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Is there something wrong with my cockatiel

Moonstar

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So I have a cockatiel, it's not my first bird and I have a lovebird, we got them both from the same breeder and she takes really good care of her birds, we got them both pretty young, the cockatiel was slightly older than my lovebird when we first got them cockatiel (we got the lovebird first) but this is were the real issue starts, I'm wondering if my cockatiel is mentally challenged, as in stupid. When we first got her she was already really skidish, she's around 1 year old right now but she's still extremely skidish? Like she gets scared of EVERYTHING, also she can't really fly properly, it's become a pretty big issue because we can't really take her out of her cage because almost every time we do she ends up getting spooked by something or just feels like flying off and end up crashing into either the wall or a mirror and I'm worried she'll hurt herself, she gets really scared even when I try to pet her but she's perfectly fine when I'm just standing there talking to her, she has no problems eating and is actually quite a glutinous bird, she always tries to steal food from people if she she's it and she calls my name in the mornings when I need to get up for school and around the time I get home from school so I don't think she's completely dumb. Of course cause we can't take her out of her cage without her injuring herself she's become a bit untamed but I really can't do anything because she gets so scared of everything, flies off and crashes straight into walls, any advice?
 

FeatheredM

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Is she fully flighted? If She's clipped she may just be confused. Also mirrors are a hazzard, so i would suggest moving your Bird into a different room or taking down the mirror. I think your Bird is just learning how to fly properly, i would do some recall training, or make a área with some nets so your bird can learn to fly
 

Tiel Feathers

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How long have you had her? How old is she? I can assure you that she is not dumb. Cockatiels can get frightened easily, and take a while to get used to new environments. Is she fully flighted? Make sure she has some safe areas to land in your house, and cover all mirrors snd windows. She will soon learn the safe places to land and will stop flying into things. She needs the practice just like a child needs to learn to walk. Make sure there are no loud, sudden noises, and keep some music or something on so it is not too quiet.
 

Moonstar

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How long have you had her? How old is she? I can assure you that she is not dumb. Cockatiels can get frightened easily, and take a while to get used to new environments. Is she fully flighted? Make sure she has some safe areas to land in your house, and cover all mirrors snd windows. She will soon learn the safe places to land and will stop flying into things. She needs the practice just like a child needs to learn to walk. Make sure there are no loud, sudden noises, and keep some music or something on so it is not too quiet.
I've had her for around a year and she's just a little over a year (we got her as soon as she was old enough from the breeder) she tends to land on the windows we have in our living room, the problem is, they're extremely high up so we can't get to her and when we try, she flies off, makes a full circle and lands on a different window. She's usually ok when she's on the floor, a main issue is my little brother Is fairly loud and runs around a lot (my lovebird somehow picked him as his favorite so those two are a chaotic duo) but another issue is that since we can't take my cockatiel out of her cage without her crashing into walls we don't take her out very often so she's become a bit untamed (she's fine unless someone tries to touch her though) but I can't get closer to her cause she's scared of everything and I'm just really not sure what to do(I've never had this problem with my lovebird, his personality is completely the opposite, he acts like he's on charge and flies around our house doing fancy dives and everything)
 

Moonstar

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Is she fully flighted? If She's clipped she may just be confused. Also mirrors are a hazzard, so i would suggest moving your Bird into a different room or taking down the mirror. I think your Bird is just learning how to fly properly, i would do some recall training, or make a área with some nets so your bird can learn to fly
Her wings aren't clipped, we tried clipping them once a long time ago to keep her from crashing into things but she could still fly so we never tried after that (I'm not a fan of clipping my bird's wings but I really didn't want her to injure herself) but it's not just mirrors ,she often flies and crashes into just the walls at full force and I'm really worried she's gonna sustain a head injury if this keeps up
 

soundsfun

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Do you have a smaller room you can let her out in? A smaller room would be easier to make bird-safe - you can hang lightweight curtains from the walls to make them softer for her when she crashes into them, and to cover mirrors and windows. A smaller room would also make it easier for you to get her to step up when needed, as she won’t be unreachable at a high up window.

When you first got her, did you spend time slowly working on taming your tiel? And out of cage time doesn’t mean she’ll become more tame. Her tameness is more connected to how much time you spend interacting with her, and the quality of your interactions with her.

