Hi,
Do you know how old the bird is? Was he hand fed? Four months isn’t long at all for an untamed bird, especially if the bird wasn’t hand fed. And the older the bird is, the longer it will take to earn his trust. Cockatiels are prey animals, so they are sensitive about being grabbed or reached for. It makes him feel like a predator is trying to catch him. He needs to fully trust you before you try to handle or touch him. Each time you reach for him, it makes him not trust you again. You need to go back to basics and earn his trust, first. Everything needs to be about him approaching you. You need to spend time talking to him with your hands out of sight or kept low, such as in your lap. He’s not ready to trust your hands until he becomes curious enough about you to approach you and investigate you. He can definitely sense any anxiety you have. If you don’t trust him or are anxious around him, it causes him not to trust you. Building a bond could take many more months. There is no time frame. And there is no guarantee he will ever become hand tame. He’s basically a wild species and everything he does is based on instinct. He’s not trainable the way a domesticated pet is. Being raised in captivity doesn’t make him domesticated. I’m going to give you the links to our behavior and training pages. You need to understand behavior before you can consider any training. And he needs more time to learn to fully trust you.
Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior
Teaching Your Bird
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
