# Human contact.



## TailFeathers (Jun 9, 2012)

ok. so many of you might have read my other post about my birds
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=31399
if not i'll give you the really short version. all five are rescue. two from one home and the other 3 from another. 
well. we have issues bc none of them are very well tamed. Prettyboy is mean as **** until you get him on you then he is nice, but the trick is getting him on you to begin with bc he bites the **** out of you
Snow isnt even nice even if she is on your hand. she is a little :censor: almost all the time.
Fawkes isnt mean she just runs away.
Chicken is like Fawkes. she doesnt want to be touched. 
and Shadow is actually really nice. only he has a habit of "grooming" you. he pulls at cuticles of fingernails and pulls arm hair, any short hair really, and yanks it out... 
the problem is that somedays one of them is extremely mean and others their actually willing to let us handle them and they like to take turns. what i describe is their over all attitude but somedays snow will act like shadow others Fawkes like Prettyboy and so on.... how do we fix this?


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

Time, patience, don't push them to interact directly. IE put a finger in front of them and expect them to be tame.

Instead I'd feed a basic diet in the cage but all treats come from human hands and only when your good. Behavior that you don't like or won't tolerate gets you back in the cage.

If possible find a way to make a play area that is neutral ground. Approach them there, or better yet let them approach you.

Even a tame tiel is going to pull on an earing, try to hang from your glasses, etc from time to time. I have Cara's play area setup so that he can move from his cage to within easy arm reach. If he stays up by the cage chirping and singing I know he's happy and leave him be. But if he works himself around to get close to me I have a pretty good idea that he wants loving, handling.

I'm not saying that will work in your case but its something to consider.

I suspect all tiels are at least somewhat territorial, and damaged/abused/neglected ones, even more so.


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## TailFeathers (Jun 9, 2012)

thanks! 
whats your opinion on this. Prettyboy has ADHD i think lol. all the other birds do their little happy chips and whistles and are all happy when you let them in their play area. be he constantly has to scream as loud as he can! he bangs his beak against the bars and rips toys to shreds and just goes crazy. especially if you ignore him. but if you try to give him attention he flips out and like attacks my hand


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## Ghosth (Jun 25, 2012)

How are you approaching him? 

Big difference between just bringing a hand up to him, and holding a treat so that he has to come to your hand to get the treat. I would stress that you try making him come to you. Even if you have to get him to step up on a perch first so he can be separated a bit from the flock for some one on one.

Try picturing him as living inside a shell the size of say a volleyball. That is his "territory" and invade it at your own risk. Get him to set aside his shell, and come into your sphere of influence instead of you entering his. 

It may be a subtle distinction, and I could be full of BS. But if I'd been mistreated, neglected, or abused, I suspect if you put a finger in front of me I'd probably freak out and go all rambo on it. (and probably feel badly afterwords)

If you do approach him, try to do so slowly and gradually. Giving him time to decide how he wants to handle it. If they bite and get a reaction, they will use that next time. Once taught that if they attack your hand or bite and get a response, they will start doing so more and more. So you need to have nerves of steel, and a plan.

You've taken on a very large hard task, stay the course. Its going to take a lot of love and time to repair damage done.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Food bribery can help change their attitudes - see http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=28661


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## Zeus2000 (Nov 29, 2011)

*Shadow*

for shadows "grooming" you can buy a ferret product that i think is like a cream and you rub it on like lotion or maybe its a spray i'm really not sure but anyways it helps for birds too. when they bite you, they get a mouthful of a really nasty taste and then associate that taste with your taste so they won't bite you anymore.


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