Bonding with an untame cockatiel. The journey begins.

[Ann333]

I have never done this before, so I wanted to keep a record for myself and anyone wanting to try this themselves. I will try to post regular updates.



Day 1: She came to her new home from petco. She didnt move a muscle, eat, or drink for about 21 hours. I ignored her all day and just watched her out of the corner of my eye. She was in the same exact position when I checked on her through the night and when I woke up the next morning.

Day 2: She started eating and drinking. I spoke to her all day and put my hand on the outside of the cage as close as she would allow without getting scared. (which was surprisingly close) That night, I was sitting on the far side of her cage and she climbed down from her hammock on the far side, walked over to my side, climbed up and sat on a perch just a few inches from me. She hung out on this side of the cage with me for a few hours before deciding it was bedtime and heading back over to her hammock.

Day 3: I was at school all day. When I came home, I offered her spray millet through the bars of the cage. She ate some for about a minute and a half then wandered off to her food bowl. She is back hanging out with me on the closest perch again tonight preening and beak grinding. I think we will be friends in no time.

 

[Flboy]

Sweet! Am very interested!

 

[SilverSage]

Great progress so far!

 

[Ann333]

DAY 7: I have been at school every day this week. I feed the birds before I leave and by the time I come home, Popcorn is ready for her nightly snack. She hops over to where I am sitting and looks at me waiting for some millet. I have been feeding her millet through the bars every night. She still backs away and hisses when I reach in the cage to change her bowls. She also started playing with a toy two days ago. She seems to like to preen it. So hopefully she is becoming more comfortable.

 

[Allee]

Excellent progress! I think you and Popcorn are going to have a wonderful journey together. Please continue to share Popcorn's sweet story.

 

[Ann333]

End of DAY 7: Another update. I used the sticky on this forum to come up with a plan to switch Popcorn onto a pellet diet. I combined two suggested methods, the "controlled cold turkey" and the "pellet paste" methods.
https://www.facebook.com/jakodi/vid...62262/?type=2&theater&notif_t=video_processed
So what I did was I changed the lining in the bottom of the cage to be able to monitor poop. Then last night before bed, I took out all the seed. I replaced the seed dish with 4 other dishes this morning. Two dishes had two different pellets available. The third dish had a Hot and Hearty cooked bird food mix and the fourth dish has wet pellets with seeds mixed in.
I pretended to eat from all of these bowls several times today. At first, Popcorn was NOT interested. She was obviously hungry and came down in search for seeds several times. She screamed and was pretty upset all day (about 13-15 hours). However, after all that fuss she is now eating the pellet mash as you can see in the video.
I will continue checking her droppings the next several days, but it is looking promising! She has been eating this mash/seed for about an hour nonstop after her 13 hour fast. Her poop has changed colors and has decreased, but that is apparently normal.

Long story short, I think I just converted my cockatiel to a pellet diet. Soon I will start adding in more variety.


DAY 8: Popcorn is happy eating the pellet mash with seeds. I mixed it with hot and hearty as well this morning and she seemed to enjoy the peas corn and carrots. Her poop is back to a normal size and color as well. She does seem tired today though. Maybe she's just recovering from the diet change?

She is allowing my hand right next to her as long as I am on the other side of the cage bars. When I put my hand in the cage, she hisses and backs away for a second. After a minute with my hand in the cage she doesn't care anymore and goes back to what she is doing. She does not seem to be scared by my hand no matter how close it is to her unless my hand moves... then she freaks out a little.

 

[Ann333]

Day 9: Popcorn is still happily eating the pellet/seed/hot and hardy mash several times a day. Lots of poop and it is back to looking normal. She preens herself a lot and likes playing with a bead toy.

The only thing I am worried about is how often she naps. Her eyes usually look tired and she takes naps a few times per day. Maybe she is younger than I thought. Is this normal for baby birds? Or maybe I am just used to my hyper little conure.... because everything else seems fine.

 

[MonicaMc]

The diet change could be stressful. It's also possible that she's sick and might need to see a vet?

Cockatiels *usually* are not as hyper as conures are, but can still be rather active! Just don't disturb their "beauty rest"!


It's great to hear you are making progress with her and that she's eating a more varied diet! Keep an eye on those droppings!


Although conures can eat a pellet based diet, I really don't recommend feeding more than 50% of a cockatiel's diet as pellets! Seeds are *still* healthy for them! Although you could always feed sprouted seeds instead of dry seeds, if you really don't feel like feeding dry seeds to her!

