Hand-taming cockatiels, in particular, seems to take a longer amount of time than budgies. Just be consistent and maintain patience. Ask your friend to buy and read Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan. Gawsh, I can't believe how many people don't do this simple task which could save them months of heartache! If her tiel is calm enough to step onto her hand, I would advise her to take the tiel out of the cage and take a shower with it. Showering time provides *incredible* bonding time. Once you're in the shower, you can easily pet the tiel and "groom" it just as another birdie mate would. I'd also advise your friend to incorporate the bird in nearly every aspect of her daily rituals. Let her tiel observe her brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, eating her breakfast, etc.

Generally, freshly weaned chicks are easier to tame than adult birds who are set in their ways. However, this still depends on *how* the chick was raised. Are the cockatiel chicks being parent raised or handfed? If they're handfed, then they should look at human hands as friends whereas the parent raised chick looks at human hands as predators.

I haven't bred budgies in years, but I do believe both budgies and tiels share the same general growth rate. Sooo, if that's true, cockatiel chicks begin to fledge around 4-5 weeks when weaning begins. Weaning should end around 7 weeks when the bird reaches adulthood. It should not be difficult at all to tame a baby tiel. Think of the baby tiel as a blank slate

Birds do not care if they're related. They simply don't know. Even if the birds are from the same clutch, they will mate after reaching sexual maturity. So yes, if you place two tiels of the opposite sex in the same cage (no matter their relation), they will mate if given the chance. Yes, you can get DNA testing even when they are freshly weaned. Remember, your DNA won't change throughout your life! Just send a feather or blood sample to the labratory, and the company will send you the results within a few business days.