Hand taming issues

Hi, i got a cockatiel about 3 months ago and all seems to be going fine, except the fact that he is scared to death of my fingers. He is fine with my hands and will eat out of them and everything, but the minute my finger starts moving he bites it or starts hissing.

Ive tried looking up advice but i cant find anything that sounds would fit this scenario. If anyone has any advice that would be great.

PS. sorry if its a little vauge, its late, ill post more if anyone needs any more information on the bird or anyhing.

Thank you.

Is this an older bird? Did you get him from a breeder?

You say he will eat out of your hands, does that mean out of the palm of your hand?

Is he clipped? IF so, repeat this step!

Hold out your index finger like your pointing, hold it infront of him at his chest level. You want to get him to step up. IF he won't, nudge him with your finger and push towards his chest until he steps up. Ok, next you use the other hand in the same manner and make him step up to the other hand. Repeat the process over and over. While your making him step up, repeat the word step up everytime you do it. Next time finger comes up, he knows to step up.

Next, while holding with one hand, use your other hand and try to caress by gently petting him on his hand by going from front to back. His crown will tell you his mood, IF the crown is laid down, he's content, but pointing straight up, he's very alert. IF he starts to fuss at your hand, push your index finger down on his beak and tell him NO. He should stop, if he doesn't. Depending on what he does, there's other things to do but if this works, I don't need to go further.

I've trained countless Cockatiels, they're really easy to train if you take the time.

Mikey, trying to get a bird to step up by putting your finger next to their chest does not always work. I have tried that many times with Sully and I get the same responce each time, he bites my fingers and backs up so I cant get to his chest.

What about stick training? When ist works the fingertraining

cdog said:

Mikey, trying to get a bird to step up by putting your finger next to their chest does not always work. I have tried that many times with Sully and I get the same responce each time, he bites my fingers and backs up so I cant get to his chest.

Click to expand...

Is Sully out of the cage when you attempt? If they bite, a training perch works great. I had to use that on certain birds but they eventually will step up to your finger.

MikeyTN said:

cdog said:

Mikey, trying to get a bird to step up by putting your finger next to their chest does not always work. I have tried that many times with Sully and I get the same responce each time, he bites my fingers and backs up so I cant get to his chest.

Click to expand...

Is Sully out of the cage when you attempt? If they bite, a training perch works great. I had to use that on certain birds but they eventually will step up to your finger.

Click to expand...

He is out of the cage. Sully is afraid of perches not attatched to his cage, he screams and flies around the room.

Yes my bird is still young, i got him from a breeder. He eats out of the palm of my hand and sometimes my finger if its something he really likes, but he still is afraid of them.

And i have the same problem as cdog, mines wont let me pet him at all, if i even get a little close he starts hissing and backs up as fast as he can.

I can show it better then to explain it on here. Too bad neither one of you is close to here for me to show you how. Maybe someone else in here can write one out.