 

[Ann333]

Thanks! I do plan on still providing seeds for her I just also want her to eat other things. My mom's two cocktails refuse anything except millet which is terrible. Pumpkin has pellets available at all times as well as hot and hardy cooked bird food mixed with veggies - warm every morning for breakfast. He gets seeds as a treat. For Popcorn I was thinking of doing something similar except providing a specific portion of seeds each night after she has eaten her veggies. Maybe I'll start tossing in some seeds for Pumpkin every night as well.

 

[Ann333]

I know it has been awhile sense I updated this thread. I have been busy with school and Thanksgiving. Popcorn has c9.pletely settled into our home. The dogs barking or running around no longer scare her. I am now able to pet her tummy and she has recently started to reluctantly step up. We are taking things slow because I am busy with school, but we are making progress. I can't wait for winter break so I can focus on bonding with her.

 

[MikeyTN]

Bonding is a process that you must enforce on a daily basis in order for it to work. That means dong the practice several times per day, everyday! You can not skip a day or so, must be continued for it to work. I can usually tame a Cockatiel within 3 days and more trust as time continue.

 

[Ann333]

I probably COULD tame her in three days if I forced her to step up. I am taking this at HER pace and not mine. I want her to WANT to be around me and trust me. I don't want her to step up because I am harassing her. I am building trust and a relationship with her. True bonding takes longer than 3 days.

 

[Ximichi]

I probably COULD tame her in three days if I forced her to step up. I am taking this at HER pace and not mine. I want her to WANT to be around me and trust me. I don't want her to step up because I am harassing her. I am building trust and a relationship with her. True bonding takes longer than 3 days.

I really love that you aren't rushing her. I adopted Charlie almost 2 months ago, and she is still wary of me, but that is to be expected because of her old age. However, I have made great progress and she is very comfortable around me. Good luck to you and Popcorn!

 

[Ann333]

Thank you for your encouragment. It can make you doubt yourself when someone with more experience questions your methods. But I am doing this in a way that feels right to me. I don't want a hand tame bird, I want a friend. Cocktails live a long time and Popcorn is still young. We will have plenty of time together, why rush anything? I want her to trust me, not tolerate me.

 

[Ann333]

What type of bird is Charlie? Two months is not that long when you consider how long birds can live. Keep building trust and be patient. I hope you will keep us updated on your progress! Good luck

 

[MikeyTN]

I probably COULD tame her in three days if I forced her to step up. I am taking this at HER pace and not mine. I want her to WANT to be around me and trust me. I don't want her to step up because I am harassing her. I am building trust and a relationship with her. True bonding takes longer than 3 days.

That's why I said more trust as time continue. I've been training birds for many years and I used to raise Cockatiels for many many years. I've trained 100's of Cockatiels so it's not my first rodeo on the training part. Of course she is yours to do the training with. The main thing I was saying is that you need to be persistent and consistent. Rather you want to or not it is up to you.

 

[Ann333]

I am being consistant. I interact with both of my birds every single day for several hours after school. But I am also a busy college student trying to get into a nursing program who commutes to a different city for school every day.
I understand you are more experienced, while this is my first time taming a cockateil, but I don't see why I should put a time limit on bonding with her. If she is not ready to trust me and bond with me in three days, or three weeks then that's okay. I'm going to keep earning her trust without forcing her to do anything.

I also think there may be a misunderstanding. Just because I am too busy to update this thread everyday does not mean I am not working with popcorn every day.

 

[Shae26]

Sometimes I just leave my birds alone for a day. They're in the same room as us, but i'll just let them be for the day and resume training the following day. I think they appreciate the down time lol. It doesn't seem to affect how fast or slow they learn to trust me.

 

[Ann333]

Thanks there are days where I am doing homework so all I do is sit right next to popcorn cage and pullout my laptop to do my homework. I let pumpkin out so popcorn watches us interact and I read my homework out loud so Popcorn still hears me talking to her. Or I'll hold some millet through the bars while I am listening to a lecture recording. It is very passive work with her somedays. I think you are right and she likes a little space every once in a while. The weekends is easier to find time for more extra training.

 

[MikeyTN]

I am being consistant. I interact with both of my birds every single day for several hours after school. But I am also a busy college student trying to get into a nursing program who commutes to a different city for school every day.
I understand you are more experienced, while this is my first time taming a cockateil, but I don't see why I should put a time limit on bonding with her. If she is not ready to trust me and bond with me in three days, or three weeks then that's okay. I'm going to keep earning her trust without forcing her to do anything.

I also think there may be a misunderstanding. Just because I am too busy to update this thread everyday does not mean I am not working with popcorn every day.

I think your taking my advise the wrong way. Never give you a time limit! I said I can tame in 3 days but more trust as time continues. Never did I said you need to or must within a certain time. Read carefully!