# Trouble with bonding



## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

I'm trying to bond with my new bird and she acts like she doesn't want any thing to do with me. She is a young bird. I do try to stick my hand in lightly so she gets used to me. She isn't hand fed. I don't want to have to give up on trying to tame her.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If she's new and not tame it's going to take a while, so be patient with her. Continue with sticking your hand in her cage and just leave it there for a bit, eventually it wont scare her anymore. Then you can try to start picking her up and holding her and such, but just let her get used to you and see that you wont hurt her.


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

I shall try that


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## BLESSED'S_WINGS (Apr 14, 2010)

*Try to put her cage higher than your eyes or just sit beside her cage for a couple of minutes every day. Talk to her in a slow tone. Try not to look at her eyes. Eat when you are beside her. Eat corn bread and offer her some but in slow motion. Let her come to you.

The tiels's rule is that you can't accept them like dogs. They have to accept you as part of their flock. Be patience and you'll see the results. You'll notice the difference in a week. She won't be %100 tame in a week but she will be more sociable and less scary of you.

This method has worked for me! Even with Old breeding pair that I bought already old and %100 NOT TAME. *


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

I'll try each method, I would of course love to beable to eventually have both out at the same time in the future.


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## BLESSED'S_WINGS (Apr 14, 2010)

*If your other tiel is tame what will be great!

One thing that help me alot is that my lovies are always on me and the untamed tiels see that and realize that I'm safe and little by little they'll do the same.*


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## Jynxstorm (May 15, 2010)

I could always try that method Blessed, after all, my male's the sweetheart and majior flirt.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Tiels copy each other, so if she sees your other tiel on you she may start to copy him, its worth a try!


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## ShakeQPC (Jun 26, 2010)

Jynxstorm, how did it go? Did you get her tame? If so, what worked?


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## tielmom (Aug 4, 2010)

I am just reading this now and I agree that tiels seem to copy each other. What I do is carry around and make sure my Rambo sees me loving on my other 3 tiels. I will gradually walk by and talk to Rambo, but I would not try and pick him up for the longest time.
I did not want to make him feel threatened. It is just within the last couple of weeks that it seems he is wanting me for a change. He calls to me when I walk by his cage and if I am too busy (like in the middle of something) he will start whistling to get my attention. I will walk over and now he will step up on my forearm only...will BITE my finger. I talk to him just a couple of minutes and if he seems to want to go back to his cage, well I let him...no biggie, I want him to know that he is safe with me and I am not going to MAKE him do anything that he is not comfortable doing.
He sometimes will fly over to me if I am standing in front of his cage too now.
I have only had him since the end of June...I consider this pretty good seeing that he was found in the wild and was torn up pretty badly from other birds. He was scared to death of everything...He would sit at his food bowl and not move for hours.
He is just now starting to show an interest in a toy. I am trying everything to get him to want to play, but to no avail...SMALL STEPS.
Anyway I would love to hear how your tiel is doing and if you are able to hold him.


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## Charliechuckles (May 6, 2010)

I too am having trouble with bonding to my new Tiel, we have only had him for 2 weeks and he hisses and goes to bite me every time i go to give him fresh food and water .So now i have started giving him a treat after he of has let me put my hand in the cage and all i have done is spoken to him very calmly and just telling him what im doing and if he doesnt bite me i tell him thankyou for being nice and give him a treat has worked 3 times now!


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## popcrn (Sep 5, 2010)

I need HELP!!!
My cockatiel is afraid of me. If I go within three ft of his cage, He runs to a corner. What do I do???


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

popcrn...are you walking too fast towards the cage? How old is your tiel? Where did you buy it? How long have you had it?

These factors can be very helpful as to figuring out why your bird is so scared. One piece of advice is to walk slowly towards the cage, calmly and slowly talking to it, and try to slowly see what the bird's favorite treat is. My birds preferred millet, so I used that to coax them and get them to bond with me. If you feel this isn't working, just sit in the room and read a book, while quietly speaking to the bird. One other thing, they seem to prefer it when you speak in your high pitched voice.

Just try to get the bird to be used to you and your voice. Those are the biggest two steps that you need to take very SLOWLY...


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## popcrn (Sep 5, 2010)

HELP ME!!!

My cockatiel is probably really old, and freaks out if I go near him. I can keep my hand next to him for a while, but if I go too close, he runs.

Treats are out of the question, as unfortunately, he won't eat much other than birdseed which contains both sunflower seeds and millet. 

I am utterly and completely confused.
What do I do?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Take the sunflower seeds out of his seed mix and use them for treats! Assuming that he really loves the sunflower seeds (and most cockatiels do). He'll still have all the other seed in his cage so he won't go hungry, and you'll have something special to offer him.

Seed mixes contain loose millet. Millet spray is really the same seed, but for some reason most cockatiels think it's a hundred times better than the loose millet in the seed cup. So you can leave the loose millet in the cage and use spray millet for a treat.

BTW he really needs to have some vegetables in his diet. It may take a long time to persuade him to eat them but it's worth it. There are some tips on getting a bird to eat new foods on my website at http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.org/info/nutrition-conversion.html


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