Bri Bird
Moving in
Hi there guys! Never been on a forum before so I hope I'm doing this right. I'm looking for some advice on how to train one of my birds, but it's sort of a unique situation.
Up until two days ago, I had three cockatiels. Gunny, Nova, and Pretty Bird. Two days ago I had to put Gunny to sleep due to a build up in fluid in her abdomen that was making it difficult for her to breath (We aren't 100% sure what caused this, testing for it would have been expensive and the vet told us that whatever it was--tumor, cancer, or liver failure most likely--it wouldn't have been operable as cockatiels are so small. Regardless, the vet is pretty sure it wasn't contagious.). Needless to say, Nova, my fiance, and myself are all devastated about Gunny. She was the first bird I ever had and was very well loved.
While Pretty Bird is perfectly fine as he didn't particularly get along with Gunny (All three of them were housed together in a macaw sized cage, so there was plenty of room for Pretty Bird to avoid both birds.), Nova appears unhappy and is pretty much alone right now. I tried to train Nova a little bit about three years ago when I first got him, but gave up pretty quickly. At some point he bonded with Gunny so I didn't feel there was a pressing need for him to have a bond with me, as he was clearly very happy with her and that was always my main concern. However, now that Gunny is gone, I want to try hand taming him again so that he doesn't feel so lonely.
Any advice on how I should go about this? I've read advice on training other birds but I feel that this might need to be approached differently as he is grieving? I've never exactly hand tamed a bird, both of the other two came to me hand tamed.
Background information on Nova: He's about four years old, I bought him from a PetSmart about three years ago when he was around a year old. I can't be sure what his experience with humans was before I got him, but I assume it was minimal and likely unpleasant. I've talked to him just about every day that I've had him, but I try to respect his boundaries in regards to not attempting to touch him. Recently our interactions had been getting better; when he serenaded Gunny in the morning he would be in a good mood and allow me to pet his beak for a couple seconds. Other then that he hisses and pecks when I try to get near him. Now that Gunny is gone he seems more fearful of me. He is fully flighted and enjoys flying around the room in circles and under no circumstances will I be clipping his wings. While I wouldn't call him tame, when he's out of the cage, he does allow my to pick him up with a stick so that I can put him back in for bed time or whatever.
I think that's about all the information I have... I've bought some millet to help with training him, right now I'm trying to just sit by the cage more often and speak to him more. I'm completely dedicated to hand taming him this time, no matter how long it takes, as I think it will bring him and I both some comfort in regards to Gunny's passing.
Up until two days ago, I had three cockatiels. Gunny, Nova, and Pretty Bird. Two days ago I had to put Gunny to sleep due to a build up in fluid in her abdomen that was making it difficult for her to breath (We aren't 100% sure what caused this, testing for it would have been expensive and the vet told us that whatever it was--tumor, cancer, or liver failure most likely--it wouldn't have been operable as cockatiels are so small. Regardless, the vet is pretty sure it wasn't contagious.). Needless to say, Nova, my fiance, and myself are all devastated about Gunny. She was the first bird I ever had and was very well loved.
While Pretty Bird is perfectly fine as he didn't particularly get along with Gunny (All three of them were housed together in a macaw sized cage, so there was plenty of room for Pretty Bird to avoid both birds.), Nova appears unhappy and is pretty much alone right now. I tried to train Nova a little bit about three years ago when I first got him, but gave up pretty quickly. At some point he bonded with Gunny so I didn't feel there was a pressing need for him to have a bond with me, as he was clearly very happy with her and that was always my main concern. However, now that Gunny is gone, I want to try hand taming him again so that he doesn't feel so lonely.
Any advice on how I should go about this? I've read advice on training other birds but I feel that this might need to be approached differently as he is grieving? I've never exactly hand tamed a bird, both of the other two came to me hand tamed.
Background information on Nova: He's about four years old, I bought him from a PetSmart about three years ago when he was around a year old. I can't be sure what his experience with humans was before I got him, but I assume it was minimal and likely unpleasant. I've talked to him just about every day that I've had him, but I try to respect his boundaries in regards to not attempting to touch him. Recently our interactions had been getting better; when he serenaded Gunny in the morning he would be in a good mood and allow me to pet his beak for a couple seconds. Other then that he hisses and pecks when I try to get near him. Now that Gunny is gone he seems more fearful of me. He is fully flighted and enjoys flying around the room in circles and under no circumstances will I be clipping his wings. While I wouldn't call him tame, when he's out of the cage, he does allow my to pick him up with a stick so that I can put him back in for bed time or whatever.
I think that's about all the information I have... I've bought some millet to help with training him, right now I'm trying to just sit by the cage more often and speak to him more. I'm completely dedicated to hand taming him this time, no matter how long it takes, as I think it will bring him and I both some comfort in regards to Gunny's passing.
