# Embarrassing Admission.



## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi, so.

I'm a 40 year old man with a 13 week old cockatiel. I am going to openly admit that I am hesitant to try the step up training as I'm apprehensive of being bitten. 

There. I said it.

Pip has been with us for 3.5 days. He is a pretty chill little guy, and was raised by a breeder in a small store who handled his tiles lovingly and with confidence. In fact, I carried Pip about on my finger in the store and so did my wife and kids.

But now that he's home, it's different. He's clearly still adjusting, but he will eat a small clipping of millet out of my fingers, and take a large seed from me as well. But he hasn't really shown much "interest" in me yet, even though I sit with him a lot and talk and sing to him, etc. He seems pretty content watching everything perched on his water dish (where he will stay for ages) with a semi alert crest.

It seems pretty clear to me that it is time to start trying to train hime to step up. But danged if I'm not worried about that little beak, as I have seen him take a good lunge or two at things. My imagination can't but help imagine what that lunge would have felt like coming at my outstretched finger. Even though I held him easily at the bird shop?

So how can I tell when it is indeed time to start trying the step ups, and how can I get over being apprehensive about the a sharp little beak being buried in my finger?


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## Amz (Apr 10, 2013)

Don't start the training until you're both ready.

But I don't think you should worry too much. I don't think tiels have the capacity to draw blood unless they try really, really hard  I'm a 16 year old girl and I can handle Rocko's beak just fine. Their bark is much worse than their bite.

And tiels are super chill birds so they don't get upset about _too_ much.


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

Don't worry it's rare that their bites can draw blood. I've only had blood drawn by Kiwi one time, and that was when she almost fell off my hand and grabbed my thumb for extra assistance. Their bites are more like pinches and the lunges are just like open-beaked taps. And that is coming from my cockatiel who had a hand phobia. Actually as they get more comfortable with you they will play with your face and hands more and that's when you need to worry about them pinching too hard! 

Birds are very nervous when they first get home because they're not in their comfort zone anymore and it can take a week to a few months depending on how much interaction.
I find that once you start the step up training things start to get much easier. It helps to let them walk around on the ground and explore the area (just follow them and keep them from eating any wires or furniture or other things on the floor; also make sure windows and doors are closed). That is a good way to build trust, that and having them on your shoulder. Having you at eye level or lower makes you seem less scary to them. I read for bird body language having your head tilted to the side rather than staring straight at them also makes you much less of a threat. Instead of looking like you're going to attack them you look like you want to play. Whistling bird songs and talking are also great trust builders.

What I did with Kiwi was all of the above everyday for a week during and after step up training. And for step up training... I put millet on your hands and once they start eating it pull it back a little bit until they have to place at least one foot on your hand. That physical contact is a good trust builder. Eventually after 2-4 days you can move the millet back all the way and the bird will hopefully jump up into the palm of your hand. At that point stay very still and let them go back, repeat, then eventually move your hand out of the cage slowly. If they fly, let them explore unless it's a dangerous area. Just don't rush to get them back in their cage, it is a trust killer.

And Amz is right to take it at both of your own paces though!!


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## Mezza (Feb 19, 2013)

Lol! I nearly spat my lunch on my screen laughing. That was funny. :rofl:

You'll be fine. Skiddles can nip and draw blood...but it only hurts for a minute (she gets my nose when she gets the grumps on). 

Take your time with Pip...you'll do great. Like the others said...they are pretty chilled balls of feathers.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Cockatiels mostly lunge and peck in a warning manner that doesn't hurt. It's unlikely he'd actually bite you hard unless you were trying to restrain him or giving him no choice. But basically the best way for you to get over your fear is to just do it anyway and let yourself experience being pecked a few times to realize it's not that bad.


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Amz said:


> I'm a 16 year old girl and I can handle Rocko's beak just fine.


