# New cockatiel owner looking for some tips



## pikachu (Apr 1, 2012)

Hi. Am totally new here.

I have my cockatiel (Pikachu) 3 weeks tomorrow. First time owning a cockatiel or any bird for that matter. He was untrained when I got him and very scared of hands, probably because the petshop guy just grabbed him. He's about 6 months old.
I've been spending a lot of time with him and he's getting used to me quite quick. He's a lovely little guy. Loves attention and being talked to.

After a week he started to eat from my hand. Last night and today I got him to step onto my finger by using millet and telling him to step up. He's learned that quite quick although he'll only do it on the floor of the cage and wont step onto my finger from a perch.

He still doesn't like to be touched at all and will run from my hand unless I have millet or any kind of food he likes.

His wings aren't clipped yet so I'm afraid of taking him out of the cage in case he decides to do a runner. I'm hoping to get that done soon so I can handle him a bit more outside the cage but I'm worried that having it done might traumatise him a bit and make him even more frightened.

Just wondering if there's anything else I should be doing now I've got him to step up? Do I just continue with the step up and he'll just get used to being handled more?
How do you get to the stage where you can pet them? Is there anything I can do to help him get used to that? I tried a few times to pet him while giving him the millet but he just backed away. I don't want to be scaring him off.
Any advice would be great.


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## stevechurch2222 (Sep 25, 2011)

Just work at his pace and things should go well for you.There is a sticky thread on training by L perry that is a good read and will help you out a lot.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Hi and welcome to the forum. http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=22073 this training sticky has helped quite a few people tame their birds. When you do get him clipped he will probably be mad at you for a couple days, but don't worry he'll eventually forgive you!


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## rainfeather (Jan 26, 2012)

Looks like your doing the right thing. And the link above will help you even more. Good luck with your training!


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## pikachu (Apr 1, 2012)

Thanks I'll have a look around.
He escaped on me the morning after I posted this thread. :wacko: I think he was trying to jump off the perch and just zoomed out past my shoulder. He landed and came over to me and seemed fine. I took him out twice after that. He seemed fine the second time and would perch on my finger and let me rub his belly.

The third time wasn't so good. He went a bit iffy on me and decided he wanted to keep away from me. Since then he's been ignoring me. He turns away from me and wont go for the millet anymore. He also wont step up. If I put my hand near him he lashes out. He still eats seed out of my hand sometimes but apart from that he keeps away and doesn't seem interested.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

My bird doesn't like hands. And it sounds like you are doing great. I constantly offer a tiny piece of millet whenever he did something good/cute and I did this everyday for a long time. I left his cage door open for him to explore too. He eagerly steps up now, and sits on my shoulder, but he doesn't let me touch him. Not all birds will be super cuddly.


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