New tiel when is it safe to let him out of his cage?

[Remi2005]

I recently bought a new cockatiel (6 month old Male). He was used to sitting in his cage for all of his life and I want to know how many days does it take for them to get accustomed to a new environment so I can let him out? We already have a 2 year old female lutino cockatiel and she is allowed to walk freely around the house. She generally follows us around. It has been about 3 days now since I bought him. We talk to him regularly, he has no signs of infection or mites and he seems pretty good overall? When we got him he was shivering a lot and seemed to be very afraid of hands (specifically fingers; might be the result of bad handling when young) but now whenever we come close he doesn’t tremble at all and he sometimes even chirps to greet us. So when is it safe to let him out of his cage?

 

[wrench13]

You know the reason parrots can be around humans is trust. THey trust us to not eat them, trust us to always bring good things, like treats and scratches and stuff to play with.
So you need to develop that trust and hopefully a bond. If you let him out, and you have to chase him down to get him back in the cage that is a HUGE trust buster. I would try to develop that trust more before letting him out. Cockies have a inordinate fear of fingers, so make you hand flat and use that to get him to step up - but you are a ways before that can happen. Every time you pass his cage drop a little treat into his food bowl or even have a separate bowl just for treats. He has to learn that only good things come from humans.

 

[Flboy]

^^^^^What he said! ^^^

 

[T00tsyd]

Wouldn't it be better to observe quarantine for a while longer to make sure he is truly fit and not about to pass anything on to your other bird? Otherwise I would feel better if he was confident enough to perch on you or at least a piece of perch, otherwise being out in a strange place without knowing his way around and the dangers might panic him even more. My byword is always slowly slowly. 3 days doesn't seem long enough unless you have particularly confident bird. I used to carry Syd around and show him glass, flight paths, places to perch long before he took off on his own. His original flights were from his cage to me where he felt safest.

 

[Remi2005]

Thank you all for your replies! when I got him he seemed very scared and I didn’t want to scare him more hence this thread.. I’ll try building up trust with him first, let him take his time and I’ll offer him treats in separate bowl as well and he is in quarantine from my other bird, we interact with him regularly but we are keeping my female away from him just in case. He’s very stationary and doesn’t move much but we always keep an eye on him to make sure he eats, drinks water and doesn’t hurt himself. He looks less afraid and he doesn’t seem to mind whenever I put my hand in to change his food/water. Again thank you all for your replies really appreciate it

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

All birds are different. When I got BB he was 4.5 months old (from a breeder) and he was handled well by them and he immediately jumped onto my fingers. When we got home I set up his new house and he ran up my arm to my shoulder and started chirping..he had no fear lol....he hung out with me for a few hours before I put him in his house.
But if your new guy is skittish still just be patient he'll come around.



Jim

 

[Remi2005]

Hello! An update on Remi! He’s doing great! I think he saw me petting my female in the hallway a few times and when I went to change his food he came to my hand for a pet! He’s still afraid of the tips of our fingers so I use the back instead and he seems happy with that again thank you all for your replies!