes of hissing, she even started eating.
I've been sitting like this for a while, when i gently try to shift just a tiny bit. This sets her off, and she goes flying. I had to catch her with my bare hands before she'd get somewhere i couldnt easily get to. Poor baby was screaming and crying out, biting my in the meantime.
She is now back in her cage but.. will this set me back to square one? Did I ***k up badly, and show her I'm a predator after all? I genuinely feel devastated. I never meant to scare her...
My question now is, how bad is the setback? Do birds hold grudges, and are we back to square one? Or worse, will she hate me now?
6 days ago I got a young, white cockatiel lady. Everything was going great, and even though she was not handtame, we were making progress each day. She even whistled at me, and ate salad through the grates. Today I decided I'd try what the petshop employee told me, and held still with the foodbowl inside her cage. when she eventually did climb on, I was ecstatic. I slowly directed her towards my lap, and let the bowl sit there with her on top. After a few minutes of hissing, she even started eating.
I've been sitting like this for a while, when i gently try to shift just a tiny bit. This sets her off, and she goes flying. I had to catch her with my bare hands before she'd get somewhere i couldnt easily get to. Poor baby was screaming and crying out, biting my in the meantime.
She is now back in her cage but.. will this set me back to square one? Did I ***k up badly, and show her I'm a predator after all? I genuinely feel devastated. I never meant to scare her...
My question now is, how bad is the setback? Do birds hold grudges, and are we back to square one? Or worse, will she hate me now?