# Adopted Cockatiels - one is terrified of hands



## A_Starfish (Sep 15, 2011)

Hello all,

Last year I adopted a pair of cockatiels from a former coworker. Her reasoning for getting rid of the birds was that her new Ringneck Parakeet was attacking the male on a regular basis. I don't know the lady very well, so I really don't know what the birds' old life was like, but I have had nothing but issues with these two, and any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated. 

I have no idea how old Cornelius (that's the male) is, but his eyesight is much poorer than any bird I've encountered (used to hand-raise budgies and lovebirds years ago). When he first came to me he was missing a lot of tail feathers, and the ones he had were in terrible shape (mangled and frayed). He was a vicious biter, a continuous screamer and a terrible flier. From what I've read, he must have never had the proper opportunity to learn to fly and land safely as a young bird. At first if I let him out of the cage, he'd end up panicking and flying into various furniture items, trying to find a landing spot. Often I'd stand by helpless until he had finally stopped flapping about the room. In the first 2 months I had him he broke several bloodfeathers, and left me with my fair share of bite injuries. He has an intense and totally insane fear of hands. I'm certain by his behaviour that he believes they are a separate entity from me, and despite all the progress I have made with him, I can't even look at him without receiving a hiss, nip attempt or even the puffed-up side-to-side dance. The female (named her Athena) is very independent, and once I showed her that biting didn't get a response from me, she quickly gave that up. She will fly, and often frightens him with her sudden departures. It seems that he relies on her for knowledge about what's going on. If she starts shrieking, he gets freaked out, and flies like a maniac.

Slowly, using time, reading to him, offering millet, using a towel to handle him (when he's too freaked out) and all the other things I could think of, I've gotten him to the point where he will get on my hand, but only once he's out of the cage and has had a few "scared laps" of the livingroom, or if he's landed somewhere scary. He doesn't bite hard very often anymore, but always pecks and nips, even his "beaking" before he steps-up can be vicious. 

What else can I do to help break the fear of hands? When I keep his wings trimmed he often smashes into walls or the floor, but should I keep him trimmed? He flies about in such a panic at times I wonder if he should always be grounded.

Thanks for the help!


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

There so cute!


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## Leigh (Sep 21, 2011)

Gorgeous birds!!! Wish I had some advice for you. Sounds like your on the right track with patience and persistence.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

In the training and bonding section is a sticky about taming by lperry82. It has worked for many others on here. Try sitting with your hand in his cage for 15min at a time. This should help him to get used to your hands. Once he settles down you can move your hand closer and closer to him. Hopefully this helps!


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

You can find that sticky right here http://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073&highlight=Taming+lperry82+version
also holding millet always works


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## Tweety's Pet (Sep 24, 2011)

Patience is key when working with abused/traumatized animals/birds. If you see he is starting to panic in any way, stop whatever the activity is and give him at least a hour rest. If you push him too hard in his road to recovery, you could loose the ground you have gained already in his recovery..in his panic.


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## A_Starfish (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the tips. I've read through the mentioned posts, and gotten some new ideas to try in combination with what I'm already doing. 

I've already had some success using bath-time as a bonding time. After I give Cornelius a good soaking (which he actually loves, even chases the water when I switch to spritz Athena) he'll let me wrap him in his green towel, and as long as I don't move too fast, or make too much eye-contact, he will let me rub his cheeks and scritch some of his neck. He even asked for a beak rub the other day! He kept pushing his beak into my thumb while I was scritching his neck so I slowly started rubbing little circles around his beak and he got right into it.  Feels like a million bucks when he relaxes a little. Of course as soon as he's dry enough I let him out to preen, and he goes right back to hissing, nipping and flying at the smallest of disturbances. 


Anyways, Thanks again all!
Cornelius thanks you too I'm sure.


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## RookieBlue (Jul 30, 2011)

I definitely agree, patience is the key to all things good. 

I noticed you mentioned Cornelius has poor eyesight. This could be the reasoning for his excessive fear and aggression. If you're noticing his landing is poor, this could also be due to the eyesight problem. I would recommend clipping his wings to avoid serious injury. If Athena and Cornelius are housed together, you'll have to clip Athena's wings too or you could have an issue with dominance fighting. 

If you are able to hold Cornelius after his fear-flight, that is wonderful! Be proud of yourself, and him, for this achievement. It's much better than not being able to handle him at all, right?

As for the biting, I know a few tricks I've heard over on the parrotlet forum that seemed to work for people who also had cockatiels. One is you wiggle your finger to loosen his grip, and direct his focus towards his balance rather than his biting. You can also use shredder toys to redirect his biting from you to the shredder toy.

Assuming there is a chance these birds were hand-fed as babies, there is a good method I learned that helps 1. comfort abused birds, and 2. enhance the bonding process. For a week, every night before bedtime, you're going to want to prepare a bowl of Quaker Oats Cinnamon and Spice oatmeal. Take each of them out seperately and place them on the counter. (This level is also good in showing that they are not "higher up" than you on the dominance chain.) First let them inspect the bowl, and then on the tip of a spoon feed them until they are no longer interested. After, wash their beak off with a damp cloth. Talk to them gently and sweetly, only kind words please. After you're done, put the one to bed and do this again with the other.

The reason this helps is because if they were hand-fed as babies, chances are that's the only thing they remember that was comforting and loving. If you are doing this, it will help them to associate you with that comfort and love that you're trying so desperately to give them. 

I've got some more information if you need it, but I think I've written enough for the time being.


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