My young (new) cockatiel accident ..

[mr p]

Hello,

Four days ago, i've bought a new cockatiel, approx 2 months old and is of course completely terrified.
Now, my old man is a bit of a 'dickwad' and left the cage door open on purpose, which resulted in the poor youngster flying out of the cage ( in an enclosed room with closed window / closed door )

So you can imagine i've held quite a bird hunt to get her back safely in her cage. The manner on how i did is with a very calming behaviour, nothing stressed / angry coming from me. Since she has not learned to 'step on' my finger i had to forcefull grab her, allthough a slow soft grab from my 'threatening' hand she of course 100% flipped / freaked out, and now she's sitting very scared / still looking at me all the time.

The room itself is very calm so no high traffic situations & the cage is large enough for multiple tiels & no shortage on food / water.

Any tips on how cure this bad memory + what will be the long term effects of this little accident ?

 

[sunnysmom]

If she's really scared, you can try covering her cage on three sides just leaving the front open for a few days until she settles in. That way she doesn't have to be on "alert" for danger from all sides. Also, baby tiels are really clumsy. So you may want to lower her perches and make sure she can easily get to food and water. Also, total silence during the day can be scary to a bird. In the wild, silence means danger. So maybe try playing soft music for her or a TV on low. Then I would just spend time for now sitting with and even reading to her. That way she gets used to you and your voice in a nonthreatening way. And then you can try to start hand feeding her some treats- tiels typically like millet spray. Another thing, it's not uncommon for newly weaned tiels to regress and need hand feedings again. So you want to watch to make sure she's is eating. Often baby tiels will make a static like noise when they're hungry and have regressed.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

Michelle has given you good advice.Be sure that she is eating and going poo. Are you prepared to hand feed some comfort food if needed?

 

[TikkiTembo]

We got our Tiel at around 9 weeks old, and he was mostly hand tame, but still managed to give us some scares at first. We had installed a screen over his door, and the first day, he managed to fly through it, up the stairs, and got cornered by the cat! My husband has never moved so fast! He got bitten terribly by our new birdie, who was terrified, of course! He didn't seem to hold a grudge though, we gave him some time alone and all was well in a bit. And the screen was removed in favor for a real door! Plus now the cats are locked outside when he's out, even if he's in his enclosed room, just in case he manages to escape. The next time he had a clumsy accident, 3 days later, he trusted me enough to scoop him up without biting. In fact, he's never bitten since, which is a miracle considering we have to scoop him up like a little potato when it's time to go in his cage, he'd rather stay out all day! Plus we've been working on his harness and been isn't a fan, but still chooses to only nibble, never bite.
They're so very smart that they don't forget, but also, they're capable of learning to trust and forgiving. I completely agree with leaving noises on for them, we have a sound machine for night time, and if he is caged during the day, we play bird noises on Alexa. We don't cover the cage, but have a dim red light in the room. I'd definitely recommend a light for night time, and for sure try covering the cage if your bird feels nervous. We also shut the blinds in his room and the door.
Good luck with your birdie, having a cockatiel has been an incredible experience for us!

 

[HolliDaze]

Everyone has given great advice (including my name twin ) and here’s my snippet:

If it ever happens Again, try having her step up on a stick. Usually that’s easier for them when they’re scared of hands.