# "used" cockatiels and biting



## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

July 24 I went to the neighbor's house to ask if they had an extra cage that I could have. I was planning to get myself a cockatiel and good cages are pretty pricey. They're outside and I walk up and as "You have cockatiels, right?" The reply I got made me so giddy. "Yeah, you want them?" of course I jumped on the opportunity. And by the end of the day I had two new babies. I've had a parakeet for a while now and she thinks she's the boss of them. They didn't have names when I got them and they had come from the shelter (apparently?) and are a few years old (3 years tops) They got them when they were really little too. The Lutino (might actually be lutino pearl. Not sure how much yellow it takes on the body to be considered a "pearl" sub-type.) is the female. I named her Zelda. And the normal grey one is Cricket. He's kinda nippy, which is what I'm posting about. (Also I think he has a pied gene in him. I heard that if there's yellow on the back of their head they have pied in them.) So, what I was told was that Cricket is sweet and loving and such and Zelda is more of a "ok you're there now leave me alone" type. They both know to step-up, which is good. But they don't seem to have been handled much. (which is the reason I got them. They didn't have time for them anymore and wanted them to go to a place that'd they would be taken care of. They spent a lot of time outside the cage, from what I heard, as well.) They came with a huge cage with a nice sized perch on top of it. When I open the cage to let them out, if I just open the door and leave it, Zelda is out the door as soon as she can be. She climbs right up and perches. Cricket follows a minute or so later. I usually don't have them come out on their own, so they can understand that I'm not mean and I'm trying to play/love/help them etc. So what I usually do is have them step-up and them lift them up to the top where they can sit. Zelda will step-up with no complaints, but she's always a bit eager to get down. Cricket, on the other hand, will peck and even bite (I'd call it a nip but he stings!) and try to get down immediately. Though, sometimes he'll step-up and sit there for a minute or two (after biting my index finger and then my thumb once he does step-up.) on my finger, which Zelda never does. I feel as if they're a little too comfortable with their sticks and have considered taking it off, handling them, and then putting it back up and letting them chill. I'd like to know what you guys think about that and I'd like advice on the biting. (I know biting is a common topic, I'm sorry.) Also, the third picture is the top of their cage.


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Welcome to the forum  Yes Cricket is split to pied meaning he carries the pied gene. They are both gorgeous!


I had written some advice down but realized I misread your question so I deleted my advice lol I cant delete my post.....but someone will be able to help you out


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

You're going to have to do some trust exercises with them. They aren't scared of hands, but they don't like them either. Especially your boy. To work with them though, you need to get them away from the cage and it has to be one at a time. They'll distract each other if you try to do it with both at the same time.


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> You're going to have to do some trust exercises with them. They aren't scared of hands, but they don't like them either. Especially your boy. To work with them though, you need to get them away from the cage and it has to be one at a time. They'll distract each other if you try to do it with both at the same time.


I don't know where I'd take them. They're in my bedroom and my dining room and living room are just one big room and both have cieling fans running. Our bathroom is kinda small and the basment is too big, obviously. My parents may let me use their room. At least mom will. Might only get to use their room when dad's away. And how long and how often?


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

xoxsarahxox said:


> Welcome to the forum  Yes Cricket is split to pied meaning he carries the pied gene. They are both gorgeous!
> 
> 
> I had written some advice down but realized I misread your question so I deleted my advice lol I cant delete my post.....but someone will be able to help you out


Thank you! What did you initially write out for me? xD 

Also, I apologize for any misspellings, slow replies and the seperate posts to reply. I'm on my phone now so if there is a spelling error I may not notice it and if I do I won't bother fixing it because phone browser's slower than my desktop one. I'm usually pretty good at that otherwise.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Welcome to the fourm! I hope you like it here as much as i have! Nice pictures by the way!


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

morla said:


> Welcome to the fourm! I hope you like it here as much as i have! Nice pictures by the way!


Thank you! hehe, I've actually been here a few times before but never made an account and I already know that everyone here is really nice! And I just took them with my phone. I'm going to get all my pictures of them and my keet onto my computer sometime this week hopefully.


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## Em&Me (Jul 31, 2011)

Yes I agree with morla this is truly a great forum! And welcome! Your tiles are gorgeous!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Your parents bedroom or the bathroom, you don't need a big room to train in, basically you're going to get them used to hands and such. In the training and bonding section are some threads on training that you can read and use. Only train for 15 min at a time, as tiels have short attention spans and you don't want them to get bored or lose interest. And always end the training on a positive note!


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

Em&Me said:


> Yes I agree with morla this is truly a great forum! And welcome! Your tiles are gorgeous!


Hehe thank you!



roxy culver said:


> Your parents bedroom or the bathroom, you don't need a big room to train in, basically you're going to get them used to hands and such. In the training and bonding section are some threads on training that you can read and use. Only train for 15 min at a time, as tiels have short attention spans and you don't want them to get bored or lose interest. And always end the training on a positive note!


How do you suggest ending it positively? I have spray millet but they don't seem to really like it when I try giving it to them by hand. And they're _afraid_ of _fruit._


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Tiels don't really like fruit...try veggies. OR, sunflower seeds can be a big hit. You can try those.


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> Tiels don't really like fruit...try veggies. OR, sunflower seeds can be a big hit. You can try those.


What kind of veggies? My budgie likes lettace. And what do you think I should do during our 15 minute sessions? I'm only asking because I feel like my situation's a tad different than everyone else's seeing as these two have been used to being on their own during flight time. They've been climbing down onto their smaller cage and even onto the floor to explore a little the past few weeks too. But every time I move because they aren't in sight they run back to their cage and climb back up.


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## bobnchook (Sep 1, 2011)

I was told by my breeder that lettuce was a no no for tiels, so may not be good to give it that.


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

bobnchook said:


> I was told by my breeder that lettuce was a no no for tiels, so may not be good to give it that.


Hmm... I'll go look it up.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Romaine lettuce is fine for tiels...ice berg lettuce is just water, it has no nutrient value. As for the training, use this sticky made by Lperry82 http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073. It has worked for many. At the bottom of her first post is a trust exercise you can use to get them to trust you. Your situation is no different than her's, Big Mac and Dumpling are three years old and she used this to train them (aviary birds I think so left to their own devices before her.) Good luck!


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## makeapan (Sep 12, 2011)

roxy culver said:


> Romaine lettuce is fine for tiels...ice berg lettuce is just water, it has no nutrient value. As for the training, use this sticky made by Lperry82 http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073. It has worked for many. At the bottom of her first post is a trust exercise you can use to get them to trust you. Your situation is no different than her's, Big Mac and Dumpling are three years old and she used this to train them (aviary birds I think so left to their own devices before her.) Good luck!


Ok, thank you! I was wondering do you think I could remove one from my room and work with them in my room and maybe cover their cage so they don't recognize it? And should I just focus on one until it's comfortable and then start working with the other or should I work with them both. Should I do multiple sessions a day or no?


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## Kikode (Aug 17, 2011)

I actually followed the advice from the youtube link and it was very helpful. Larry would hiss and strike at me if I tried to pick him up from his cage or from his favorite place on the second shelf of my entertainment center. Any other time I can get him to step up but never pet his head. Now he lets me pet his head. It only took about 30 minutes total today I was suprised how far hes came. I didnt push it to far but I was able to give him head scratches to! Heres the link again in case it was from another thread. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTiYpobrG8Q seriously give it a try just keep inching your finger closer. Props to you Izabela!


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