If she’s too nervous to interact with people outside her cage, you could spend time talking to her, practicing step up, playing with toys, doing clicker training, etc. within her cage. As she gets better at it and more comfortable, you can do more and more of that outside of the cage.
 

Tiel Feathers

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She won’t learn the safe areas and how to navigate your house unless she gets practice. Target training while in her cage is a good idea, then you can try it outside of the cage. You can also perch train her so you can move her around easier. Remember to never force her to do anything, but try to make everything her choice. You need to spend time with her and gain her trust so you can strengthen your bond.
 

Moonstar

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Do you have a smaller room you can let her out in? A smaller room would be easier to make bird-safe - you can hang lightweight curtains from the walls to make them softer for her when she crashes into them, and to cover mirrors and windows. A smaller room would also make it easier for you to get her to step up when needed, as she won’t be unreachable at a high up window.

When you first got her, did you spend time slowly working on taming your tiel? And out of cage time doesn’t mean she’ll become more tame. Her tameness is more connected to how much time you spend interacting with her, and the quality of your interactions with her.

If she’s too nervous to interact with people outside her cage, you could spend time talking to her, practicing step up, playing with toys, doing clicker training, etc. within her cage. As she gets better at it and more comfortable, you can do more and more of that outside of the cage.
I usually try to let her out in my room but she still tends to fly around and crash Into the wall if something spooks her, another thing is that I draw a lot and she tends to try to eat the eraser shavings, I try to spend time with her but my little brother tends to take my lovebird out a lot and he tries to attack her if they're both out so I have to limit it, it's not like she's completely untamed, she just doesn't want people touching her/petting her(she used to though) but for example the morning while I was eating breakfast I offered her a piece of my food and she easily ate it from my hand, she climbs onto people when she wants to. She enjoys sitting on top of her cage but always climbs onto the lovebird's cage(and he does try to bite her and will) so I have to be really careful when she does that
 

FeatheredM

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Some people put up nets to teach their Bird to fly, i'm guessing that this would help alot
 

Tiel Feathers

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I usually try to let her out in my room but she still tends to fly around and crash Into the wall if something spooks her, another thing is that I draw a lot and she tends to try to eat the eraser shavings, I try to spend time with her but my little brother tends to take my lovebird out a lot and he tries to attack her if they're both out so I have to limit it, it's not like she's completely untamed, she just doesn't want people touching her/petting her(she used to though) but for example the morning while I was eating breakfast I offered her a piece of my food and she easily ate it from my hand, she climbs onto people when she wants to. She enjoys sitting on top of her cage but always climbs onto the lovebird's cage(and he does try to bite her and will) so I have to be really careful when she does that
This all sounds completely sweet and normal, and I think that your cockatiel should have just as much time out as your lovebird. You can put a piece of plexiglass on top of the lovebirds cage so if your cockatiel lands on it, she will not get nipped. Of course you still have to supervise and make sure she doesn’t climb on the sides. I feel like you just need to work with her more.
 

Moonstar

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This all sounds completely sweet and normal, and I think that your cockatiel should have just as much time out as your lovebird. You can put a piece of plexiglass on top of the lovebirds cage so if your cockatiel lands on it, she will not get nipped. Of course you still have to supervise and make sure she doesn’t climb on the sides. I feel like you just need to work with her more.
I'll try to work with her more often, I honestly wasn't sure what to do cause I never had this issue with my lovebird he always just does whatever he wants to(and it's a pain trying to get him back into his cage so once he's out it's for a long time)
 

Momof3litt

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Do you "take" her out of the cage or do you allow her to come out of the cage? If you are reaching in and removing her, you might want to try opening the door and allowing her to come out and investigate in her own way. Leave the route back to the cage clear (i.e. don't stay in front of the door) so that she can go back to it as a safe place. Create other good perching areas in the room - a playgym or t-stand, even perches on the outside of the cage. A chair with a back can work as a good perch, keep it out in the open so she can see it and knows it's safe. Birds will often fly in "loops" to check out a new space before they decide to come down anywhere. It can look chaotic, but she may just be looking for a good place to land. Giving her the chance to practice short flights between her cage and a chair, for example, will help to develop her confidence in being able to fly where she wants to go and to feel safe doing it.
 

WikiWaz

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Another suggestion is to have perches outside of the cage so when she flies around she has something easy for her to land on. And things for her to do outside of the cage so she is not tempted to eat your eraser shaving?
 
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