Ask Lafeber

how to tame a cockatiel

I have a cockatiel almost 2 months old. This is my first time taking care of one. she used to come to me when I have food and her poop is light green even though i was feeding her baby formula and her beak smells weird. I had gone away from home for a long time due to personal reasons and my mom and my 4 year old brother took care of it. when I came back she refuses to eat and when I tried to pat her head she would bite me. I want to earn her trust and train her to fly to me when I call but I am having some trouble doing that . I’ve watched countless videos on how to train my bird but it doesn’t work, she would fly somewhere high and never come back down even with food

Hi,

First, her beak and poop should not have an odor. If she smells bad, then something is wrong and she needs to be seen by a vet. As for training, it is hard to train a bird that can fly away from you. And as for teaching her to fly to you, this is a very advanced training technique that should not be attempted until you can handle her. You need to teach her to step up, come out of the cage on your hand, and she needs to trust and like you. Training is a slow process and each step might take a few days or a few weeks or a few months. It depends on how consistent you are with her. I’ll give you the links to our behavior page and training page, but you have to be patient and not expect fast results. She’s not a dog – she is driven by instinct, so you must first understand her behavior and how to go about working with her. Finally, stay away from videos and social media for learning any reliable information. Videos and advice from other bird owners is often wrong and misleading. They only show the cute things and not all the work that went into getting the bird to do something you want it to do. Many videos show dangerous situations, too.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda