# Taming nervous 'tiel



## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

My boy Charlie is quite nervous. We had a bad experience letting him out to explore while he was flighted (in a small room) and my dad towelled him to get him back in his cage (he lost a few feathers with that which I am very upset about). 

My parents had a cockatiel before and my dad insisted that he had to have his wings clipped to be tamed. I thought I could do it flighted but clipping him for taming could be easier, so it was done. 

I let him settle afterwards for a few days and brought him out again today. He took an awful lot longer to come out and when he did, he flew up high again. I'd really rather not towel him to put him back in his cage, but he flies away from my hands. 

What can I do? I've left treats nearby and he'll eat millet if I bring it towards him, but not off my palm. Even a closed fist spooks him and anything that he could perch on.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

hi 


i would keep earning his trust with food bribery, it works wonders!

here are some of our taming threads, you should read through all of them and see what works best for you 

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=28661

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=33824


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

I've read all of those! The Mutual Agreement one was the one that had me thinking not to wing clip. I suppose it doesn't make a difference since the clipping seems to have done nothing. 

I can approach him with treats and he'll eat them, but if my hand gets too close he'll fly away. I just tried offering him a perch to stand on and he just flew off in a frenzy. Currently waiting for him to come down from the door frame before I offer him any treats. 

I was thinking about trying to tame him in the bathroom... Strange, I know, but it's small and there's only one very high place for him


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

the bathroom is an ideal place to tame, if you bird proof it  toilet lid down, things like that 

the mutual agreement taming works with the food bribery. but it requires a lot of patience. it works for clipped birds as well as flighted birds, so it's still an option for you.

the key with it, is to let the bird set the pace and earn the birds trust at his or her comfort level. it can take a long time. using that method, it took almost 2 years to tame my lovebirds. but its well worth it.

the bird accepting the millet from you is a great first step, and i would keep working with that and slowly move the millet closer to your hand as you work with him. eventually (could be days, could be weeks, even months) he might feel more comfortable around your hand and will be more trusting. 

its not easy, but it can be done


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

So just keep trying to get closer to him with food? Should this be done inside or outside the cage, or both?

Also, if he flies away when I get too close, is that detrimental to th taming process?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Start in the cage. Once you can get him stepping on your hand with food then you can work with him outside the cage. 



> Also, if he flies away when I get too close, is that detrimental to th taming process?


It is only detrimental if you have to towel him to get him back in the cage. That ends the training session on a bad note and can hurt the trust you have built up with him.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

roxy culver said:


> It is only detrimental if you have to towel him to get him back in the cage. That ends the training session on a bad note and can hurt the trust you have built up with him.


I got him back in - he got tired with me constantly following him around the room and flying away. He couldn't keep going up as high and eventually got on the window sill, whete he climbed on a rail. I held it in my hands and covered the front (escapable) part with a towel and popped him in the cage. Does that count as towelling? Will it decrease trust?

Also, are you saying I shouldn't let him out until I can get him to step up?


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

This is talking from my own personal experience, so take it for what it's worth. Following him around is just about the worst I can do with my super skittish male. I stopped doing that months ago because it was building resentment between us lol. If I HAVE to get him in the cage (eg, I have to go out) a quick towel and a nutriberry works so much better for us. Otherwise I let him go back in on his own, and he does because that's where his food is. That way he doesn't see me as a predator chasing him around.

Just my 2 cents.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

Yeah I was worried that I seemed like a predator. Just I put him in there at 2 or 3 and didn't get him back until about 7 or 8, and he ate like he was ravenous. He was just scared to go too near me and get back in his cage, but leaving him on his own for a few hours didn't work either. 
Should I keep him in his cage until he's unafraid of my hand, so? It seems so cruel!


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

Again, this is my experience. I have had Nelson for about 3 months now and is still very afraid of my hand unless I'm holding millet, which he will eat and run off again after it's gone. It can take a very long time to make him comfortable but I don't think leaving him in the cage all the time is the solution.

He needs to learn to trust you, I would stop chasing him around and just sit down and talk to him constantly, wether he's in the cage or outside. Grab some millet and stand up, get a bit closer to him every day in tiny, tiny steps, hold there for a couple of minutes. Praise him and walk away if he's relaxed, if he isn't, take a step back and try again later or the following day.

Eventually (days, weeks, months) he'll want that millet and will start getting curious about you, and you can start bonding.

