How do I stop my cockatiels from biting me and let it automatic stand onto my hands and not be scared of me?

Question

I got my cockatiels a week ago. They seem to be both male.

Answer 1

It takes patience on your part to get the birds to trust you. Talk to them in a soothing voice. Whenever you open the cage, put your hand by the door for a moment or two, to show that you are not going to hurt them. Gradually increase the time you keep your hand there each day, so eventually the birds will realize that you are not threatening them. Then if they don't bite, put your hand in front of them to encourage them to step on it. Once they do so, praise them and give them a treat as a reward.

Answer 2

A week is not very long they may be scared. Don't make any sudden moves and it may be easier first to teach them to stand on a perch that you are holding. You cant just grab them, they must come to you. Do they rush to the other side of the cage if you put your hand in? If so just feed and talk to them till they come to the side of the cage where you are before trying to take them on a stick, putting your hand in the cage is invading the birds territory. He will defend his home.

Answer 3

A bird will not"automatically" interact with you unless you train him to do so. I answered a question recently and I will refer to it here because it was basically the same situation except the bird was female. This was how I answered this same question:

Give her a reason to want to be near you. Positive reinforcement training is the way to go with this.
Every being in the back of their head is thinking:
"What's in it for me?"
For some reason you were never able to build trust with her.
Figure out what her favorite food is. Remove that from his regular diet. Every time you go near her cage, toss the treat into her bowl. Make sure it's itty-bitty...just a seed or a small piece of whatever. This way you can repeat this without her getting filled up after 2 or 3 passes.
She will eventually realize that you being near her is "pleasant". She begins relating you to the treat and looks forward to seeing you whether you have the treat or not.
Next, hold a treat outside the cage for her to take from your hand. You are simply building trust.
Next, open the cage and offer from your hand. After that, arrange the treat so she has to step up on your hand to get the treat. Every time she does anything right, praise wildly! GooodGirrrl!
Move onto her having to come to the door to step up and get the treat. Take it slow and easy. Again, you are building trust.
You have to build that up, and give her a reason to WANT to come to you. Eventually, if she remains flighted, you will probably be able to teach her to fly to you on cue.
Personally, I clip my birds because they are "Demo" birds...They occasionally visit schools and travel with me to many places, so it's safer that way. Free-flight training is extremely demanding and takes a long time. Clipping is an option for you if you feel you require more control over her environment, at least in her training phase.

Remember, there are 2 secrets to behavior: Everything a thinking being does, he or she is attempting to accomplish one of 2 things.
They are either trying to get to it, or attain it, or they are trying to escape it or avoid it.

That's it.
If you think about it, life is driven by those 2 motivations. There is nothing smaller or simpler than this.
Everything and anything a human or animal does involves one of these 2 motivations. If you keep that in mind, training becomes very easy.
If you keep this up and ease her into a positively motivated situation where she sees that being with you is getting her something, she will lbegin to respond positively to your words and presence.
Look up Positive Reinforcement Training. There are tons of websites out there. It doesn't matter if it's for dogs, kids or birds, you'll get the idea.
If you need more help, don't hesitate to contact me.
Good Luck.

Answer 4

If they are still babies you can train them. If not, I don't think there's anything you can do. Try to seperate them for a week or so and work on them on an individual basis. They respond better when they have no other disstractions such as other birds. Luckily, I was able to purchase a bird that was hand fed and use to human contact. If it's a baby give it plenty of attention and be confident when you are trying to get him to perch on your finger. One reason they bite is because they are testing the stabllity of your finger for it to perch on. If it is stiff like a branch or something it will feel more comfortale on your finger. Hope this helps you.

Kelly

Answer 5

how old are they? it depends on where they came from & what thier environment was like before yours. If they were mistreated it will take alot of time & patience till they trust you. Sometimes it is easy to tell the sex if they are older but the best bet it to get them tested by a good avian vet. Good luck!

Answer 6

Its really hard to train when you have two birds in the one cage. Night time is best to train because they are quieter.

Answer 7

Put your arm out, no fingers. It will eventually come to you, sit on your shoulder and not leave you alone. I miss mine.