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Stuff to do with a cockatiel

ArowanaLover

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I want him to be happy, but when he is outside of his cage, all he does is perch on my finger and poop. Are there any fun activities to do with him, thanks for the help.
 

ConureTiel

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Harness train and take for walks? Target train?
 

Peachfaced

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Is he interested in playing with things? I'd call them foot toys, but for Sherbie it's more like I sit there holding a piece of yucca, balsa, popsicle stick, etc while he chews on it. You could also get him a play gym to explore on.
 

Mr Peepers

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I agree with Peachfaced about getting your birds a play gym, you can place toys or treats there and encourage your bird to fly to the play gym from your hands to get some exercise as well as climbing on it.

.
 

sunnysmom

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My tiel seems happiest- other than when he's getting scritches- when he's "helping" me. He loves to be involved and/or supervise whatever I'm doing. If I'm going through the mail, he likes to chew the mail. If I'm reading a magazine, he likes to sit on my lap and chew the magazine. If I'm putting dishes away, he loves to sit on my shoulder to see where I'm putting everything. He just likes to be involved. :)
 

Sadieladie1994

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What also happens is what ever is not interesting now may become interesting in the future.
You may have read this about parrots
"what mine is mine. what I touch is mine. If I see it, it is mine. If it was yours it is now mine" or similar.

There is a fair amount of truth to this as many of us have found out. This can help you by you playing with your birds items and making them the best toy ever. Many times the bird decides to claim their item as theirs.

As i sit here I have found that Ben has claimed my keyboard, hairbrush, pen, spoon, oatmeal, and my drink. That is just in the last 5 minutes. I have played with his toys. Toys are rotated. What was old is now new! Give it a try.
 

rocky'smom

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you can make enrichment/ forging toys out of paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, gift wrap tubes. the bigger tubes you will have to cut to size. what you put inside of them are things such as air-popped popcorn; no butter or salt please, nutriberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds; natural of course, nuts; natural. you are going to fold the ends inward like this )( so they overlap the other side. I show Sweet Pea what is inside fold flaps and let him/her figure out how to get to it.
 

Wolf

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Ask any bird in your house and they will tell you that when it come to thinge there are only two kinds. there are things that are yours and things that are theirs. Their things are theirs, your things are also theirs. and that is the end of it.
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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The best thing you can do is a little training that also enriches the time you spend with your tiels. They do tend to be perch potatoes even when they are out of the cage and often just end up perching and pooping on you. That is how they spend time with their mate in the wild, perched side by side, resting: until they fly off with the flock for the next foraging trip.

Once your tiel is step up trained for your hand, introduce them to stepping off of your hand onto any surface. It is initially easier to teach them to step higher off your hand, and once they do this easily, then teach them to step down lower than your hand. That way you will never have a problem getting your bird off of you in an emerency situation. The other thing you should teach for safety and so you can hanndle your bird when they are upset or angry or hormonal, is stepping onto a hand held perch. My birds will step up onto any size or length of perch/dowel I hold out to them no matter where they are (six feet above my head or on the floor by my feet or under a piece of furniture). This is also safety training and very useful behavior to habituate into your bird. These training sessions are just ten to fifteen minutes once or twice a day, but really enrich the time you and your bird spend together.

Later you can teach little tricks, like turn around or open your wings or shake hands. It keeps your bird bonded to you and mentally interested. I run each bird through step ups every day so they don't forget to do it on cue, just one or two when giving a treat or offering a scritch as reward. If you can safely do it, you can also play real estate agent and take your bird to unfamiliar rooms to explore the house. This is also a safety idea so if the bird flies away from their usual area in a panic, they can find their way back to their cage after they settle down.

There is so much you can do with your bird if you just think about it!
 

Odin

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Agree with all of the above. When I am home Odin never leaves me. If he is not on my shoulder, he is on his giant tree in my craft room while I craft, read etc. He loves to be with me, but I do engage him in the things I do.
I love the yours is mine analogy, last night I was painting (waterbased) and he had "his" own brush. That was not good enough. He kept stealing mine. I also am introducting him to new things all the time. I got a small syringe to get him used to that in case he is ever ill, I wrapped him in a towel to get him used to that. It is just a little of everything, to desensitize him for some situations.
We can't go outside, it is -35 here in the great white north.... :(
 

scoobdoo63

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my son has a teil and he has bonded to me like glue! when I go over to his place and he sees me he starts in screeching til I get him and let him on my shoulder, then he likes to walk around and mark his spots ( poops ) lol! his fave thing is getting under your chin and wanting you to rub his head or eat cheerios off your shirt. He won't let you touch his head w fingers or step up on fingers ( just w the fore arm ) he has started flying all over the apartment searching for kyle if goes to an other room or squaks really loud. Im getting a tiel in a few weeks, hope its a boy. I want to name him Elvis. I did go to a pet store last week and there was a female but the sales lady couldn't get it out of the cage! so I decided to wait because the other pet store owner has a few she is hand raising and will be younger, got my cage coming in the mail from amazon and its a good sized one and got food and toys. from the looks of it these birds can eat human foods to just no seasonings. this will be great to because I also have land hermit crabs I feed human foods and nuts and berries, fruits and veggies, protiens..
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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Tiels bond tight ad human children do! I think it's probably due to them being so flock oriented as well as their intelligence. Cockatiels and Poicephalus parrots are my favorites
 

ArowanaLover

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Agreed, they are very dependent on you and generally enjoy your company. Its why we spend so much on our feathered friends and give them everything they want.
 

Wolf

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Actually I would be careful about feeding my birds human foods. It is true that they can and should eat a great variety of vegetables and some whole grain pastas, but there is a big difference between this and actual human foods. For example Cheerios are way too high in sugar and iron and although an occasional one isn't going to hurt them too much will cause them serious medical issues. They can't have avocados or uncooked beans as both are toxic to them. Salt is also a big no-no for them. Please take the time while you are waiting to get your bird to do some more research into the dietary requirements for the species of bird that you are going to have. It will save you from some major problems in the long run.
 

scoobdoo63

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I have went on lots of sites and looked up foods. He only gets like 1-2 cherries when I go there. It's my treat thing like a grandma giving a grandchild a cookie and you don't see them very often. I have looked at the food site on here to when I get to a printer I plan on printing it out. It has things on it that my hermit crabs can also eat. When I get a new pet I research it like crazy. I have you tube about every thing on these birds , things I know prob are not right, read many web sites to. Just like crab forums and web sites there are good ones and not so good ones.done 6 months of research before deciding to get a bird. Not a spur of the moment purchase.
 

Glacier313

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I have a kinda strange thing, my budgie Glacier loves my trash can (it's the kind with the rotating lid) and will spend hours playing with it. Try something out of the ordinary! Your bird may love it!
 

jeme3

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My tiels love to watch YouTube videos of other cockatiels!

Morton sings and whistles back at them, Pepper watches intently.
 

ArowanaLover

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I make little toys for Nigel, bought some supplies (From CAbird nerds) and Nigel and i sit and build toys for him. Its pretty cool, he also likes to play with me when i am reading a book.
 
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