My cockitiel hates me... :-(

[tikeyas_mom]

I feel sad because my cockitel doent like me Nor anyone as a matter of fact .. He only likes his Spank *a budgy* .. He got bit by a dog wayyyy back when and now he doesnt trust anyone or thing.. *he is my bird* I traded my C.D player for him .. we have had him for about 5 or 6 years and he used to be nice intill he got bit by a dog and When his mate dies he started plucking out all his feathers.. *cry* It was sad, thats why we bough a budgy for a friend... please help me help my cockitiel to like ppl again .. I miss my Cheeko Thanks

[popcornbird]

I think you need to try to work on gaining his trust again. Obviously this poor bird has gone through some very frightening moments that I doubt he will ever forget in his lifetime.

I suggest that you spend time with him every single day. Sit by his cage and talk to him gently. Talk to him with your hand in the cage. Don't try to touch him. Let him learn to trust your hand. If you touch him, he may think your hand is evil and will lose trust even more. Keep your hand in the cage and talk to him 2-3 times a day for 10-20 minutes each time. After a week, put your hand in the cage as you did before except this time have a piece of spray millet in your hand. Hopefully this will tempt him to come to your hand. Do this every day for the whole next week. Once he gets used to your hand in the cage with food, VERY slowly, and gently, try to slide your hand under his feet. Make sure no other pets are around at this time. Once he gets on, talk to him with your hand still in the cage, with the bird on it. After 3 days of doing this, take your hand out with your bird on your hand. (Be sure to have his wings clipped before). Once he gains confidence and stays on your hand, just spend more time with him everyday. I hope he'll gain confidence in you again and become the sweet tiel he was before the tragic incidence.

[Jessica12345]

Originally posted by popcornbird
I think you need to try to work on gaining his trust again. Obviously this poor bird has gone through some very frightening moments that I doubt he will ever forget in his lifetime.

I suggest that you spend time with him every single day. Sit by his cage and talk to him gently. Talk to him with your hand in the cage. Don't try to touch him. Let him learn to trust your hand. If you touch him, he may think your hand is evil and will lose trust even more. Keep your hand in the cage and talk to him 2-3 times a day for 10-20 minutes each time. After a week, put your hand in the cage as you did before except this time have a piece of spray millet in your hand. Hopefully this will tempt him to come to your hand. Do this every day for the whole next week. Once he gets used to your hand in the cage with food, VERY slowly, and gently, try to slide your hand under his feet. Make sure no other pets are around at this time. Once he gets on, talk to him with your hand still in the cage, with the bird on it. After 3 days of doing this, take your hand out with your bird on your hand. (Be sure to have his wings clipped before). Once he gains confidence and stays on your hand, just spend more time with him everyday. I hope he'll gain confidence in you again and become the sweet tiel he was before the tragic incidence.

i guess i cant add anything to that! lol but thats what i did with tiki in the beginning.

good luck! poor birdy.... bit by and dog? then its mate died? poor poor birdy!

[pegwad16]

I know where your coming from, the same thing is with my favorite cockatiel in lab his name is Jacob and he is a beautiful white faced gray cockatiel and i love him. Sometimes we get our animals from Petland and soemtimes we get them from people who give them to us and Jacob was one of those that we got given to us. He has a bit of an attitude problem. the only way that i can get him out of his cage is with a towel and when i do get him out he jumps out of my hands and i get him back onto my shoulder with my braclet case he bites onto it and climbs into my hands and jumps on my shoulders. He will stay in my shoulders while i clean the rest of my cages or do whatever i'm doing but sometimes he will jump off my shoulder when someone else tries to touch him. I try to spend everyday with him but we only have 2.67 hours in lab and most of that we have to clean animal cages and even though i can do those with him on my shoulder i can't like work with him that well. Everybody else pays attention to the other cockatiels who are friendly and everyhting but i love Jacob and I feel as if i can help him. I'm bringing him home on spring break and summer break to work with him. Can anyboyd give me advice. Remember though i dont have a big time scedule.

[tikeyas_mom]

Well I cant clip his wings because he bites SSSOOOO hard he makes us droll blood.In order to clip his wings we have to get a towel and grab him and then cut his wings really fast and he squakes and freaks out... As fior Spanky *our budgy* he has never had much human contact * I got him from a pet store when he was a baby and he just flips out when anyone goes near him *what I mean by flip out is, he flys everywhere in his cage and almost gives himself a heart attack*.... Spanky has had his wings clipped once by petstore but never by me or my mom....

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by tikeyas_mom
Well I cant clip his wings because he bites SSSOOOO hard he makes us droll blood.In order to clip his wings we have to get a towel and grab him and then cut his wings really fast and he squakes and freaks out... As fior Spanky *our budgy* he has never had much human contact * I got him from a pet store when he was a baby and he just flips out when anyone goes near him *what I mean by flip out is, he flys everywhere in his cage and almost gives himself a heart attack*.... Spanky has had his wings clipped once by petstore but never by me or my mom....

That's WHY you need to clip his wings. He is NOT going to gain trust in you unless he has his wings clipped. If you are not an expert at doing this, do NOT do it yourself. Take him to the vet or a well-know pet store where there are qualified personal to do it for you. The Petco and Petsmart in my area have employees that clip wings. My birds used to draw blood from my fingers when we just got them, but they only did that once.........the day before we got their wings clipped. Ever since then, after I tamed them, they have been the sweetest most cuddly tiels you can imagine. They won't even bite it you puch your finger at their beak! You have to have your bird's wings clipped if you want him to be your friend. A bird NEVER bites unless it feels threatened. You tiel is biting because he is afraid. He feels that you are a threat to his safety and you need to help him know you are a friend. The only way you will have the ability to take him out of the cage and spend time with him to make him know you are nice is to have his wings clipped. I used to use a towel to clip my birds' wings, but now I just put them on a counter, hold them gently, but firmly, and clip real fast. They don't make a peep. Tell your parents he needs to have his wings clipped. This poor bird is afraid and that is not good for him. A bird should feel safe where he/she lives and should consider its human family part of its flock. Being afraid of everyone is hard on the bird. He needs love to gain confidence, and he needs you to play with him. Don't be afraid of his bites. Once he gets used to having you hold him, he will stop, but again, I don't know how much I can stress on this, you NEED to have his wings clipped first. If you do not know how to clip them, do NOT even try to. You can seriously injure your bird. Petco in our area charges $5 to clip a bird's wings. It is well worth it, so please have it done.

Ps. I recommend you have your budgie's wings clipped too. Budgies are extremely easy to tame (although tiels are normally more human oriented). If you want both your birds to become your friends, please have their wings clipped by a proffessional.

[pegwad16]

Isen't anybody going to help me?

[popcornbird]

Pegwad, just spend more time with him. It seems that your bird already feels safe around people. You just need to boost his confidence. What I did when I was taming my tiels was to put a sheet over my head and put the birds in my lap. They had no place to go bacause the sheet was over me and them and sealed from all sides, so they couldn't get away. I would talk to them gently and pet them in there for 1/2 hour every day. It really helped in making them my best friends! Try it!

[tikeyas_mom]

Well my mom knows how to clip wings.. we dont have a petco or petsmart here.. ... Ceeko has had his wings clipped and it didnt make ANY difference in how he acted around us.. He still hated us after so we thought wed just let him live out his life

[popcornbird]

It wouldn't make a difference JUST by clipping. It makes it easier to tame them because they can't keep getting away and they then feel that you are the boss. Can't you understand? "sigh" If you clipped the wings but didn't tame him or spend time with him, its not going to work. Tell your mom to clip his wings and work with him. It doesn't matter if you have to hold him with a towel. As long as you do it quick, it shouldn't be a problem. It truely seems from your posts you are not willing to try suggestions. Why do you ask then if you don't listen? I have tamed my friend's 7 year old crazy wild and unfriendly tiel in only 3 weeks. I have no clue why you don't want to listen, but its your bird. What can I do if you don't do anything to help him?? Read my response to pegwad

[monkeyluver]

I agree with Popcornbird on this one. Our parrot became tame by us clipping his wings. He evetually learned to trust us and is a great companion now. He doesn't even need his wings clipped now. You should really try it.


-Rachel

[pegwad16]

Jacob doesn't even freak out when i clip his wings and nails acctually it was the birds that are normally nice that freak out when i do that. Well my intructor told me soemthing today. She said that the owner that she got him from had his cage about 2 feet from the ground adn they had a lab who are bird dogs adn he would sit at the cage and bark and to top it all of he never got held or took out of his cage. I was mad cause now i know why he doesn't trust people. I wouldn't either!! Well she also told me that he has improved so much since i have been paying the attention to him cause nobody else pays attention to him, she said he trusts me more than he trusts her. So she really wants me to take him home for spring break and summer break. So i will take your advice and i will do everything that you told me whenever i can, i hope it works. Thanks a bunch!!!

[Jessica12345]

Originally posted by popcornbird
It truely seems from your posts you are not willing to try suggestions. Why do you ask then if you don't listen? I have tamed my friend's 7 year old crazy wild and unfriendly tiel in only 3 weeks. I have no clue why you don't want to listen, but its your bird. What can I do if you don't do anything to help him?? Read my response to pegwad

she rejected all of our suggestions about her dog and her rabbit too!.

please try and be patient with all of your animals.

[tikeyas_mom]

When did I regect all your suggestions on my dog and my rabbit.. I dont recall this? I have been very patient with my rabbit and she is getting to like me better.. An what about my dog???

I am going to get my mom to clip Cheekos wings today and am gunna try toplay with my or handle him at least.. it makes me sad you all dont think I take the patients with my pets ...

[Jessica12345]

well we recomended for your dog training more tricks, agility, obedience classes, going on walks, and cuddling to have more fun with your dog.

you seemed to reject all of them.

for your bunny litter we recomended carefresh, timothy hay, pin shavings, critter countrey, sliced newspaper stuff, and a few other things but you rejected them too.

Im REALLY REALLY sorry! please just forget what i said i tend to overreact a little. or a lot. im sooorrrrrrrrrryyyyy!