She is some what tamed, I just got her( few days ago). We let her out the cage everyday.But now she is started to fly to the curtains and want to stay there. We try to get her and she bites not hard but harder than before. Are we doing something wrong ? When she is on us or lower eye level she won't bite. Can anyone help me? I want the bird to be good with my kids, as they love her to bits. She is 6 months old, and her name R2 .
Thank you for reading this and taking time out of your life.
2007-02-03 06:14:45 · 14 answers · asked by spaceless_bookstore 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
Fantastic name! Love it!
Birds are smart, but can be slow to learn and warm up to new people. Give it time. Best thing to do is leave her in the cage until she gets to know you and learn the ways of your household better.
Bribe her with food. All things good and yummy should come from you for now. She gets all the pellets she wants, of course, but you are the source of all fruit, vegetables, seeds and treats.
Good Luck
2007-02-03 06:40:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Her behaviour might worsen before it gets better especially with sexual maturity. You might want to have her wings professional clipped, so that she won't accidentally escape and not tear up your belongings. When she bites, give her a firm "No." and push towards the bite, she will let go. Time outs in a covered cage for only 2 minutes can curb the behaviour.Good behaviour means more play time. Don't overreact (which can be hard) because the negative reaction can entice the bird to bite more. Have a tweet year and may things improve soon.
2007-02-03 10:36:18 · answer #2 · answered by firestarter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well. First you have to get her wings clipped so she cant fly away and you need to show her who is boss. Since she bites yell at her but not to loud and say no or stop that and she should stop biting it works when I do that to my cockatiel and shes a girl too. If that does not work wear some gloves and get her down and start talking to her calming. Maybe that will work.
P.s. If she does what you say and if she is good, feed her a delicious treat because she know if she does good she will get more treats.
2007-02-03 10:25:40 · answer #3 · answered by vanessa_soccerlover 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, take her to a vet or pet store to have her wings clipped. She's going to hurt herself or fly away.
It's good you are keeping her below your head, keep that up. Dont' let her on your shoulder or she may continue to feel superior to you and bite.
As far as the kids go, you have to expect that the bird will bite them and you cannot punish her for this. Birds are not generally appropriate pets for children, depending on their age. Set rules for the kids and be patient with the birdy. Poor thing is most likely still trying to adjust to the new home. How scary that must be!
2007-02-03 06:24:12 · answer #4 · answered by Ann 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have 2 of the tamest tiels around. Surprisingly, one was parent raised so she was basically a wild bird when we got her. and the other was handfed but her previous owners had her for a year and half and left her as a caged bird with no outside time. so, when we first got her she didn't enjoy being handled at all and was even more wild than our parent raised tiel. Now, both of these birds are very sweet and love to be handled and go everywhere with us. I even take them grocery shopping with me. I have had several people tell me that they have had their cocaktiel for 2 or more years and would never sit on their shoulder and not fly away in public. Here is my secret:
1) plan on spending an entire weekend with your tiel.
2)clip it's wings. when the wings are clipped the bird has to depend on you because they can't fly. so, they stay with you.
3)keep it close to you for several days, all day. Have it sit on your shoulder...not your head. talk to it. give it scritches (pet its head ruffling it's feathers upward strokes. this is preening. birds that are bonded preen. so when you do this to your bird it tells him that you care about him. You'll notice that your tiel will take strands of your hair and preen it.
4)whenever you are eating have the tiel with you and offer it some.
5)get your tiel to eat out of the palm of your hand.
If you keep your bird with you practically all day long for 3 days it will be so tame you won't know what to do with it. Many people are going to say to leave it in it's cage and offer it food from your palm until it is ready. the fact of the matter is that if you do this the tiel may never be ready. These are also the same people that have only semi-tame birds. I doubt many of them could trust their bird to not flyaway while strolling in outdoor flea market or park. the key to taming your tiel is to spend lots and lots of time with it. socializing it with people, children, and other animals. Let your children hold her. teach them how so that the tiel isn't hurt somehow. Make sure everyone in the family takes an active roll in taming her. BTW, your tiel sounds like she is already pretty tame. Just afraid of you yet. Build her trust by spending time with her. Not by locking her up in her cage. Many people will disagree with me. But, it's up to you to decide what you want to do. My tiels are proof that this method works. They don't want to be anywhere other than with me or one of the other members of our family. they love human attention. Please remember that your tiels need at least 2 hours out of their cage per day. Also, they are very small so always supervise your small children to prevent sad accidents. good luck with your tiel. They are WONDERFUL sweet pets that should lend you hours upon hours of enjoyment. If you need help you can email me startle_me2001@yahoo.com
2007-02-03 16:17:33 · answer #5 · answered by stop_staring_please 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't get the bird out of the cage until hand trained. Leave the bird in the cage and stick your hand in. Wait until the bird is tame enough to just climb on you. consistency is key. I have a link for you. It is for parakeets, but it's a great way to tame your cockatiel as well.
2007-02-03 16:10:08 · answer #6 · answered by Mom of 3 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Here is an informative link for cockatiels. We clip our birds wings and this helps with some of the flying they do and makes them a little easier to handle.
http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/library.html
2007-02-03 06:21:54 · answer #7 · answered by Sparkles 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you may have to clip her wings so that she cannot fly tothe curtain rod. once she has come to terms with not being able to get away from you she may become more cooperative. other than that all you can do is continue to pick her up and pet her and offer her treats. try hand feeding her if she has to rely on you for her food when she is out of the cage she has to trust you. i'm not saying that she shouldn't have food in her cage i'm just saying shut her door so that when she is out she has to "ask" you for her food (either to let her in or to eat out of your hand). she may be nipping which is normal for a young bird to do when scared. my mom has owned two tiels and two of her friends are in our local bird club. see if you can find one in your area and give them a call.
2007-02-03 06:22:49 · answer #8 · answered by MommyCaleb 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
clipping the wings not only keeps the animal safe from flying away but also establishes dominance.
dont let it sit on your shoulder until it stops biting.
look up info on the 'earthquake effect' i used it to train my indian ringneck and it works great!
just give him time and a lot of patience
2007-02-05 07:35:34 · answer #9 · answered by JessicaL 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Birds like high places....if they are higher than the owner then they feel superior and tend to bite. If you lower them to eye level or lower then they feel like you are huge. So, just keep R2 at eye or lower than eye level and there shouldn't be any problem. Hope i helped
2007-02-03 10:51:38 · answer #10 · answered by Mark S 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