untamed tiels

[Rio&Molly19]

yet again another post... lol sorry.


So I finally got my Tiels Rio and Molly last night. I expected them to be terrified of the new enviroment. Well today they are being super vocal, eating, drinking, playing etc. My only issue is they have never been handled.. The woman who rescued them from an abusive home said the previous owners had them for about 4 or 5 years. So she thinks they are about 6 or 7 years old. They warmed up to me pretty quick, granted they wont let me touch them. but they also havent tried to hiss or bite me....yet lol I slowly put my hand in the cage and they just move towards the back. Ive tried to offer treat (sun flower seeds or small amount of millet) talk to them when i go past them. I have their cage in the living room where me and my family are the most. I know it will take awhile and alot of patience but is it still possible to tame them? I just want to be able to bond with them. I dont want them to be caged birds all the time. If anyone has any tips please let me know. TIA

 

[Monica]

Try using a full sprig of millet and put it against the outside of the cage bars. Allow them to choose to come to you rather than invading their space at this time.

 

[sunnysmom]

Also just spend time sitting near their cage, reading a book or watching TV or something where you're near them but not directly interacting so they get used to your presence. And then as they get more comfortable you can work on handfeeding treats through the cage bars. Patience is key and trying to move at their pace.

 

[Birdbabe]

Time and patience,,

 

[Pipper]

I once unknowingly bought an adult female cockatiel when I was a boy. It was very wild and when I put my hand into the cage to hold it there to try and get her to perch she'd drop off her perch to the cage floor and raise her wings slightly and start hissing while rocking side to side. And when I lowered my finger I would quickly get repeatedly bit for real. Hard bites.

She was so much more difficult to tame than the 2 budgies I had gotten a few months earlier. As a silly attempt to tame her without involving pain for myself (or potentially her when I might jerk me hand out of her beak) I got one of my mom's well used yellow rubber gloves she used to do dishes and put that on the only perch in the cockatiels cage and left it for a few days. For the 1st 12 hours she refused to climb up on the perch but eventually she did and by some weird way that completely tamed that cockatiel. That cockatiel really couldn't wait for me to come home from school everyday after taming her.

I remembered that when I recently got the wild IRN but it didn't work for that bird. Maybe because the glove was a reinforced wool glove I use to do wood carving.

I'd recommend a book by a professional parrot trainer on how to tame wild parrot type birds and you should follow that. It will take as much time per week as a part time job though, just so you know and who know when the bird will suddenly decide 'I trust my pet caregiver completely' after all that work. I'm on 3 1/2 weeks taming the wild IRN I have.