My grandson received a cocktail about a yr ago. He has read books and online subject matter on care of this special bird. He seems to do fine with being the care taker but, does discipline, if the bird is not behaving by putting bird back in cage for “time out.”. When I am in the presence of the bird, he thinks the bird likes me better. Makes him upset. How can we fix this problem?
Hi Margi,
I don’t know if this is a child or an adult, but either way, he needs to understand that a bird like a cockatiel is an exotic pet, so their behavior is based on natural instinct unlike a dog or cat that has been domesticated by humans. A cockatiel may be raised in captivity, but he’s still technically a wild species. He has no concept of discipline – this type of negative reinforcement can damage trust between the owner and bird. They only respond to positive reinforcement – treats or praise. Any unwanted behavior needs to be ignored entirely. It’s OK to return the bird to the cage depending on why, but he has to be careful not to do it in a negative way. If the bird bites him for example, he can say ouch loudly, but then just set the bird in the cage normally, no fussing or negativity. After a few minutes, get the bird out again – if he wants to come out – and if the bird bites again, repeat the process. Most “bad” behavior is really just behavior we don’t care for. Birds can’t help what is instinctive. With a child, it’s really better for an adult to be around when the bird is being handled. Children, even teenagers, have limits to their own behavior. Many adults lose their patience with pet birds, so you can imagine how challenging this is for a child. He also needs to understand that nothing the bird does is personal. He can’t let his feelings get hurt if the bird goes to someone else or if the bird bites him or does things he doesn’t like. The bird may feel more comfortable with you because he can sense that you are “in charge” and he trusts you more. He may not fully trust your grandson because of the time outs and because the grandson is very likely not consistent with him. When training a bird, you have to stay consistent. Let’s say he screams too much, so the best reaction is to quietly leave the room and not come back until the bird is quiet. But all it takes is one time where you yell back at the bird, and the training before that is undone. If you are not consistent, the bird doesn’t know what to expect, and therefore doesn’t trust you as much. Some birds have a preference for males or females, and this bird may prefer women. And just like us, birds do have their own opinions, and tend to choose who they do and don’t like. Again, this isn’t personal. He may prefer to go to you simply because he doesn’t get to interact with you as much.
I’ll give you the links to our bird behavior and taming and training pages. These are easy to understand and geared towards first time owners. Your grandson should read them and learn from these pages in order to better understand his bird as well as know how to train him. At 1 year old, you are about to be dealing with hormones if you haven’t already. Hormones are probably the main cause of behavior problems with pet birds.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
