Ask Lafeber

can you help with taming my 1 year old cockatiel

i got my cockatiel 6 days ago it loves spending time with my budgies so it doesn’t another tiel i’ve been trying to tame it by putting my hand in the cage for fifteen minutes i’ve seen some progress now it doesn’t seem so frightened like if used to in the first days but do you have any other tips for taming? also i sit with it for almost five or six hours chatting or whistling to it. i’ve offered it treats but it doesn’t seem like it wants it and it makes hissing sounds when i get too close so i try my best not to pressure it or annoy it and or make it nervous i also need to tame it quick because the cage it came isn’t the best to i want to tame it so i can get it easily inside the new bigger cage. and by taming it it wouldn’t hate me when i get it in the new cage. forgot to mention the cockatiel is 1 yrs old

Hi,

You can’t rush the taming process. And with a 1 year old bird, if it wasn’t hand fed, it can take weeks, months, or even longer. Many adult cockatiels can’t be tamed. You should not allow your cockatiel to be around the budgies since you just got him. He may look healthy, but there are diseases that cockatiels can carry, and he can pass this on to your budgies. They should be kept apart for at least 30 days. Even after that, the problem with letting him interact with the budgies is that it provides companionship for him, and he has no incentive to be tamed by you. You should continue slowly, but without having your hand in the cage or close to him. Cockatiels are a prey species, so if you grab at him, he feels like you are trying to catch and harm him. If you need to move him to a better cage, you can try matching the doors up and seeing if he will go to the new cage. I’ll give you links to behavior and taming that you need to read to better understand him. But again, you can’t be in a hurry. If you try to rush him or put pressure on him, it will set you back. He needs time to learn to trust you before you even consider trying to get your hand near him.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda