Cockatiel hissing

[ASHLENG]

I have a 4-5 weeks old cockatiel,and i noticed that she is still struggling to walk properly. Im currently trying to start our recall training and I find it hard to do that since walking is a bit hard for her. is this normal for her age? because im not that experienced when it comes to cockatiel , my african lovebirds learned short distance walking recall at his age.Other behavior i noticed is that she tends to hiss whenever my shadow covers her body, but when i put my finger near her and scratch her head she seems to stop and chirp instead. Is this normal for a 4-5weeks old cockatiel? I know I shouldn't be worried, but I worry because she might become less sociable when she grows up which can be bad for our recall training.

Sorry for bad english

Ps
Her gender is still unsure but I will just assume that she's a she.

 

[finchly]

At 5 weeks I am surprised you see walking problems. What kind of cage or container does she live in? Can we see a picture?

In case the legs are splayed, I found this for you Caring for a Bird With Splayed Legs

I don't know about the hissing. Normally they only hiss when frightened. Do you think you are approaching her too fast, and it startles her?

 

[Ali]

Sorry

First off, I don't see anything wrong with your English, so no need for apologies there.

Second, your shadow may just startle her. There was a thread on a bird being scared of shadows recently (I will try to find it in a moment) so that may help there.

Finally, I agree with @finchly it may be a case of splashed legs, so pictures of the enclosure would be very helpful if that is possible.

Edit to add thread...

Duh! I finally figured out that Toby is afraid of shadows. Now what?

I wrote in another post that our Eclectus, Toby, attacks my hands when I take him upstairs down the long hallway as he sees our shadows cast on the walls from different angles. He also has this evening ritual where he stands at the top of his cage, faces the back wall and screeches when we leave...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[ASHLENG]

At 5 weeks I am surprised you see walking problems. What kind of cage or container does she live in? Can we see a picture?

In case the legs are splayed, I found this for you Caring for a Bird With Splayed Legs

I don't know about the hissing. Normally they only hiss when frightened. Do you think you are approaching her too fast, and it startles her?

thank you for your kind response! This is her enclosure I keep her here for the meantime since she's not ready for the bigger ones i dont think theres a problem in her legs (I will post a video of me trying to get her walk) i just think that she is learning how to walk at a very slow rate.

 

[ASHLENG]

First off, I don't see anything wrong with your English, so no need for apologies there.

Second, your shadow may just startle her. There was a thread on a bird being scared of shadows recently (I will try to find it in a moment) so that may help there.

Finally, I agree with @finchly it may be a case of splashed legs, so pictures of the enclosure would be very helpful if that is possible.

Edit to add thread...

Duh! I finally figured out that Toby is afraid of shadows. Now what?

I wrote in another post that our Eclectus, Toby, attacks my hands when I take him upstairs down the long hallway as he sees our shadows cast on the walls from different angles. He also has this evening ritual where he stands at the top of his cage, faces the back wall and screeches when we leave...

forums.avianavenue.com

Thankyou for your kind response! I dont think she has problems with her legs, it just seems that shes so hesitant when taking a step, when i'm training her, after about 4-5 reps of coming towards me and going back to her original position, she just wont walk as if she's too lazy, i keep thinking that she maybe just too young to walk properly but still can't help to worry,

 

[finchly]

She's so cute!

@Monica
@SandraK
@melissasparrots

 

[SandraK]

I have a 4-5 weeks old cockatiel,and i noticed that she is still struggling to walk properly. Im currently trying to start our recall training and I find it hard to do that since walking is a bit hard for her. is this normal for her age? because im not that experienced when it comes to cockatiel , my african lovebirds learned short distance walking recall at his age.Other behavior i noticed is that she tends to hiss whenever my shadow covers her body, but when i put my finger near her and scratch her head she seems to stop and chirp instead. Is this normal for a 4-5weeks old cockatiel? I know I shouldn't be worried, but I worry because she might become less sociable when she grows up which can be bad for our recall training.

Sorry for bad english

Ps
Her gender is still unsure but I will just assume that she's a she.

I'm surprised that you have a cockatiel that young - the minimum age for a young cockatiel to go to a new home should be at least 8 weeks. You can't start recall training with your baby - she's too young. Every bird developes and grows differently. Cockateils hiss as a defense mechanism - when they're older they might also lunge and spread their wings. You cannot compare tiels to lovies - different birds, different attitudes.

Your baby is too young to be trained - you need to pay more attention to making sure she is eating and is comfortable. WHEN she starts learning to fly should be when you start trying to train her.

 

[SandraK]

thank you for your kind response! This is her enclosure I keep her here for the meantime since she's not ready for the bigger ones i dont think theres a problem in her legs (I will post a video of me trying to get her walk) i just think that she is learning how to walk at a very slow rate.

If your baby's bedding is wood chips, see if you can find some type of bedding that is maybe shredded paper instead? If you have an old towel or soft toy, you might want to make a "nest" for her with the towel and put the soft toy in as a companion. He/she will need a small soft cuddly space to sleep in, it will probably make her feel more secure if it's in a corner so she know her back is protected.

Forgive me if I sound too strict, I am trying to help both of you. None of us were born bird experts and what we know as a community we have learned from our birds and this community. Never stop asking questions.

 

[ASHLENG]

I'm surprised that you have a cockatiel that young - the minimum age for a young cockatiel to go to a new home should be at least 8 weeks. You can't start recall training with your baby - she's too young. Every bird developes and grows differently. Cockateils hiss as a defense mechanism - when they're older they might also lunge and spread their wings. You cannot compare tiels to lovies - different birds, different attitudes.

Your baby is too young to be trained - you need to pay more attention to making sure she is eating and is comfortable. WHEN she starts learning to fly should be when you start trying to train her.

Thankyou for taking the time response! I haven't really started to train her since she's still struggling to take steps, and ofcourse I also considered the fact that she's still young. I just thought it's better to be sure, and ask since I don't want to make her more uncomfortable. I'm always willing to train her whenever she's comfortable.Again thankyou very much for your kund replies,that was helpful! I'll always keep that in mind!

 

[ASHLENG]

If your baby's bedding is wood chips, see if you can find some type of bedding that is maybe shredded paper instead? If you have an old towel or soft toy, you might want to make a "nest" for her with the towel and put the soft toy in as a companion. He/she will need a small soft cuddly space to sleep in, it will probably make her feel more secure if it's in a corner so she know her back is protected.

Forgive me if I sound too strict, I am trying to help both of you. None of us were born bird experts and what we know as a community we have learned from our birds and this community. Never stop asking questions.

If your baby's bedding is wood chips, see if you can find some type of bedding that is maybe shredded paper instead? If you have an old towel or soft toy, you might want to make a "nest" for her with the towel and put the soft toy in as a companion. He/she will need a small soft cuddly space to sleep in, it will probably make her feel more secure if it's in a corner so she know her back is protected.

Forgive me if I sound too strict, I am trying to help both of you. None of us were born bird experts and what we know as a community we have learned from our birds and this community. Never stop asking questions.

There's no need to to apologize! Your strict reply ensures my little birds well being! so thankyou verymuch for that! I tried paper bedding before, but I removed it since it gets messy when her starts to show up. I feed her vitamin rich formula so she can stay healthy, but her droppings tends to be a huge watery with solid part so it gets a little bit damp in some parts of enclosure, don't get me wrong she doesn't have any health problems, she's just not that compatible to paper beddings. I also tried putting small toys, I dont know why but she dont like them. She stares at the toy and throws it on the other end of her enclosure then sleeps all in all shes very comfortable. The nest part help with the hissing problem though because my shadow can't startle her anymore. Again thankyou for the strict and helpful response!

Cheers!

 

[melissasparrots]

The baby in the picture looks too young to be walking very well. Also, babies of most species go through a stage of having an exaggerated fear response. Baby cockatiels are vocal anyway, but they can really make a lot of noise when they are afraid. It doesn't take much to startle them. A sudden movement, the light turning on etc. Its just a phase. A common trigger is movement from above. Such as you appearing out of no where and reaching for the baby. Just like a predator invading a nest cavity would. Try to be sensitive and move slowly. She's too young to be doing much training. I'd feed her, make sure she's warm, give snuggles in your lap with a towel draped over her and let her be a baby for a few more weeks.

 

[ASHLENG]

The baby in the picture looks too young to be walking very well. Also, babies of most species go through a stage of having an exaggerated fear response. Baby cockatiels are vocal anyway, but they can really make a lot of noise when they are afraid. It doesn't take much to startle them. A sudden movement, the light turning on etc. Its just a phase. A common trigger is movement from above. Such as you appearing out of no where and reaching for the baby. Just like a predator invading a nest cavity would. Try to be sensitive and move slowly. She's too young to be doing much training. I'd feed her, make sure she's warm, give snuggles in your lap with a towel draped over her and let her be a baby for a few more weeks.

Thankyou for the valuable information! She's doing good now! She's fully feathered and can easily walk now! She's also slowly dropping the nervous attitude, she's also starting to starting to recognize me, because whenever i walk pass by she never hiss instead she extends her long neck and peek if I'm actually there then chirps whenever she see's me, all in all everything is fine! Still Thankyou! for your information since I can apply them when I care for another baby tiels again!

Sorry for the late reply.

 

[ASHLENG]

Everything is fine now! she's doing very good now! Thankyou very much for your helpful response everyone! It really means a lot to me! Take care you guys!