And I'm a 15 year old girl  But don't stress. It isn't something to be embarrassed about. Cockatiels are known to be gentle, but what scares a lot of beginning birders is they love to lunge. Lunging is just their way of testing their limits and sometimes showing they are scared. And biting can be used as their way of saying "No, I don't like that" or sometimes some people mistake it for biting, but when they try to step up, they will go beak open 1st, then feet. That is their way of testing the stability of the perch (Or your finger). Beaker has never bitten me, but he does lunge and hiss, which is also totally normal tiel behavior. They are great little goofballs, but don't start until you feel comfortable with him. (By the way, tielies are actually, really, truly gentle birds, but honestly, I was never scared and just jumped in and sometimes, that's just what you have to do, but never until you're ready. When you're ready it just flows. Once you feel comfortable with your bird, you can handle any, from budgie to macaw)


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## Superstar (Dec 1, 2010)

Don't worry about the biting  Like everyone else has said, it looks worse than what it actually is. and also, if he goes to bite you and you pull away, he could interpret that as a game or a good way to get you to go away, so just let him do his thing. The biting should go away as he gets more used to you. 

As for training, i go about mine a slightly different way. I never try to get them to step up on me before i let them out of their cage. With all of my birds, I opened the cage and let them come out freely right away. first few days they never even bother to come out(except Lou, but he's from a different breed I swear with his openness to people lol). But eventually, they start to venture out of the cage, and when they are on top of the cage, that is when i start the step up training. It just seems to work out so much better for me because they are a lot less...umm, territorial? i guess...than when they are inside the cage. plus, my birds and I have a mutual agreement. I NEVER reach for them when they are inside the cage; that is their sanctuary. when they come out is when i feel they want to play  But like i said, that just seemed to work for me and i'm not saying it will work for everyone else. I think my babies were just exceptionally tolerant of me lol!

As for Lou, He was a handfed baby i found while browsing the local pet store. I was just looking, and he ran straight up to me when i came to his cage. It was love at first sight and I took him instantly! I took him home, got a cage set up (it was such an impulse buy i didnt even have a cage ready lol), and let him inside. within a few hours he was hanging on the door, so I opened it just to see what he would do. He came right out and climbed on me as if we were together for years! there was absolutely no training, no taming, no nothing I had to do with him. the weirdest part was when he was still new, he wouldn't eat anything unless i was holding it! Lou is pretty much the complete opposite of any other bird i came across and I feel fate brought us together :angel:


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I beat you all so far, I've had my Sunnyman since I was 5 and did just fine with his beak even then.  They really are very gentle unless provoked or scared.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Baby birds might hiss, lunge, and even deliver a little peck when they're nervous, but it's mostly bluff and they normally don't bite hard unless they're absolutely terrified (as in thinking that you're a predator who's about to eat them). As long as you don't scare him too badly you shouldn't have any problems. Be gentle, keep on offering food in your hand for him to nibble, and gradually adjust the position of the food so he has to put a foot or two on your hand to reach it. 

He will eventually start thinking that you're his flockmate, and he'll be your best buddy then. It may take a few weeks for things to reach that point, but feeding him from your hand is an excellent bonding technique with a handfed baby. From the bird's point of view it's like having a parent there to take care of them, which comforts them and makes them feel safe.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

As the others have said, their bites are not that bad if you are treating them right. It's when you forcefully restrain them or grab them the wrong way that they mean business -- usually the lunging/nipping is all for show and they don't really mean to hurt you.


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## Sugars Mum (Jul 26, 2013)

I'm more scared of my budgie hen's bites... Now she can draw blood! 

'tiels seem to know the boundaries on how hard to bite.. I've seen some untames in the pet shop and they just bite hard enough to say i'm not happy but it didn't really hurt...


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

Only Zero ever drew blood from me when moving him from one cage to another while cleaning the day after I got him. But cockatiel bites are nothing compared to Connar my sun conure he drew blood the day I got him and I was wearing a protective glove! Hate to imagine a Macaw bite. That said Zero is kindof the odd one out, cockatiels generally do not bite and when they do it isn't hard.


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I used to have budgies, their bite was a lot more fierce than my cockatiels.


