Cockatiel troubles

[Fur&Feathers]

Unfortunately, Sebastian is like that inside and out of his cage. In order to hold him out of his cage, you have to literally "chase" him inside of his cage which is very stressful for him, but he would never come out willingly if we didn't do that. He used to step up and he was fine being on and near our hands.

Logan, it certainly does hurt. The Nanday Conure in the picture with him, Dante, is bi-polar. One second he'd be giving kisses, the next, he's really biting you. You can usually tell by the look in his face though, right before he bites.

[Giselle]

I'm so jealous of you! I really love conures. My next future bird is a Patagonian Conure, but right now my flock only consists of budgies and a tiel very much like your own.

Was your Sebastian parent-raised? There are methods to tame the baby bird while being parent-fed, but most breeders don't have the time. It just sounds like your tiel is just being normal One thing that I noticed is that Bailey, my tiel, would be much more curious and willing to step up when he was on or near the ground. Every now and then I take his cage outside to hose the bottom and he'll just be the sweetest thing, trying to cozy up to me through the cage. There's been speculation that birds, like pack animals, can more easily be tamed when they are clearly subordinate - like having their cage low to the ground. I also have to "chase" Bailey around his cage to take him out, but I simply gave up with that. I found that it infliced fear more than anything else.

Now, I just take out his cage, open the door, and put it on the ground. I'll sprinkle treats outside his cage and he'll eventually come out by himself. Lastly, I always recommend Mattie Sue Athan's book. I might have already recommended it to you, but her book is simply invaluable. Just have lots of patience and maybe a few band-aids, too Good Luck!