Ask Lafeber

About my 7 yrs old cockatiel

I recently got a cockatiel from another family member. And I have had him since last December… It did take him awhile to adjust . But he finally did… He was coming to me all the time… Now here recently it has changed. He is being stand offish from me. He loves his cage. He always has .. They did take really good care of him but he was practically cage bound the lady told me up until I got him … She said he was in his cage close to a year… I have started sitting by his cage again like I did last time.. But he seems to not won’t nothing to do with me.. I will talk to him and he will still give me kisses .. He even hissing at times.. I worry he doesn’t like me anymore.. But he does sit at his door. When I am close by…. Please help!!! He does chirp at times. But stay quite a lot…. He does let me get near him but he turns sometimes away and starts playing with his toys.. He also starts squaking and screaming flapping his wings sometimes as well.. So if you know anything I can do to help him please let me know.. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!!!!!

Hi,

He may be feeling hormonal right now. The best thing to do is keep doing what you said. Be patient with him, spend time with him, offer him special treats. Some birds go back and forth as to wanting to be handled. Be patient – they do not stop liking someone. Cockatiels are an exotic bird and all behavior is based on instinct. When they molt they can get grumpy and not want to be handled, and the same when they are hormonal. It is probably just a phase and he will go back to being more social again once he gets through whatever he is going through. Also if he will step up, he might do better if you handle him in a different room than where his cage is.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda