# parent or hand reared



## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Everyone, 

I have been thinking on a second Tiel as I am enjoying my first so much, I have totally caught the Tiel bug.

My current bird was hand reared although I wouldn’t say she was particularly friendly, it was more the fact that she had been clipped and couldn’t get away, although now we have a good relationship.

I have seen a baby cockatiel I really like today, although it hasn’t been hand reared, it was parent raised, although it didn’t seem to wild, and its wings were not clipped.

I was wondering if I give it time and patience to tame it, is it likely to never really be as tame as my current bird that was hand reared, or is being parent reared unlikely to have an effect on how friendly it can be if I put the time in?

Hope this makes sense, lol

Jenny


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

People have different opinions on this.. 

I personally think it depends on the age. I believe hand reared birds have a tendancy to be much friendlier birds in general, but with enough time and patience some people do make parent raised birds great pets. I think the best bet is with a parent raised bird that has still been handled from a super young age (ie, still in the nest), but thats not always possible.

Do you know how old the little guy is? Some people have what it takes to take on parent raised birds with great sucess, but I know that it would be pushing my limits, hence why all mine are hand raised


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Cheekyboy,

Thanks for the advice, I think the bird would have been around 8 weeks old going by appearance.

Jenny


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

A baby Cockatiel that's been handled while STILL in the nest and being parent-raised can be tame just as can a baby Cockatiel that's been taken from the nest, hand-fed and hand-raised by the breeder.

With that said, with time and patience, I think it's very possible to tame it down, it would just be like handling a Cockatiel that's being parent-raised while still in the nest. With time put into it, they'll be easy to tame. 

*SOME* people these days don't buy parent-raised Cockatiels due to the fact that.. _they're too hard to tame_ which is a load of bull. Put enough effort in, and you will find they're generally tamed down the same, and can be a great companion, just like a hand-raised baby Cockatiel.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Renae,

Thank you for the advice, I am certainly prepared to put the time in and have the patience, my Tira even thou was claimed to be hand reared wasn’t particularly friendly in the beginning, I certainly didn’t go about things the right way in the beginning, but I think I would be more prepared this time.

One of the reasons the parent raised chicks appealed to me was because they didn’t have that awful one wing clip which leaves the bird open to injury, so if I did buy that bird to tame down I think maybe giving it a even wing clip just so it couldn’t fly of all round the house while going through taming could be a big help, do you think this would be a good idea to help tame the bird down? Of course I would leave it with the ability to glide safely to the ground.

Jenny


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Time is the biggest thing - of course as well as patience, but time is big, a lot of people get a 'tiel and let it out the first day thinking they can handle it then and there, but this isn't always the case.

A lot of breeders won't clip birds if they are outside in an aviary, whereas if they're inside, they will. The one clip is awful, one of my 'tiels, Shiro, had one of his wings pretty much butchered, it was horrible, and he can't fly now. 

It's best (especially with a new baby that's not tame) to have their wings clipped when you get them, it makes training/taming a lot easier because they're more dependent on you.

I also forgot to add.. Tosca, who I've had for over 4ish weeks, is a parent-raised baby, I've been working with him/her each day for awhile, it hasn't been easy but we're getting there, so far, I can get him/her to eat out of my hand, which is a big step, considering hands was something s/he was really fearful of at first.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Reneae,

Thank you again for your advise, well I have bought the bird today, after thinking about it overnight and this morning, I looked at a few hand reared ones in other stores and to be honest they ran away from me anyway, then I went back and looked at the bird I liked again and have bought him, I have already clipped the wings, I took 4 from each side, decided better to get and clip the wings now before he/she settles a bit and then pull him/her out to clip.

How long do you think I should leave the bird to settle before trying to start some form of taming, I hope you don’t mind me asking so many questions but you have such a big flock you must be so clued up on what you are doing, and I want to get this right and not take any steps back like I did with Tira, I know this is going to require patience, I have Smudge in the study with me now settling in the new cage I bought and is whistling to me already as I am typing and watching me, lol.

I am going to call him/her Smudge, I have no idea what colour Smudge is but smudge is a white and grey pied type colour, I will have to post a picture once smudge as settled and smoothed his feathers out, looks a little messy at the moment, lol:tiel3:

Jenny


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

> *SOME* people these days don't buy parent-raised Cockatiels due to the fact that.. they're too hard to tame which is a load of bull. Put enough effort in, and you will find they're generally tamed down the same, and can be a great companion, just like a hand-raised baby Cockatiel.


'

I hope you dont think I was implying this.. I dont have anything against parent raised birds, I just knew that in my situation I would not have the time or patience to tame a parent raised bird 

Jenny: Congradulations on Smudge!  Cant wait to see some photos!


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## spraymillet (Mar 2, 2010)

Good luck with the new baby! Pictures if you haven't yet!! My tiel was parent raised and I got her at two months. She prefers my budgies, and "moved in" with them! She's a work in progress, but I really don't mind not having a cuddly bird off the bat. I don't mind using patience. My boyfriend's cat hated me for a year, and now it can't get enough of cuddling with me, you can probably win your baby tiel over with time.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Hehe, I thought you would go and get the baby! Congrats, Smudge is an adorable name - and it's great you clipped him/her - you'll find the process a lot easier when you start. 

Smudge will need a bit of time to settle in, some can settle in within a few days, some can take a week or so, depends on the bird when it all comes down to it. You can sit by the cage 1-2 times a day, get him used to you, talk to him/her quietly and see how you go doing that. Also, put Smudge in a room where a lot of activity is going on, that way s/he won't feel left out and will help him/her adjust.

If Smudge starts showing a lot of interest (i.e - coming close to you, sitting close by, or at the cage door) you can try give him/her some millet, just go very slowly because s/he might get frightened really easily.

