Baby tiel afraid of cage

[Savanntee]

Hello! I have had my female cockatiel for 18 days and she is adjusted quite well to my house and family. She was 8 weeks when we bought her at a bird show. She was hand tame but her wings were clipped and she was scared. She is okay with being on top of her cage and often wants nothing to do with me if she's not been there for a while. In the morning she usually hops right onto my hand within a few minutes and I take her on my shoulder around the house. The problem is, when I try to put her inside her 24"x24"x48" cage she latches onto the edges and scales to the top looking terrified (whether on the inside or outside). At first I just forced her to be inside because I thought she would get over it and was just scared in a new environment, but after almost a week she still had the same behavior. I thought maybe since the cage is Lavender and so large she isn't used to it, so I cleaned up a cockatiel Cage I got from my cousin (20"x20"x36") that is white and has a huge door (18"x12") and the top opens up too. She was still terrified and walks around trying to find a out (I always leave the doors open). I thought maybe she didn't like walking on perches and bars so I put newspaper for her to stand on. Still nothing. I have no idea how to comfort her inside the cage and I don't want her to be scared of being in the cage her whole life, especially if I have to take her with me to a relatives house (She's good with car rides). I let her to just stay on top of her cage when she wants to and she sleeps there too but her cage is not flat so she doesn't have much room for toys and things to entertain herself. If you know how I can help her to conquer her fear please let me know! (also I was wondering if you could tell me what breed of cockatiel she is, the lady just told me white faced)

 

[Savanntee]

Also when she sleeps on her cage she doesn't pull up one foot, grind her beak or tuck in her head like she does when she's away from her cage sitting on me or the couch and her crest sticks up. She doesn't act scared to get on top of her cage (she knows her evening Seeds are there) and doesn't act like she can't wait to get off, sometimes she even gets a little cranky and acts like she will peck me if I try to take her away.

 

[itzjbean]

Hello and thanks for reaching out!

Your female looks like a normal whiteface. They are fairly common. Here is an example of others...

As juveniles cockatiels will all look female, dark faces and bars on their tails. As they begin to mature the males' faces will lighten and they will not have anymore tail barring.

To combat the cage issue, I see you have a cage with a pointed top. It's always recommended to get a cage that maximizes all space possible, a big rectangle shape is usually what most use for their parrots, so its possible your bird just doesn't feel comfortable in the cage you have for her. Perhaps it may be too small, if you want to post a picture of it I could recommend changes of perches/toys or possibly another cage in general.

 

[Savanntee]

Well her cage is 24"x24"x48" not including the raised part of her cage and I tried a white rectangular cage with larger bar spaceing and she still is terrified inside but doesn't mind being on top.

 

[Scott]

Welcome, beautiful baby!

I too wonder if the purple cage shape is an issue? Hard to know why the white cage is also an issue. While she is still new to you, birds generally see their cage as shelter and refuge of safety. Agree, pics might be helpful!

 

[Sunnyclover]

Birds are weird. It's totally possible there is a color or a toy or something in her cage she is afraid of. My Ollie HATED the color blue when I 1st got him. He didn't want to go in his cage when there was anything blue in his cage. It took me about a day to figure it out because when he was in his cage he'd stay far away from the offensive materials. Hope this helps!