# General tips for taming a much older cage-bound tiel



## lighty (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi all, first time here. A few months ago I started living in a house with a cockatiel about 10-15 years old. She is very sweet and likes to chat with you through her cage, but to my knowledge has NEVER been handled or tamed. I (stupidly) tricked her out of her cage around a month or so ago by opening the door while she was perched on it. This lead to a 3 hour event of her flying around the room while I tried to get her back in the cage. I did manage to get her to eat out of my hand and get her back without towling, though I realize this was an incredibly dumb thing to do since she was far from ready. I bought a treat stick a few weeks ago and through persistence have gotten her to eat from it when I reach my hand into the cage. She will even come to the front of the cage to get it now. Of course she is still extremely afraid of hands/fingers/anything that moves. I'm hoping for some general tips on how to get her less afraid and become willing to step up and come out of her cage. Is that even a possibility with a cockatiel cage-bound for so long? The problem is that I don't have a lot of free time to devote as I have a job with long hours. Maybe 15-30 min a day. Is this enough?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?p=314774#post314774

helpful for aggressive or very timid birds 


tiels should generally have a minimum of 2 hours out of the cage


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I have a 16 year old rehomed tiel who I don't believe had much out of the cage time before coming to live with us. I think with an older tiel you have to take things slow and work at their pace. Try the taming techniques on here. They should help. We've had our tiel now for about a year and he is a complete love bug and loves to spend time with us out of the cage. It sounds like your tiel already wants to spend time with you but just isn't quite sure how to go about being out yet. But it's not too late for her to learn.


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## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

*Hi Try this.....

B.J's. BIRDS WITH A FEAR OF HANDS 

These birds panic & flutter frantically about in the cage at the mere sight of a hand entering their cage. 
To prevent further upset the preferred type of both water & seed containers should be of the tube type, which can be refilled without opening the cage door. In the cage provide a basic seed mix, water, iodine block & 
cuttlebone. 
All the other foods birds enjoy, ie, fruit, veg, hard boiled egg, nuts, cake, biscuit etc, are used as treat foods. 
The birds should be fed the treat foods in small portions through the bars of the cage, with the aid a pair of tweezers or chopsticks to protect your fingers. 
Change the type of treat at each feed so your bird gets a good mix every day. The smaller the treat portions, the more often the treat feed visits & your arrival, means nice things to eat. 
As the bird gets used to being fed treats this way, very gradually over the next few days. 
Move your fingers closer to the treat food as you slowly build up a bond of trust between you.
If your bird shies away remove the treat food until he settle down & move your fingers further back up the tweezers, away from the food before you re-offer the treat......Do this as many times as it takes. 
Don't allow yourself to dislike, get angry, impatient or even mildly annoyed with your bird will sense this & will react accordingly. If for any reason you can't approach your bird in a happy confident optimistic manner. Then it would be better if you took a break. 
Expect a few set backs, birds like people, have good & bad days. Don't be in a hurry, only when your bird is happy to eat from your fingertips through the bars for several days, are you both ready to move on to the next step..B.J.
*


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## rashid100 (Oct 3, 2012)

all u need is hand trust..millet feeding works


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