Cockatiel stop flying to me when called.

[Luqman]

Hello, I own a cockatiel named luna.luna is 3-5 months old, 2 weeks ago i would call her and she would just come to my finger. Recently ive been quite busy, i went to my hometown and stuff and the most that i did with them there was just petting and playing for a couple hours and not really training, so they did not fly to me for a while now that im back at my house, luna did not fly to me on command or whistle, she/he can sit on my shoulder, finger, head just wont come to me when get called. And i don’t know what to do. Any help?

 

[Luqman]

Hello, I own a cockatiel named luna.luna is 3-5 months old, 2 weeks ago i would call her and she would just come to my finger. Recently ive been quite busy, i went to my hometown and stuff and the most that i did with them there was just petting and playing for a couple hours and not really training, so they did not fly to me for a while now that im back at my house, luna did not fly to me on command or whistle, she/he can sit on my shoulder, finger, head just wont come to me when get called. And i don’t know what to do. Any help?

Oh yeah bu the way if i try to leave the room luna will fly on my head. Just yeah you get the point wont fly to me on command

 

[JinPicaJest]

Try starting from a very short distance and see if your bird will do that, with lots of praise and reward if successful. Stay at an easy level like that until the behavior gets well versed again.

 

[Luqman]

Try starting from a very short distance and see if your bird will do that, with lots of praise and reward if successful. Stay at an easy level like that until the behavior gets well versed again.

Yeah I have tried that, luna won’t come fly/walk to me unless i am in a very close distance until it can just step up

 

[onamom]

As @JinPicaJest said, it is a behavior you can train. Recall - teaching your bird to fly to you - and stationing - teaching your bird to go to a perch - are both great things to train for safety and fun. Yes, you will want to start out with a very short distance - so short a distance that your bird can hop from a perch to your hand. Keep repeating this and reward them each time they come to your hand. Eventually you can increase the distance over time.

If you are having trouble getting started you can use a treat to lure your bird to your hand until they start consistently hopping to your hand from the perch. You will want to find a good training treat that your bird doesn't get outside of your training sessions. This makes them more motivated to get that treat!

 

[Luqman]

As @JinPicaJest said, it is a behavior you can train. Recall - teaching your bird to fly to you - and stationing - teaching your bird to go to a perch - are both great things to train for safety and fun. Yes, you will want to start out with a very short distance - so short a distance that your bird can hop from a perch to your hand. Keep repeating this and reward them each time they come to your hand. Eventually you can increase the distance over time.

If you are having trouble getting started you can use a treat to lure your bird to your hand until they start consistently hopping to your hand from the perch. You will want to find a good training treat that your bird doesn't get outside of your training sessions. This makes them more motivated to get that treat!

Do you have a cockatiel? If so what food do you give them? Right now i am just giving seed mix and thinking of switching to chop, pellets are expensive. Im not an adult. so its gonna be awhile for me to save up for it.

 

[onamom]

Do you have a cockatiel? If so what food do you give them? Right now i am just giving seed mix and thinking of switching to chop, pellets are expensive. Im not an adult. so its gonna be awhile for me to save up for it.

I do not have a Cockatiel - I have a Green Cheek Conure. I will tag @zERo here because she owns Cockatiels and is knowledgeable about diet.

Generally chop is not meant to be a replacement for pellets but an in addition to. Ideally a bird's diet consists of pellets, chop, occasional fruit and seeds. I like to use seeds exclusively as a training or foraging treat. They are perfect for hiding in foraging toys to keep your bird entertained and they make excellent training treats.

Edited to add: there are some great resources on the diet forum here: https://www.parrotforums.com/forums/parrot-food-recipes-and-diet.30/

 

[Luqman]

I do not have a Cockatiel - I have a Green Cheek Conure. I will tag @zERo here because she owns Cockatiels and is knowledgeable about diet.

Generally chop is not meant to be a replacement for pellets but an in addition to. Ideally a bird's diet consists of pellets, chop, occasional fruit and seeds. I like to use seeds exclusively as a training or foraging treat. They are perfect for hiding in foraging toys to keep your bird entertained and they make excellent training treats.

Edited to add: there are some great resources on the diet forum here: https://www.parrotforums.com/forums/parrot-food-recipes-and-diet.30/

As i said before i will need some time to save up for pellets but right now my birds diet is just seeds

 

[zERo]

Thanks @onamom

Tiels do need a bit more seed in the their diet than other parrots but, at max, I do about 20% for my younger tiels while the older male gets 30%.

I agree with onamom about the diet too.
Chop doesn’t have to be very complex, I aim for 2-3 orange veggies, 2 dark leafy greens, and 2-5 other veggies but you could just do 4-5 veggies in all.

You could also sprout some of their seed. Many sites offer guides on how to sprout.

Id say my tiels diet is 20% seed, 50% chop, 15% sprouts, and 15% Birdie bread. Personally I don’t feed pellets but they are convenient and helpful if you don’t have a lot of time.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Thanks @onamom

Tiels do need a bit more seed in the their diet than other parrots but, at max, I do about 20% for my younger tiels while the older male gets 30%.

I agree with onamom about the diet too.
Chop doesn’t have to be very complex, I aim for 2-3 orange veggies, 2 dark leafy greens, and 2-5 other veggies but you could just do 4-5 veggies in all.

You could also sprout some of their seed. Many sites offer guides on how to sprout.

Id say my tiels diet is 20% seed, 50% chop, 15% sprouts, and 15% Birdie bread. Personally I don’t feed pellets but they are convenient and helpful if you don’t have a lot of time.

If you don't mind me asking, how do your birds get vitamin D and B12 if you don't feed pellets? I was under the impression that they needed pellets for those things since they're not living in the wild and getting sun and eating insects and such.

 

[zERo]

If you don't mind me asking, how do your birds get vitamin D and B12 if you don't feed pellets? I was under the impression that they needed pellets for those things since they're not living in the wild and getting sun and eating insects and such.

Oh for that I feed eggs once a week and I occasionally feed them fish.
For the birds that will eat it, a tiny piece of sharp cheddar is given.

And in their chop, is bee pollen which has several vitamins including Vit. D.

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Oh for that I feed eggs once a week and I occasionally feed them fish.
For the birds that will eat it, a tiny piece of sharp cheddar is given.

And in their chop, is bee pollen which has several vitamins including Vit. D.

Oh nice, thank you!