Once you have him/her adjusted and you're able to give millet comfortably, open the cage door, and let Smudge come out, see if you can once again feed millet while in the cage (before s/he comes out if s/he does) and then while s/he's out of the cage, continue doing this, it will show him/her hands are nothing to be scared of. 

There's a lot more information here: http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-beh...-bird-behavior/taming-budgies-cockatiels.aspx




cheekyboy said:


> '
> 
> I hope you dont think I was implying this.. I dont have anything against parent raised birds, I just knew that in my situation I would not have the time or patience to tame a parent raised bird
> 
> Jenny: Congradulations on Smudge!  Cant wait to see some photos!


Not at all. I was just mentioning this in general.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

Renae, thank you for your advise, don’t worry I have him in a busy home area the study, I am no the computer a lot, so is a good place for him to get used to me gradually but without the noise images from the TV and the dogs, although he can hear all theses things, I think the study is the best place at the moment, keeping in mind I think this is a totally alien environment for him, so when he does finally move into the family area, he will at least be used to the noises.

Well at first after the shock and being very quiet he then went a bit crazy jumping all over the bars and biting them, I then covered the cage over with a towel leaving only the front area open, this seemed to settle him down today he as been in the corner at the back on the floor, and just this afternoon he seems to be coming out of his shell a bit, he’s up on the perches he’s been eating even had some Buk Choy which is good, and been playing with his toy a bit this afternoon too, so looking a bit happier, anyway I have managed to get a few pictures, opened the door and took the shots form the door, the one in the corner is a good photo for colour there was more light, but up on the perch you can see his markings although it is a little dark, of course I didn’t have the flash turned on, on the camera, I think that would have really freaked him out, lol, he’s so pretty I just loved him the moment I saw him, lol here are the pictures and if anyone knows what his mutation his please let me know, lol

















Jenny


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

Oh wowies!!!  He is such a sweety! I love his colouring.. its gorgeous! He sure does look like a Smudge to me!


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## elaichri (Mar 9, 2010)

how do you clip the wings?
is it easy?
my cockatiel is being hand reared
but being new to cockatiels and really wanting this babyto bond with me and be my companion i will be on this site a lot getting any tips i can


Jenny10 said:


> Hi Reneae,
> 
> Thank you again for your advise, well I have bought the bird today, after thinking about it overnight and this morning, I looked at a few hand reared ones in other stores and to be honest they ran away from me anyway, then I went back and looked at the bird I liked again and have bought him, I have already clipped the wings, I took 4 from each side, decided better to get and clip the wings now before he/she settles a bit and then pull him/her out to clip.
> 
> ...


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi, I had never clipped a bird’s wing but found it pretty straight forward, you will need someone to help you, my Hubby held the bird in a towel while I did the clip it takes a matter of minutes, and I strongly recommend clipping both wings so the bird isn’t unbalanced.

If you go into the Cockatiel articles section you will find a section on wing clipping in there, it tells you what you need to do, I took off 4 flight feathers from each wing, I may need to take another one from each wing, but I wont really know that until I can see him try to attempt to fly over a distance and that’s something that wont happen until I can let him out, better to take off to little than to much.

Jenny


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Smudge is a very pretty white faced pied 




elaichri said:


> how do you clip the wings?
> is it easy?
> my cockatiel is being hand reared
> but being new to cockatiels and really wanting this babyto bond with me and be my companion i will be on this site a lot getting any tips i can


I would recommend having the breeder or an avain vet clip your tiels wings. I still have Spike's breeder clip his wings if needed or Spike does it himself


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks spike, I thought he was a pied but not sure if he would come under heavy or light pied, I thought a white face pied would have to have a all white face?

Jenny


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

I am so pleased I just had to post but a little shocked, Smudge has just been over to the bars and took some millet from me through the bars, I guess I got lucky with a really bold bird.

The future is looking great for us:clap::clap::clap:

Jenny


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## elaichri (Mar 9, 2010)

Smudge is lovely


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

Jenny10 said:


> Thanks spike, I thought he was a pied but not sure if he would come under heavy or light pied, I thought a white face pied would have to have a all white face?
> 
> Jenny


The whiteface gene is basically a gene that eliminates the yellow and orange colour pigments in the feathers. Combined with a pied gene (which breaks up the coloured pigments in the body), the bird doesnt have to appear to have an actual white face  Like your little fellow. The pied gene disrupts the normal placement of a proper 'white face', whilst the whiteface gene eliminates the yellow/orange pigments.

Smudge would come under a light pied (I *think*). Because the white feathers are the effect of the pied gene, not the grey feathers  So the area's of Smudge that are white are the area's that are a consequence of the pied factor. Knowing this, Smudge seems to be mainly grey with only small areas of white, making him a light pied. 

That was a mouthful, I'm not sure if it will be easy to understand or not :blink:


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

Thanks Cheekyboy, I think I understand what you are saying thanks for that and it is good to know what mutation he is.

Just wondering, if the underneath tail feathers are currently white with black/grey barring, well I am thinking he is a he, if he is will that mean the underneath tail feathers are likely to lose that barring and be white or will they come through a solid grey colour, I ask because the top feathers of the tail are white so curious.

Jenny


Jenny


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## spraymillet (Mar 2, 2010)

Smudge is SOOOOOO cute! Definitely looks like a baby! I'm in love.

I had to re-trim my cockatiel's wings when I got her because they were uneven and one feather got completely missed during her original trim- it wasn't so hard, I reclipped my budgies wings at the same time. Gently held one side of their body completely wrapped in a soft towel, and made a little exit in the towel to gently pull the wing out to clip it. They all reacted fine. I miss my budgies being able to fly, they're clowns, but I needed to retrain them and I wanted the tiel to have the same level of independence.


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