I recently bought a cockatiel from a lady that could keep it anymore do to apartment rules. The cockatiel is only six months old but I’m worried that we won’t be able to have a close bond because of this.
Hi Kynlee,
If the bird is already tame, then he should bond with you after an adjustment period. He need to get settled into your home first. Once he is eating well, vocalizing and seems interested in his surroundings, then you should be able to start trying to handle him. It is best for his wings to be trimmed or he will just fly around and could get hurt. Cockatiels are very friendly and even older birds have changed owners and bonded with the new owner. Now if this bird has never been tame, it will take a lot of work to try to tame him and he might not tame down. But if he was bonded to the other owner, this indicates that she could handle him, so you should also be able to handle him. I’ll give you a link you our bird care guide – the Teaching and Learning as well as Bird Behavior tabs are the first one you should read.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
