Ask Lafeber

Cockatiel not friendly

Ever since I got my bird ( he was 9 months old) he bites a lot and doesn’t want anything to do with me. He is now 2 years and 3 months old. I would like to for him and I to have a better bond.

Hi Reema,

If the bird was not hand fed, he will be harder to try to tame. You need to have a lot of patience and not expect anything to happen quickly. You need to be consistent with him and earn his trust. Cockatiels are prey animals so if you grab or reach for him, he feels like a predator is trying to grab him. He needs to learn to trust you and approach you. I’ll give you the links to our behavior and training page to help you. But he may never be a very tame bird like some can be, or he most likely would have come around by now. You can still teach him to trust you and maybe train him to step on a stick so you can interact with him outside of the cage.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda