Advice for a 20yr old (Pearl) that wasnt trained and is now with us

[AmyR]

Im at work so this may the details in brief. Pearl is a 20yr old girl that was originally purchased for a 9 yr old girl that likely didnt train or handle her. She has lived in her cage probably this whole time and in recent yrs was given food, water and minimal interaction. She warmed up to interaction but was wary. We cared for her for 2 weeks while the owners were out of the country and were offered her when they returned. My son fell in love with her and we have a super soft spot for adoptions. My husband is familiar with parrots as his mother owns several and so we voted as a family to take on this socially neglected little girl. Pearl was willing to be with us at the bars but afraid to come out so we left her for 2-3 days then encouraged her to come out but my hand in the cage just frightened her out of the cage. We still spent at least an hour where she would step up with some flapping and wasnt aggressive. She rode shoulders and was generally passive. Then we tried to put her away (sigh) and she flapped onto the cage and my husband (who I shouldnt have listened to) said just take her (around the body) and put her in. I knew how wary she was but listened without thinking, got a NAASTY bite she and she ran to the top. I did talk to her calmly and get her back on my hand without any more aggression and was able to put her in. We waited a few more days and tried all of this again. Thats the adorable little picture of her by my waist. but again, any attempts to put a hand near her result in bites now. I dont put anything in her space but we had to keep her from harm and I put a hand under her (bite) disentangle from a chair (fear response) and then try to get her back in the cage after an hour or so (she ran under the recliner...) much coaxing and using one of the ladders and after flying off of it several times, we got her back in talking quietly to her and she stayed on the ladder. But where she was eating from my hand before the outings, now she is very wary of eating from my hand. so we include her in all the conversations and house activity, but not further attempts to get her out because im afraid of making this worse. She showed aggression towards me even being near the cage on a few occasions but is still coming to the front and licking/nibbling some foods from my hand. She snuggled with the new toy we put in (it was so cute) but has also attacked same toy and done the biting movement when I went to cover her a few nights (though last night she protested but didnt bite out in my direction.

SO, my two biggest questions are will she be able to get past what she deemed as negative frightening interaction and we can start again with her (from a super slower more informed standpoint)
and We are seeking any advice on the best possible plan to slowly gentle her into a human relationship. I really want to take her to the vet but fear that this would end all ability to interact with her (but she obviously needs a nail clipping and possibly wings so we can end the flapping away into rescue situations that we then have to touch her again while she is fearful)
HELP, we want to help this little girl be happy & loved

 

[sunnysmom]

Hi,

Thanks for helping her. With an older tiel, you just have to go slow, slow, slow. My tiel was 15 when he came to us and had little if no out of cage time for many years, is our understanding. This is what worked for us. I would sit by his cage and read to him and talk to him. Feed him treats through the cage bars and then scritches. I never forced him to come out of his cage. I let him come out on his own. It took several weeks before he did. The cage was "his" territory. So I tried to respect that and only put my hands in to clean and change food. You can try putting a perch just outside the cage door with a favorite treat or toy hanging by it to encourage her to come out. You can try getting her to step up on a perch or arm or something other than hands if she seems afraid of hands. And I would suggest not clipping her wings. It's much better for any bird's mental and physical health to be flighted. Getting a bird to go back in the cage can be challenging initially. My tiel loved millet spray. So that was his going back into his cage treat. That's the only time he got it - initially- and he would actually go back in on his own to get it. But we did it as a routine. I would sit in front of his cage. Put millet in. Sing a silly song. And he'd go back in on his own. I found with my tiel that a set routine helped him a lot. Both with going back into his cage in general and also going back into his cage at night. Just be patient with her and try to move at her pace.

 

[AmyR]

Thank you so much for responding! I think the sitting and talking next to the cage and whistling to her from the house is where we will stay for a long time now. I still make attempts to feed treats at the bars and she is slowly taking them again. Leaving the cage open isnt an option as our little chiweenie rescue thinks she is something to be caught and we had one frightening experience when she did fly out on her own but her wings are not strong enough to make an actual flight and she instead drifts to the floor. He had a paw on her and I think we all collectively screamed! We rescued her from that and she appears unharmed so im afraid to let her inadvertently end up in that situation again. Im going to wait until she is at least letting me touch her through the cage before any next steps but I really was needing reassurance that I hadnt completely blown it in the 4 days she had been in our house. And im NEVER listening to my husband again---ugh

 

[AmyR]

And in a strange twist of this story--im reading more while munching a snack (taking a break here at work) and found the cockatiel wiki. If the coloring is correct on the wiki, SHE is actually a HE--oops! though it speaks to how little the previous owners really new about-haha..I almost typed 'her' again! He's probably mad at me because ive spent 3 weeks calling him a 'pretty girl'!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Does he/she still have pearl markings? Males usually lose the pearl coloration.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Maybe you can put your dog in another room for a while while you are home and leave the cage door open?

 

[rocky'smom]

try this trick for taming every time you pass the cage call her name and put a treat in a food dish, something like sunflower seeds, nutria berry, a little piece of almond or any nut you can break into pieces. don't watch to see if she/he eats it. this make take a day or two - thru several weeks. Bebe my little male, I did this for he isn't tame by long shot but he more accepting of people then when I got him a little over a year ago. just carry the treats in Zip lock sandwich bag in a pocket.

 

[AmyR]

Maybe you can put your dog in another room for a while while you are home and leave the cage door open?

We do that but unfortunately, at some point we have to let little guy out to go to the bathroom and his crying is pitiful (he hates being isolated bc he was for so long with his previous family) then we cant get Pearl back in because he is so untrained and fearful still. I thought of moving his cage somewhere that we can let him have the whole room but then he would be isolated and I really feel like he should be central in the family after being isolated for so many years. Its a dilemma...

 

[AmyR]

Does he/she still have pearl markings? Males usually lose the pearl coloration.

I can get a better picture up tonight. He does not have the markings on the underside of the tail and he has the very bright face and cheeks

 

[AmyR]

This was the first outing. He was much more accepting but after the traumatic husband suggestion to just take him by the body and put him back in, he now is very upset with me. But he did eat a green bean from my fingers tonight so maybe with a very long slow build back up I can get to this again. Im still beating myself up. (I literally just had to go through this reply and change all the gender references...sure would be easier if she was a she )

 

[camelotshadow]

He's a bright orange cheek male. Looks like he's trying to do the heart wings...He likes you...

Its not good to grab them like that but hopefully he will forget. Is he clipped?
The best thing have a treat they really like & put it in the cage to get them inside.
It might be best if you have to avoid ay rough handling & negative experience by keping him in the cage where he can feel safe & talk to him & give him treats thru the cage until he is more comfortable. Early negative experiences can make things go backward & now he;s been pushed to bit & learning to bite is not good.

Is he stick trained? If so I would move him with a perch. Don't offer your hand right now & be put in another position to get bit...avoid them as much as possible. He's uncomfortable & he is now biting so you have to back off.

Well he does look comfy on the shoulder but does he come off without biting. Its hard to get them off the shoulder. You could bring him to the cage & position yourself close to the cage so he gets the idea to get on the cage but I'd keep my hands away from him.

Good luck he seems to be doing very well despite his past so I really feel he should come around but go slow.

Wow he's a senior at 20 years...Try to work on his diet as likely he maight not have had a halthy one.

 

[CeciliaZ]

Such great advice so far - it does seem like you have made great progress - sitting next to you and on the shoulder also. Don't beat yourself up...he does seem to be doing very well.

 

[AmyR]

I dont think we'll get back to shoulder any time soon... This was outing #1 before the hand experience went south. Outing #2 was wary but he came close but getting back in or keeping him safe (when he freaks and I have to rescue him) always seems to make it a negative experience again so for now, we're going to just keep him in the cage and work on positive experiences with treats. His food he came with is Cockatiel food (it says) but I noticed that he pretty much rakes a lot of it to the bottom of the cage and picks through for the seed. With so many changes, Im reluctant to mess with his diet under all this current "new family, new home" stress. I gave him a bowl and put his favorite treat (the honey seed sticks) into it. He picked at it and when it slid in the bowl he took off and has not touched it since so he's not very forgiving once hes been scared. I was going to try a water bowl but again went with "if he's drinking, why change it". I misted him one day and he loved it so today is exactly 1 week in our home and 3 weeks after weve been caring for him. THANK YOU for all the wonderful advice!! For a little bit there I was starting to feel hopeless and clueless. Its been so much of a relief to have other more experienced feathered parents to ask and get advice from! Hoping to get back to his original comfort level and start bonding again

 

[AmyR]

He's a bright orange cheek male. Looks like he's trying to do the heart wings...He likes you...

