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 #1859955


Jenna813
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 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

I have a male white face cinnamon. (i believe thats what he’s called) anyway, he’s about a year old and his name is brody. I got him when he was about four months old and when i did he was VERY frightened of me. Since then he’s gotten used to me...to a certain extent.

When he’s in his cage he LOVES me. He gets really happy when i come home and when i walk up to the cage he comes over and makes kissy noises and whistles the songs he’s picked up. very nice.

HOWEVER- if i happen to open the cage door and stick my hand in to get him out, he goes BESERK! flapping around and freaking out! he’ll even try and attack me. I take him out multiple times a day so he can see that coming out isn’t bad, but this has been going on for eight months now. when i finally get him on my finger, hes the sweetest thing.

And i put him on top of his cage a lot because he seems to really like it up there. i just open the door and he climbs up, but getting him off is insane. the cage is taller then me so its all i can do to reach up there to get him, but he runs all over the place to try and get away from me!

ANY SUGGESTIONS?
09/15/08  12:03am

 #1861668


Kimforster
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   Message To: Jenna813   In reference to Message Id: 1859955


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

He loves you to bits but doesn’t trust you 100%. Or at least doesn’t trust your hand.

Try & imagine this gigantic thing coming straight for you, you have no idea what it is, what it wants, but it’s HUGE & scary. That might be how your cockatiel feels about your hands. It is a very common thing, particularly for tiels.

You can open the cage up & allow Brody to come out of the cage rather than putting your hand in their. It might take Brody a couple of tries to get the idea to go to you at the end of the cage, but it certainly won’t take him long to figure it out if he wants out! Have a treat ready for when he goes to your hand. Offer him the treat when he steps up onto your hand without any fuss.
09/17/08  08:57am

 #1862947


Stina
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   Message To: Kimforster   In reference to Message Id: 1861668


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

Have you tried picking him up with a stick first? Let him come out on his own and then get him to step up on a stick, then transfer him to your hand. Then gradually move your hand farther and farther down the stick each time you pick him up until he’ll actually step up on your hand. For some reason some birds handle a stick better at first. (My macaw however is TERRIFIED of a stick and will do ANYTHING not to touch it!!)
Anyway, it might be worth a try.
09/18/08  09:53pm

 #1864954


UsefulAddiction
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   Message To: Stina   In reference to Message Id: 1862947


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

it might just be he is territorial my quaker who ive had since 8 weeks and is now 10 loves me to bits i am her main care taker and seems to trust me very much as im the one she talks to allows to handle and kisses iim just teaching her how to flip over i should have done that when she was a baby. but when in her cage she is beast the attacks hissing bties and its not a cockatail bite its always bloody and bruised i tried treats ive tryed socks ive tried everything i just do it because it dosent seem to stress her out to much if im quick about getting her out. and once out she starts to dance and sing and give me kisses. some birds just feel that their cage is their home and you shouldnt be in it. but yours is still younge be calm dont stress him out and keep working with him hopefully he will come around



09/21/08  02:27pm

 #1865396


Kimforster
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   Message To: UsefulAddiction   In reference to Message Id: 1864954


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

Although cockatiels can on occasions become cage territorial, this doesn’t sound like that is what it is.

As for your quaker being cage territorial there are steps you can take to prevent this. My sun conure was also territorial, it come with their species. This website tells you what you can do to stop this:
http://eclectusparrots.net/cageaggression.html

This is my sun conures story. It covers a little about her territory too & the website above is what I did to stop it:
http://eclectusparrots.net/squash.html

Stick training is a great idea but make sure your tiel is not scared of the stick! Some are & it can make things worse.



09/21/08  09:09pm

 #2026139


Apryor91606
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   Message To: Jenna813   In reference to Message Id: 1859955


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

my female is the same way. she would rather just do it all herself and come to you when she feels like it. idk if you do this or not, but i refuse to clip her wings. she’s almost 7 now and has never had them done so she just loves to sit on your shoulder and do nothing or fly around as she pleases. as someone’s already said though he is just frightened of your hand coming at him. with mine i just open the door and let her come out first and then she climbs on my hand. she is starting to get more calm though when i do stick my hand in her cage. you just have to work with him ALOT. hope all goes well. good luck!
06/20/09  11:39pm

 #2027790


Lovetheleo
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   Message To: Apryor91606   In reference to Message Id: 2026139


 My cockatiel is IMPOSSIBLE. help!

you have gotten good advice so far

but i know alot of people who do have cage agressive birds(although i agree this does not sound like aggression) let them get on top of the cage and then get them off of there

try getting a stool so you can reach the top well enough that you wont have to chase her around b/c you cant reach her

good luck
06/23/09  09:43pm


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