New in this part of town

[gemkitty24]

Hello, I just joined and was hoping for some suggestions on my new cockatiels. I adopted 2 cockatiels that have spent their whole life (6-8months) together but haven't had any human socialization because the person who had them never tried or didn't even seem to care about their well-being. I don't want to scare them or hurt them but I'm wondering if it's even possible to train 2 at the same time to hopefully trust me so that they can play outside of their cage and become part of the family. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Finch_Breeder]

Hello, I just joined and was hoping for some suggestions on my new cockatiels. I adopted 2 cockatiels that have spent their who life (6-8months) together but haven't had any human socialization because the person who had them never tried or didn't even seem to care about their well-being. I don't want to scare them or hurt them but I'm wondering if it's even possible to train 2 at the same time to hopefully trust me so that they can play outside of their cage and become part of the family. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to the Forum

how old are they? thats a hard one... take it slow and steady, reward with treats, maybe a clicker? train in quite room away from every one... here is a good site...
www.cockatielcottage.net/

it covers everything hope i've helped enjoy the forum

I thought you didn't know what a clicker is...
(point number 5, 2nd question.)
http://www.parrotforums.com/indian-ringnecks/24978-getting-irn-please-answer-my-questions.html

 

[gemkitty24]

I go to that site quite often. I'm just lost because the previous owner said she bred cockatiels and these guys were the result and her last birds. They were in a filthy cage, all seed diet, and she said she never gave them fruits/veggies/ or a bath in their whole life. Plus she sprayed them with mite treatments twice. I'm not new to birds, I've just never taken 2 at a time. I'm taking them to the vet on Saturday because their poop looks awful....I just need some success stories of adopted abused birds? Thanks for the help though luckygirl.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I found a young cockatiel in San Fransisco one time, he wasn't tame at all but tamed down very quickly. I used millet spray as a training treat along with touch training and clicker training. He now lives with a close friend of mine.

Are the birds in two cages? It helps to train birds when they are separated. Also when training with millet spray only give it to them as a reward, they won't work as hard for something that's always available.

 

[gemkitty24]

No, they are in the same cage because they grew up that way and I didn't know if I should separate them. I thought that might cause more distress since I've only had them for 4 days. I thought I would wait to see the vet to see if they thought that was a good idea. But thank you for the suggestion Copperarabian.

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Dharmawaits]

I personally think anything is possible with time and attention. But above all thank you so much for taking these two in and actually caring about their well being. You deserve big kudos!

 

[gemkitty24]

I'm just trying to do my best by them. They don't get to choose their owners but I can choose whether or not they get a caring owner.

 

[MonicaMc]

Possible? Yes, but it will take time. Thanks to Sunshine (and probably the budgies I worked with prior to Sunshine which lead to Sunshine wanting to be fed), I've been able to earn the trust (to a degree) the non-tame tiels. Casey is my only hand fed and tame cockatiel. The rest, their history unknown prior to their last home, or the home before them. Pistachio is my most skittish cockatiel so prefers handling the least, but Tomi Girl and Faye have both enjoyed me interacting with them, and Faye has even demanded me to feed her by hand at times!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q88bN30qOjo]Sunshine in the Morning - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9w9w8nMRmw]Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH9ZWxhCSAE]Not So Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjKmHswgiHs]Cockatiel Feeding - April 24th - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Rana]

Hey hey! Yes, it's surely not impossible. the key is perseverance, but at their own pace.
Bandit was a tough cookie as well, neglected etc. and there were many times i thought it was hopeless, she could not be bribed with treats, and barely touched! i tried to train her to step up, thinking that was the first thing she should know, but after I figured out that she'd let me know what she wanted to know first, things got easier. have them get to know a clicker first. It really is the best thing to use to train a bird and i'll fiercly deffend that statement if i need to! just click, and give them a treat, over and over and over again, in - say - 5 minute sessions, twice or three times a day. for like a week or so, then target training, if you can get them to come out of the cage willingly, by all means do, otherwise just point a stick through the bars and click and treat when they touch it. Bandit was very agressive so i spend ages only rewarding her for gentley touching the stick and ignore when she attacked it, after a while i moved on to using my finger instead of a stick to get her used to my hand. spinning a circle is the first proper trick she learned, then high 5 (or 4 in her case) she shakes her head no on command and she's still progressing. stepping up however is still tricky. she knows darn well what i eman when i ask her, but she will only do it when SHE feels like it. no matter how many treats i try to bribe her with

Anyway i hope this helps, the main thing is, don't get discouraged! (and get a clicker )