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

eduardo said:


> I used to have budgies, their bite was a lot more fierce than my cockatiels.


I own four budgies myself, their bite is really annoying because they don't really seem to know when to stop biting. They bite sometimes when there is no threat you're not doing anything and everything is fine. I have broke mine of biting by simply ignoring the bites and rewarding them when they don't. But I have never had a budgie draw blood.


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Excellent! Thanks for the reassurance and the great suggestions.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I read an interesting article once that said in the wild, cockatiels don't bite each other. They know their boundaries and give warning lunges but don't bite. Not sure if that's accurate but that's what the article said. So I think a cockatiel really has to feel threatened, provoked, etc. to actually "bite". Now my tiel will "beak" me when he wants me to stop doing something but he has never actually bitten me. I think you'll be fine.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Some cockatiels will learn to bite hard as their first warning if you annoy them frequently and never back off from the fake-bite warning. You don't have to back off from EVERY warning (the other birds certainly don't) but if you respect their boundaries most of the time they won't think that biting hard is the only way to make you stop bothering them. 

Babies are more submissive than adults and usually don't fight back when an adult gets aggressive with them. This carries over into their behavior with humans too.


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## cknauf (Aug 27, 2012)

Even a _hard_ bite from a cockatiel isn't too bad. JJ was (probably) grabbed in his previous home and while he's usually okay with my hands now, he does have fits every so often where he'll bite, often unexpectedly as I haven't yet learned what triggers these fits. JJ is a very aggressive bird who bites hard, and yet his bites can _maybe_ draw a little trickle of blood if he bites in a soft area.

My parrotlets (teensy little sparrow-sized birds!), on the other hand, draw blood when they're being _nice_. I have lovely welts all over my hands from their "gentle" attempts at preening.



Darkel777 said:


> Hate to imagine a Macaw bite.


A Macaw or similar-sized birds can bite a finger off. One of the many reasons that I will stick to pint-sized birds!


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## WhiteCarnation (Jul 14, 2013)

Sugars Mum said:


> I'm more scared of my budgie hen's bites... Now she can draw blood!


Having experienced both, i can agree. Cockatiel's bites don't really hurt too much, it's like a pinch. 

Jub has only drawn blood once and it was because i was pushing him out of his comfort zone, and even then it was just a little dot of blood (the size of a pinhead). Right after he bit me he went back to normal asking for scratches, so he calmed down really fast.


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

cknauf said:


> A Macaw or similar-sized birds can bite a finger off. One of the many reasons that I will stick to pint-sized birds!


I was bit by a greenwing macaw for scratching him in the wrong spot. I didn't really react, but flinch a bit. Luckily, that was just a warning bite. He only left a dent for a week. I can take a conure and lory size bite, but anything bigger, I am wary around. And parrotlets have a the beak strength of like a conure or something! Geez, their bites can hurt!


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## Superstar (Dec 1, 2010)

cknauf said:


> A Macaw or similar-sized birds can bite a finger off. One of the many reasons that I will stick to pint-sized birds!


I used to work in a pet store with many different breeds of birds that I had to constantly handle. let me tell you it is NOT fun being bit daily by a macaw or a cockatoo! I really think the worst was the african grey parrots. they would latch on my hands when i would try to get them off the top of their cages and then would just start grinding with their beaks. Thank goodness i have all of my fingers still


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Yowza! Honestly, I've never been interested in the bigger birds, they always look like they are giving me the evil eye, just waiting for me to get near enough to proudly relieve me of one of my fingers...

Pip is still nippy, and hasn't shown any real interest in cooperating with a step up yet. I'm slightly concerned that maybe I'm taking it TOO slow, as he's been with us for almost a week now and has still not been out of his cage. I leave his front door open often (supervised of course) as well as the top of his cage and he's shown very little interest in exploring outside of it. This is all somewhat surprising since he was hand raised and taken out of his cage quote often in the bird store.

Ah, the adventure of a new bird owner.

Sure am glad I found this forum!


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