# Help taming my cockatiel!!



## luquitas (Dec 13, 2012)

Hi everyone!

So 3 years ago I got my cockatiel from a pet store. In there they had a hand raised cockatiel and a cage with some aviary bred ones. The hand raised cockatiel cost around 5 times as much as the aviary bred ones so I figured that I could work and tame my new pet. I tried for about a month but he just wouldn't respond to training. I kinda gave up for a while but this year fortunately my cockatiel started responding to my care of him. He started taking treats from my hand and generally being comfortable around me.
The problem is that I got kinda stuck now, because he will eat anything he likes from my hand but whenever I approach with my hand empty he backs away. Sometimes he's kinda sleepy and lets me approach but then he kinda wakes up and lunges at my hand (he never bites down though and it doesn't hurt at all) So I was wondering if you guys had some methods or tricks to get my cockatiel to trust my hand without food and let me pet him. I'm on summer vacation so I have all the time in the world to work with my cockatiel.
Thanks in advance!


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## rashid100 (Oct 3, 2012)

Hi! First of all, don't approach him wen he is sleepy.. I made that mistake and it hurt! Try letting him out of his cage and take him to A different room so he comes to u for safety cause he knows u... Feed him millet with ur hand and let him hang out with u for some time every day. After some time, he should let u pet him. Hope that helps


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Instead of just letting him eat from your hand, hold the treat slightly out of reach so he has to step onto your hand to get the food. Once he's good at doing this, you can show him the treat but don't have it quite as close to your hand and ask him to step up. After he steps up, move the treat closer so he can eat it. You can gradually start out with the treat further and further away so he gets used to stepping up on your hand without having the treat nearby. He should eventually be so used to stepping up on your hand that he'll do it even when you don't have a treat.


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## luquitas (Dec 13, 2012)

Funny story I realized my cockatiel for some time of the the day would lift her tail and stay still and chirp, this being the only time she let me pet her. Quick research told me this was the female mating stance. And since my cockatiel isn't vocal at all and quite mellow it turns out he was actually a hen! She's an all yellow lutino and the guy at the pet store told me she was male so you can see the confusion.


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