# Why does Precious act like this?



## resalat_hasan (Sep 7, 2011)

Hi all ! Good Day 

My little boy, Precious has been with me since July 30. He suffered from respiratory infection last month, I brought him to vet, the vet advised antibiotic course and now he's quite fine with the blessings of the Almighty. As suggested by the vet, he has to be given a pediatric multivitamin dose (1 drop daily) for one month and he has to be given this medicine till October 4th. 

He wasn't a tame bird, I had to grab him forcefully for giving medication, while grabbing, he violently flapped his wings on the cage walls and thus he broke his 2 blood feathers :wacko:
Fortunately, we became more cautious and he just broke the feathers once. That's why we got his wings clipped and since then, he is about to be more tame. 

Still, I have to grab him forcefully to get him outta cage for vitamin dosages every morning. Out of the cage, he perches on my fingers as well as my wife's and my mom's.  he sometimes brushes his beaks on us and he seems to be very happy, even he lets us kiss him while he is out. But the fact is, inside the cage, when I put my hand to him, he still looks terrified and hisses. When he is out, he acts completely different. Even today, he ate rice from my one hand perching on the other. Why does he look so afraid inside the cage and not hop on my fingers while he does it outside the cage??

I also let the cage door open and put his foods outside but he doesn't look curious enough to come out by himself. 

Please share your opinions.

Thanks in advance and Regards from Precious's mom and dad.


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## Xanthia (Sep 4, 2011)

I've got the same situation going on with my little one, except he's more aggressive, I think. But that's only when our hands are around or in the cage. The one time he's been out so far, once he was out, he did just fine. So I am curious as well.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

That is so interesting! He acts nice to you when hes out of the cage, but then he hisses at you when hes in his cage. I wonder what the reason is. Hmm.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

I've heard others speak of cage aggression where a bird is very protective of his territory but then when he is away, he is in your territory so he's a lot more subdued. I've seen lots of reasons as to this but the one that makes the most sense to me is that their home has been invaded in the past, or they have felt as though they would be invaded. Sometimes, the bird has been physically removed from its cage and was really upset about it. I'm sure others will come on that can offer more advice on this. My birds are not too aggressive about their cage, but it does make a difference if my hands are quick, or slow. The slower I am, the more at ease they are.


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## resalat_hasan (Sep 7, 2011)

I think I will try making him perch on my finger inside the cage after I finish his vitamin course, then I will no longer have to force-grab him anymore. Almighty God knows when he'll stop hissing and come to me easily.


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## NuttyNu (Aug 20, 2009)

Hi. Noel is exactly the same. he was never handled and lived in his cage for about 3-4years without being let out. The only time he came out was when he escaped as the bottom of the cage fell off when moving it in the house!
I then took him on, I was told he would probably escape from the door of the cage if it was open for him... he never did. He knew the door was there but he just walked around it. Only once has he ventured enough to stand on the door and once to go back in (Food Bribery!). Out of the cage he is a lovely tame boy, inside he can be really nasty.
With Him, I think he is scared of what is outside the bars... he has never really been out. He is getting better but he couldn't fly for the first few weeks because he had to develop his wing muscles again so I think that lost him some confidence. Now... with lots of effort, he will make it onto the curtain track where Freddie the other cockatiel will be calling him from. Otherwise... he just rests either on the stand, on me or on the top of his cage. He isn't a real one for flying or playing much.
When he is out, he doesn't step up but he lets you cuddle him stroke him, will sit for hours with you and he also lets you give kisses so he is really friendly. In his cage, he tries to bite my hand whatever I am doing, even if it is sorting out their food!

It is something I think he may get over, otherwise, he is happy enough to be caught to be put in/out of the cage and tollerates this well so I am not too worried. I know If I leave the door open... he will never escape out of it for fear of whats the other side!


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

My Sunny is very protective of the inside of his cage too. However, if I open the door he comes out on his own. Although he loves to be scratched, he doesn't like for me to use my hands to get him in and out of his cage. I'm guessing for the same reason as others suggested- that he was previously grabbed from his cage. (He's rehomed.) So I put a dish towel over my arm and he'll step on to my arm and I can move him that way. I'm new at this too but just covering my hand/arm seems to work for my bird.


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## RookieBlue (Jul 30, 2011)

I am no expert on Cockatiels, and I do know they have a much more gentle composure compared to parrotlets (which is what I currently own), but this sounds like territorialness. My parrotlet is like this with her cage.

It's a little uncertain of what could be the cause, since most cockatiels aren't generally like this, but I would definitely recommend that you stop trying to grab him out of his cage. This causes for even more territorial issues because now whenever your hand comes into the cage, he fears you're going to violently grab him and tear him from his security zone. You're going to probably want to work on step-ups on a perch while he's inside his cage to avoid getting nasty bites on your fingers. Having him step up on a perch will allow for him to feel much safer rather than being forced from his home.

If you really do need to grab him, though, as Sunnysmom said, using the dishtowel method could work wonders.


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## NuttyNu (Aug 20, 2009)

I will be the first to admit... I don't like using towels for the smaller birds. 
For small birds, I never use a towel to restrain them... I know this will be against what others do but even my untamed aviary birds,,, I never used a towel.
I find them a lot harder to restrain them in it and I have seen eye injuried form from just the fibres of the towel touching the eye. The eye issues are repairable but this would mean more catching and use of the towel (The cause!)


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## resalat_hasan (Sep 7, 2011)

Yes, NuttyNu, I don't use a towel, his nails get stuck to the fibers of towel and he looks terrified. He acts very gently outside of the cage, doesn't bite painfully at all rather he brushes his beaks very gently.  Therefore, there's no need to use a towel.  What I'm worried about is, he still hisses at me when he's inside...ignores my each offer to step up on my finger.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

Good warning about the towel. I don't use a towel to restrain my bird. He just prefers stepping on my hand covered in a towel rather than my hand. I'm assuming because he was grabbled before? (He's rehomed.) Once he's on my arm I can uncover my hand and he's fine. But I will definitely keep the eye issue in mind.


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