# need help- holding my bird



## .mpeg (Oct 6, 2010)

okay, this time i really need help. last time i asked about this i got no useful responses.

mister refuses to be held. he can step up and down, no issues, and loves riding around on our shoulders. but he hates being held and will nip you until you let go. this is a problem because a- it makes vet trips harder and b- he is an absolute nightmare to get back into his cage. while i'm holding him i give him a couple of bites of millet but i don't know if that's going to do the trick.

the other issue i'm having is that because of his reluctance to be held he rarely lets me give him scratches and frequently nips me for no reason. my partner has no issues in that department cos she's his favourite mum, but i am not so lucky. i NEED to sort this out so that my boy will stop nipping me and refusing me scratches.


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## RookieBlue (Jul 30, 2011)

If Mister favors your partner, I would suggest doing this:

Let your partner take him out of his cage and hold him, then have her hand him to you. Now, she needs to leave the room, or at least give you guys some space. Chances are he's bonded to her (chosen her as a mate, rather then bonding as buddies) so you're going to want to try and distance that a little, for now. Also, make sure she doesn't pet his back or anywhere other than his head/cheeks/neck. (Petting a birds back can cause them to uh...get... "excited".)

Let him just sit there at first. Praise him for being such a good boy when he sits there without biting you. Shake your finger a little when he bites to throw him off balance and say "gentle" or "no".

Once you two have successfully mastered him sitting on your finger without nipping, have him used to you bringing your other hand near him. Praise/reward him each time you can do it without being bit.

Next; when he's used to your other hand being near his face and body altogether, slowly bring it closer to his cheek. When he turns to bite, keep your finger there so he can. (Pulling back shows he's getting the reaction he wants, he'll continue to bite.) After he's bit once or twice, gently pull your finger back and say "no, gentle." and the proceed to try again after a minute or two. Eventually he will become used to your hand being near him and such and you can give him scritches and cuddles.

Remember to ALWAYS give positive reinforcement, and when training him "no, gentle" make sure it's not in an outrageous, angry, loud voice. Birds love drama, he'll continue to bite. Just say it calm and firm.

As I said before, though, he's bonded to your partner and hasn't bonded with you yet - you basically just need to rework through the steps of bonding/taming with him, the same as you (probably) did when you first got him.


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## Set (Mar 14, 2011)

It's also important to remember that birds are prey animals. Being restricted in any way is going to kick in their fight/flight instinct, and since they cannot fly, they will fight. I've never had a bird that's comfortable being restrained by anyone but it's chosen mate (me for Cadaver, my mum for Henry) and even then it's not a natural thing to happen.

So it will take a lot of time and effort to gain that amount of trust from him.


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## luckybag1 (Aug 27, 2011)

Hi there, this may sound a bit daft but with both of my tiels i would talk to them in a soft voice. I'd talk to them for a couple of minutes and open the cage door continueing talking. Put my finger in the cage get one out and go lie on the sofa and put one on my babies on my chest and start to stroke his head. Just above the eye or where there ears are. After doing this for a little while i was able to actually lie on the sofa with both birds cuddled into my face. I am the main mummy but both my birds love my dad too after he adopted this way too. Sometimes tiels will bond to one person only, but uf you really invest a lot of patience and time in your tiel you may see the benefits. Let me know how you get on please


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## NardiB (Jun 16, 2011)

if your bird dont goes in the cage , make him get tired and dont give him food. 
take a millet or whatever and put it in the cage but make sure he sees the food.
he will be hungry and go in cage  thats what i did with mine


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