New cockatiel will step up with food, but still afraid of hands as soon as there is no millet?

[feywick6]

Hi all!

So, I got a new cockatiel nearly two weeks ago.

In the beginning, he was understandably very timid. As soon as I came close or he saw my hands, he stiffened up or ran away. I've since progressed with him that he will eat millet out of my hand and step up onto my finger to eat the millet. He's not afraid when I stand in front of his cage anymore - he will eat, preen and even grind his beak. I'm really proud of the progress we've made so far!

However, if he sees my hands without treats, he will turn his tail after a certain point. He will let me get to about 20-30 cms and then inch further and further away. I always stop when I see him moving away. But as soon as I have a millet in my hand, he comes running immediately.

How can I transition him from this stage to understanding my hand is a good thing even without food there to tempt him?

Ironically I already have a super tame female cockatiel that I also tamed myself but I cannot remember how I tamed her or how I got her to this point anymore. However, I do recall that it took me about 2 months of constant interaction and training before she would let me pet her head. That was 10 years ago.

My idea was to introduce clicker training, as clicker training also worked beautifully with my female cockatiel to teach her tricks. For example, when he doesn't inch away from my hand or even becomes curious about it / moves closer, use the clicker to indicate he is doing a good job and reward him with a nibble of millet. But perhaps someone else has another idea that could work?

 

[AMD74]

Congratulations on your new tiel! How old is he/she? Constant interaction is going to be my best advice. I have only had one of my parrots who was not socialized when I rescued her and that was my Budgie. I just spent as much time with her as I could, talking softly and letting her know everything is ok. She would watch my interaction with my other parrots, and yes it took time but she finally got so she trusted me. I have tried the "clicker" training but my parrots did not like the clicker noise. Each one has their own personality. So all you can do is try it and see what happens. Good Luck!

 

[feywick6]

He's still young, only 4-5 months old!

His previous owners only had him for 5 weeks. Apparently, the dad of the children got two cockatiels as a gift, but upon realizing that they are a lot of work and cause a lot of mess, they rehomed them. The female sold first so I ended up picking up the boy. Since there were children in the house, I have the suspicion that his fear of hands might also come from there since children can sometimes be a bit too forward with that.

For not even two weeks though, he's made great progress and he's a sweetheart.

Currently he is still in quarantine so I hope that once he moves to the living room that this will also help, as I spend most of my time there. At the moment he is in my bedroom and I go in very regularly but it's obviously not the same as him being with me 24/7.

 

[wrench1374]

When working with parrots of all sizes, patience is your best tool. They can be unbelievably stubborn. Always work at the pace of your parrots sense of acceptance and not the pace of your expectations. Words to live by.