# New cockatiel owner :)



## orcywoo6

Hey everyone, I got my first cockatiel today. I am a new owner and would much appreciate any tips you have about looking after them. I have done a LOT of reading up :lol:

He is only about 12 weeks old and is a lovely looking grey with red cheeks and a small amount of yellow around his beak and eyes, it almost looks like make-up haha.

I am unsure on a name at the moment and he seems quite afraid. I have seen him eating though and he has come over to the bars once and seemed interested when I was whistling. He isnt really moving around much and has only chirped quietly and squealed a couple of times. 

The only time he has moved about was to eat food and when he went mad climing all over the bars 

I hope he settles in well soon, he seems quite afraid of me at the moment and puffs up his feathers etc. So I have just left him alone to get his bearings but I am still in the same room in sight.


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## poohdog

It may take a while to gain trust,but you'll get there with patience.The first hurdle is to get him/her to take food from your fingers through the bars.And then later with the door open and no bars between you...once trust is gained it doesn't take long to progress to the bird stepping up on your finger.Lots of patience and no sudden movements are the way forward.

PS....More cockatiels escape than any other bird...they don't miss a trick...watch those open windows.


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## orcywoo6

Its now day 2 and the cockatiel seems a lot more lively. He must be feeling braver too since he has spent the day watching what we are doing, running around the cage and climbing all over the bars and also calling out quite a lot.

I have tried offering some food since he comes right over to the bars and starts chirping but he quickly shifts over to the other end of the perch lol.

Are they supposed to go this crazy though? he really does seem to be going mad climbing all over the bars and biting them and running around at the bottom. :lol:

He also seems to like sitting underneath his food dish too haha


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## new westie owner

I have 1 called Oscar he is 17 yrs old he runs about bottom of cage mad and climbs over bars all day slowly down a little getting older


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## orcywoo6

new westie owner said:


> I have 1 called Oscar he is 17 yrs old he runs about bottom of cage mad and climbs over bars all day slowly down a little getting older


Haha aww  They really do go for it!


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## orcywoo6

Day three, he has really perked up now and has again spent the day running about in his cage like a mad man. He is showing a lot more interest in having people nearby and will try to go to your side of the cage, his crest is relaxed a lot more now too, with the occasional noise frightening him.

He also keeps calling out to me to see if i will respond and when i do he chirps happily 

He has been up and down his perch and attacking the bars and his food, water dishes all day :lol:

He seems to be getting the hang of jumping and climbing about too as he no longer smacks into anything or gets his wings or tail stuck


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## Zayna

awww i envy you, i remember when we brought our darling Spongebob home, she was hand reared and on the first morning we had her OH got her out the cage and sat her on my chest so when i woke up I had this little bird face looking at me

I do miss her


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## orcywoo6

Zayna said:


> awww i envy you, i remember when we brought our darling Spongebob home, she was hand reared and on the first morning we had her OH got her out the cage and sat her on my chest so when i woke up I had this little bird face looking at me
> 
> I do miss her


aww it must be hard for you... sorry for your loss :/

Day 4
He has gotten really vocal today and calls whenever I leave the room. We also went and got him some toys. one is a corn on the cob suspended with wood and stuff, another is a big swing, a ladder (he really likes it for some reason lol) and a cuttlefish bone.

He has ignored everything except the ladder so far which he seems really interested in because he can push it around :lol:

All day he has been running about the cage again but i noticed something new, he is getting on his perch and sidestepping back and forth across it really fast whilst sometimes ducking his head down : i think its funny, its like he is dancing to mc hammer.

His face seems to be more yellow also...


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## orcywoo6

Ok so I have had my little baby for just over a week now and I thought it was about time I tried taming him, I have let him out to stretch his wings a couple of times and he was fine as long as you didn't approach him too fast or get too close. 

He still is very scared of hands though and whenever I try feeding him a treat he just runs away from it and stares at it from the other side of the cage, I even tried pretending to eat it but he was not convinced lol

He has figured out what the rattling sound that his seeds pot makes and goes mad whenever I refill his food dish 

His face seems to be getting more yellow on it every day and he has settled in nicely, he has started doing a really loud chirp if I leave the room though 


So anyway, any tips on taming this little guy would be very appreciated thanks


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## new westie owner

Hi just keep trying to hand feed him he will get tamer :thumb up:


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## pamela Renfrew

Hi there.....Good luck with taming the little fellow..... I used to have a wee Cockatiel also.... He was called Urnie until he was 5 then Urnie started to lay eggs !!!!!! After 17 eggs, I was a little scared that she was draining all the calcium out of her own body so off to the vets we went..... the vet put her on the canine pill !!!!!!! That stopped her but only for that year... 
When I got her at first I had to feed her through a syringe..... she was pretty tame.... I got her used to one whistle and a few words like Bed and she came flying to me when I called her name..... She sat on my shoulder most of the time.... not often on my finger... she used to sleep in the afternoons when i had my nap, she stood on my head and grinded her beak and tucked up her little leg and slept until I woke up...She used to slide into the bath when I was init....... I would shampoo her and then blow dry her with the hairdryer when i got out.....I could go on and on and on...... just be patient but repeat things more and more and more until he gets the hang of it... Pamx


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## orcywoo6

Hello again everyone, thanks very much for the advice and tips that you posted.  My little tiel is settling in nicely and just goes about his daily business without being freaked out any more. However if you get too close or are too loud he hates it.

I'm not sure what he is trying to do but he just stands in his cage in the corner closest to me, watching me on the computer. When I go over to say hello he backs off, even if I move extremely slowly and he then proceeds to climb all over his cage and stare at me.

He has started singing and chirping properly in the mornings now rather than just screeching which is a welcome improvement lol :thumbup:

He has also been stretching his wings back sometimes and standing on one foot which confused me a bit because explanations online are very vague about it. :confused1:

He is eating and drinking well but he still wont take millet or eat from the hanging boredom breaker things in his cage, he hasn't touched his cuttle bone either. 

Its weird what he does though, he will be minding his own business eating or playing with something and he will every now and again run over to where he can see me just to check on me and sometimes grind his beak, its hilarious when you see his head slowly emerge round the corner of the chest of drawers that is next to his cage only to pop back again and hear him munching 

I managed to get a decent picture too (yes his crest is up, he didn't like the camera lol)


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## PennyH

Aww he is gorgeous!! What's his name?
I am waiting for my hand reared kakariki to be ready to come home and getting impatient - another few weeks yet!
Have a look at google images for Cinnamon pied yellow kakariki and you will see what he will look like one day (bit of an ugly duckling at the moment though!)
I love reading your posts - they are so thorough and it is lovely to hear about your little cockatiel's antics!


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## orcywoo6

PennyH said:


> Aww he is gorgeous!! What's his name?
> I am waiting for my hand reared kakariki to be ready to come home and getting impatient - another few weeks yet!
> Have a look at google images for Cinnamon pied yellow kakariki and you will see what he will look like one day (bit of an ugly duckling at the moment though!)
> I love reading your posts - they are so thorough and it is lovely to hear about your little cockatiel's antics!


Aw thank you haha  I love the little guy he's very entertaining  I may try opening the cage door tomorrow morning and see if he feels safe enough to venture out and explore. I am currently still trying to find a name for him and any suggestions are welcome, he needs a ridiculously epic name for such a little bird haha.

Aww thats a cute little bird that you will have, can't wait to see some pictures when you get him!


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## pamela Renfrew

Hey..... Good to hear he is settling in well..... Try putting your hand inside the cage or just at the open door for him to come to you..... When he does come out and settle, perhaps behind you on your chair..... remember to put a square of kitchen paper on the floor to catch the you know whats !!!!!!! He will find several favourite perches within the house..... that way you can keep the place clean and tidy...... Have fun..... Try feeding him a little bit of boiled egg mashed up, or pasta, mine used to love pasta...
Pamx


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## orcywoo6

As of today he has started munching on his cuttle bone which is good  
I am currently just leaving his cage door open for him so that he can come out when he wants to, he still backs off if I go too close so I am just sitting next to his cage on my computer so that I don't scare him 

He keeps sitting in the open door so its only a matter of time...


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## orcywoo6

He has now finally taken to the toys and chewable food things now and is enjoying them. At the moment though he is obsessed with getting rid of the rungs from his ladder haha 

He is also trying to find his voice now rather than just screeching, now he is trying loads of new sounds it almost sounds like he is laughing :lol:

He is definately much more relaxed now and has started enjoying attention more although he is still pretty scared of people.


