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Please help, my bird is scared of hands

cao

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i really want help with an issue i’ve had for the last couple og months.
i know the things i’ve had to do is very bad, and i feel like a terrible bird owner,
ond day my bird (1 year Old cockatiel) decided that she didn’t wanna get back in her cage
so i unfortunately had my mom put her back in, this happened on and off many times, and now its gotten so bad that she doesnt’t wanna be anywhere near my hands.
i don’t know what to do, im scared that ive made mistakes that are un-eraseable
i love her so much
 

Shezbug

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Has this routine of grabbing her to return her to the cage stopped? She won’t ever trust hands if she keeps getting shown they are dangerous, scary and can’t be trusted.
 

Tiel Feathers

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You will have to go back to square one and teach your bird that hands are not scary. Save your birds favorite treat just for training, and drop some in her food dish when you walk by, until she feels safe enough to take some directly from your fingers. A long spray of millet might work, because you can make it shorter and shorter over time. Don’t rush this, and don’t ever force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. Try target training, which will help improve your relationship and help you get her where you need her to go. You can start target training while she is in the cage.
 

cao

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You will have to go back to square one and teach your bird that hands are not scary. Save your birds favorite treat just for training, and drop some in her food dish when you walk by, until she feels safe enough to take some directly from your fingers. A long spray of millet might work, because you can make it shorter and shorter over time. Don’t rush this, and don’t ever force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. Try target training, which will help improve your relationship and help you get her where you need her to go. You can start target training while she is in the cage.
Thank you so much for the reply, i have already started with some small steps in training :)
 

mytielmelo

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Joyce
Eventually, your cockatiel with trust you again. Trust is hard to gain, but so fragile and easy to shatter and break. Try to not force them into doing anything they don’t like, unless it’s necessary. Avoid doing this or else they’ll get injured. I’ve done this before and she ended up injuring her wing. Now she doesn’t let me see her fly. :(
 
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