That's what I've been doing and it's working so far. It's painfully slow but he sets the pace and he's much more confident now.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

Argh, I had a huge reply written out and it got deleted. Basically, MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH! I had the whole story written out but long and short of it is that in two short sessions I let Charlie come closer to me and eat treats, and I got to the stage where I can pet his head. The story is nice but of course it gets deleted...

Thank you, MeanneyFids, Roxy and Tequilagirl. You were all right - I used food bribery, and left him in his cage, and let him go at his own pace. I'll be away for a week on Saturday and hope this trust sticks, but I'm going to keep at it until then and possibly just work on letting me pet his head and when I get back just try that again. If I have to regain his trust, I will!!


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Oh, taming a nervous 'tiel is hard work.. I'm working on it right now with Honey.. stubborn little girl


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

Yeah I know, Nelson has only recently started coming closer to me. Makes me wonder what happened to him in the past.

And Blue Seas, Congrats! May it be the beginning of a long, happy relationship!


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

No great leaps and bounds since my last breakthrough. He will eat very close to my fingers and sometimes off the very tips of them if I have a small sprig of millet there, but that's it. Not sure where to go from here because bringing him out of his cage always seems to be a disaster since he can't step up yet!


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

Put both hands inside the cage for a while, when he stops freaking out hold a bit of millet in one hand and put the other one between the millet and the bird, and very calmly and slowly encourage him to step up on your finger to get to the millet.

If he won't, bring the millet to him for a bite and go back to having the finger inbetween the millet and him. Might take a few sessions, do it a few times a day until he steps up.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

Just tried it there and he was having none of it, just kept running away from my hand when it got too close to him. I'll just keep at it.

He also seems to be moulting? Or feather plucking... Basically I've found a couple of big feathers of his on the floor of the cage. Just there I saw one feather on his wing sticking the wrong way so he plucked it out, and he's preening a lot even with my hands in the cage. Sound normal or abnormal?

Edit: accidental step up... He was on his swinging perch and couldn't really escape, so I alternated giving millet and bringing my hand closer. I pressed it to him and he stood up, but once he realised what he did he climbed away in a hurry!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Sounds like he's molting, no worries!!

As to putting the hand in the cage, start slowly. Don't get any closer to him. Start at the door of the cage and leave it there. When he no longer seems to notice your hand, then move it slowly closer til he reacts to it (i.e. striking at it, hissing, etc) and leave it there. Once he starts to ignore it in that spot move it closer. Keep doing this til you can touch him. It takes a lot of patience, but its the first step towards teaching him to step up.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

He only hisses at my hand when he's tired, during the day all he does is run from it. 

Earlier I had some successes by getting a chopstick and using that to try and get him to step up while eating millet. He did it by accident first... And then it took a lot of coercion to get him back on it again. I might get something a bit wider but I think he's just scared of things touching him in general, but hands are the only things he'll run from. 

I've followed the bringing the hand closer thing and because he runs, not hisses or lunges, I have to follow him with it and can never get it used to it beng closer. I can sometimes do it while he's eating millet from me but as soon as he twigs what I'm doing he runs!

Quick edit: he doesn't do much moving inside his cage unless it's running away from my hand. Mainly stays by his food. He doesn't play much and I'm so worried that he's the type of bird that just doesn't do much while in a cage and needs to be out (or get a friend.. That's another story) but it's so frustrating not being able to tame him so I can let him enjoy himself!


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## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

Blue_Seas said:


> I've followed the bringing the hand closer thing and because he runs, not hisses or lunges,* I have to follow him with it *and can never get it used to it beng closer. I can sometimes do it while he's eating millet from me but as soon as he twigs what I'm doing he runs!


My bold. 

No, you don't. Just hang in there for as long as it takes for him to be ok with it. it's not a half an hour job.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

I agree with Tequilagirl...by following him with your hand, you're making the hand threatening. The whole point of the exercise is for him to get used to the hand, not step up on it. Leave it sit in the cage, when he stops running and calms down, move it closer. He's going to run again, that's fine. Leave the hand where it is. I would only do this exercise for about 15min at a time as tiels have short attention spans.


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## Blue_Seas (Jun 18, 2013)

He moves to the opposite side of the cage and doesn't move. He stays pretty stationary in the cage even though there's toys and perches and places to climb. If I put my hand too close, he spooks and leaves. When I take it out he comes back. I'm just so frustrated, I really want him to be able to come out and enjoy being with me but he's still so skittish


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