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## orcywoo6

The breakthrough has finally been made! 

All week the little cockatiel has been chirping away to me and showing a real interest, but whenever I went near him he backed away. So I decided to just leave his cage door open every now and again so that he can come out when he is ready.

Well today he took me completely by surprise, shortly after I opened his cage door I noticed that he had gone strangely quiet, so I glanced over to see him hanging on the bars outside of his cage.

He then let out a squawk and flew up to my door frame and perched there. At this point I needed to get him down in case anybody opened the door and he flew out. So I tried putting my hand near him to encourage him to perch elsewhere. He took me completely by surprise by simply stepping onto my hand and staying there, no hissing or biting. He just sat there looking at me.

He was there checking out my arm and hand for a good 30 minutes before he ran across my chest and onto my knee. I put him back for some rest shortly afterwards, but I am very pleased with him :thumbup:


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## poohdog

Nice feeling when you get their trust 'aint it?


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## orcywoo6

poohdog said:


> Nice feeling when you get their trust 'aint it?


Yeah its great haha, the way he just unexpectedly climbed on was really odd 

He got a bit cranky though after a while and started hissing and trying to bite so I put him to bed. I made sure he knew biting was not the answer though by not moving my hand away and telling him no. 

Hope I didn't make him hate me...


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## pamela Renfrew

Oh wow.... thats great news... well done little birdie... the trust is obviously getting stonger...... my wee birdie used to come out her cage and hang upside down with her wings out full and stay there for minutes.....before flying off round the house.....she would always let me know where she was..... we had a little whistle thing that if i called her name and gave a whistle she would come flying....it is amazing just how close you can come to birds eh ? Good luck and keep letting us know..... Pamx


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## orcywoo6

Hey everyone 

He came out of his cage again today and perched on my finger 

I opened the cage door like I normally do and he started chirping and came flying out. He settled on top of my door frame again and with a bit of persuasion stepped up onto my finger. 

I did have a problem with him trying to bite me whilst he was on my finger, if my other hand went anywhere near him he tried to bite it. I read that you are not supposed to move your hand away so I made a fist so he couldnt bite and left my hand next to him.

I was just wondering why he would try to bite me when he wanted to come out in the first place :confused1: haha luckily it doesn't hurt


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## pamela Renfrew

I reckon that he doesnt know you have two hands or what a hand is really and probably finds the other coming towards him a threat..... so he will defend himself..... I take it he just nips a little and that he isnt putting his wings out ? I am glad I am getting a new puppy in a couple of weeks as you are really making me want another wee birdie.... although with 4 cats around i dont think it is worth taking the risk.... especially when i like my bird to have the freedom of the house..... A recipe for disaster eh !!!! I am not taking any chances...... One day I will have another wee birdie...... till then I will stick with my Malamute, German Shepherd, Klee Kai, 4 cats and my horsey...... Pamx


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## orcywoo6

No he isn't putting his wings out or anything, he was just sat on my finger hissing at the other hand and trying to bite it haha, I just made a fist so he couldn't bite properly and let him bite it so that he would realise it had no effect and isn't worth it. 


haha aww you have so many pets! 

If you did get another birdie then you would have to keep an eye on those cats especially!


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## pamela Renfrew

Definately...... they are pretty wild cats.... dont get into the house much.....years ago we got 8 kittens dumped in our wheelie bin at the end of the drive..... we ended up keeping 4..... I started off by making a little ladder up into one of the conservatory windows but as they grew they were bringing all sorts home and i finally drew the line when one of them was almost in the window with a Malard Duck in his mouth !!!!! Since then they have been outside cats..... they are to keep the mice down as we live in the country but they catch allsorts including squirrels and rabbits etc etc etc...... Pamx


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## orcywoo6

haha cool  Cats are little rascals when it comes to bringing you 'gifts' my cousin's cat always brings me presents when I stay at his house, the only problem is that the cat doesn't know how to kill them and we end up chasing mice all night :lol:

But when he does kill one...we can hear him crunching on the bones :eek6:

Maybe if your cats are outside a bird would be alright in your house, dogs aren't so bad with them and can be taught to leave it  My dog is scared of my cockatiel haha


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