Its not good to grab them like that but hopefully he will forget. Is he clipped?
The best thing have a treat they really like & put it in the cage to get them inside.
It might be best if you have to avoid ay rough handling & negative experience by keping him in the cage where he can feel safe & talk to him & give him treats thru the cage until he is more comfortable. Early negative experiences can make things go backward & now he;s been pushed to bit & learning to bite is not good.

Is he stick trained? If so I would move him with a perch. Don't offer your hand right now & be put in another position to get bit...avoid them as much as possible. He's uncomfortable & he is now biting so you have to back off.

Well he does look comfy on the shoulder but does he come off without biting. Its hard to get them off the shoulder. You could bring him to the cage & position yourself close to the cage so he gets the idea to get on the cage but I'd keep my hands away from him.

Good luck he seems to be doing very well despite his past so I really feel he should come around but go slow.

Wow he's a senior at 20 years...Try to work on his diet as likely he maight not have had a halthy one.

Sorry-I keep forgetting that I can answer directly to questions with the quote thing. He is not clipped and he is completely untrained. Getting him on hands resulted in flapping originally but nothing aggressive until the whole body hold ...ugh still feel stupid. He wont be back on my shoulder for awhile I think. He sings to us and hangs out on the front of the cage back and forth and back and forth...It seems like he wants the attention but cant get around the scary hands now so im just feeding him at the bars.

 

[AmyR]

I think I just found the treat that Pearl will overcome her recent fears for apparently white plain popcorn is Pearl caviar! I gave her smaller and smaller pcs to see if she would act frightened of my fingers and it didnt matter. <happy dance> I also noticed that when I get home and eat in the chair by her cage, she comes down to eat with me.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

That's great! My tiels love popcorn also. Sounds like she's getting more comfortable, and eating together is a great way to bond!

 

[AmyR]

Treat Bowl Success! The new bowl I put in solely for treats was stainless steel and everything would slip around in it so the very first time he tried to get anything out of it, it moved and he was done and took off. SO, I lined it with a papertowel and he has been gradually getting more receptive with me about eating from my hand again. He cant resist something green (or popcorn)! <3 so I had a green been and I slowly got him further and further down to the bowl until I was able to drop it in and he couldnt resist and ate from the bowl! Then he realized I had put his yummy yummy sticky seed in there and now he is In! He even now puts a foot on the edge to help him reach in! (I.Am.So.Excited!)

 

[AmyR]

Where would I ask a question about covering the cage at night? Im reading conflicting information and we had started covering for 11.5-12 hrs. I dont believe he was covered before this...

 

[Nadia Bingo]

I can only speak from personal experience but I only cover the birds while I am sleeping. I do the exact same routine every night with a "good night", cover the cage and turn off the lights. If I enter the room again for any reason I whisper "good night" but I do not respond to any sounds the birds make. They learned to be quiet while covered very quickly.

One of the funniest things Bingo has done was whisper at me while the cage was covered. I was leaving for a super early meeting and I saw her face peak out under the cage cover. She whispered "hey. hey. good girl?" I stifled a laugh and whispered back "shhhh good night". She went back to sleep.

Weeknights they are covered around 8 hours, weekends around 10 (they sleep in with us).

If we stay up late watching TV I turn the lights down but I don't cover them.

If they seem distressed (mostly our conure) from sounds during the day, such as evil leaf blowers, I'll cover just the top and sides of the cage leaving the front open. Normally they calm down and nap a bit. Once the sound passes I'll uncover them again.

Both of my parrots nap around 2pm for a bit. Bingo actually trained Baby (my conure) to nap by yelling at him everyday around 2pm until he learned that was quiet time. Watching one bird yell at another bird "knock it off! stop that! quiet!" is pretty hysterical.

Now they both nap at the same time.

I think it boils down to a routine that works for you family. Birds need quiet time to relax and sleep or nap but it doesn't have to be a 12 hour block.

 

[Nadia Bingo]

Treat Bowl Success!

That is awesome! Try some small apple slices - they are incredibly popular in my house.