# Advice needed on taming a 3 year old tiel



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

My Elvis is 3 years old and he is not tame. Ever since he was a baby he lived in a cage and was never given the opportunity or the incentive to come out. His world is inside the cage. He absolutely loves human interaction and is a very happy bird: he loves to whistle and gets very happy when we talk to him. However, he is terrified of hands. Now that I have him, I am trying to tame him. After 1 month of trying I have succeeded him feeding him millet spray with my hand inside the cage, but he will not take seeds or any other food from my hand, inside the cage or through the cage bars. I also succeeded in teaching him how to step up on a birdie ladder, but he is afraid of that too. I usually take him with the ladder and place him on top of his cage so he can get used to coming out. I don't know what else to do to to tame him. Seems like I have reached a wall because he stopped making progress. Any ideas? (Elvis is not an aggressive bird, and his wings are clipped).


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

I think you are doing well with Elvis. A month is really not that much time in taming a bird that has not been used to coming out of the cage for so long. I would keep doing what you are doing. My guess is that you are on a plateau, rather than a wall. Since he shows signs of liking human company, I think he will warm up over time.

The stickies on this site are very good.

I have had a cockatiel since November. She was in a cage alone in a pet shop. She was only about four months old. She had been in a cage by herself for about two months and was terrified of me when I first brought her home. I would say that pace of her taming over the first month is about what you describe. She is still afraid of hands, but will perch on my forearm if there is a treat forthcoming (I use sunflower seeds, but millet also works). I expect we will make more progress in the months ahead.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

It sound like you're doing well. It just takes time and patience.  Also, some tiels don't like stepping up on fingers- I've found much more success with having my tiel step up on my hand being flat. And here is a thread with some good advice. 
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=33824


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

I have an Elvis too who has also been difficult to tame. He steps up just fine, but he's aggressive and bites so hard it breaks the skin -- he even attacked the cat once!

The stickies will help, and I agree, some tiels just do not like fingers. My other tiel Georgia is terrified of them. Some people say they put on a mitten or pull their sleeve over their hand to disguise it. Try that sort of thing!

Does your Elvis try to frantically get back into the cage when you take him out, or is he OK being out of/away from the cage?


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## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I made tons of progress with Elvis in the past few days. He stepped up on my finger! I bribed him with a millet spray and so far he has stepped up on my finger 4 times! He also finally decided to come out of the cage on his own! He never goes too far, though. He goes out, looks around, takes everything in, and then rushes back into the cage. I think that's great progress and I'm so happy! He still won't eat seeds from my hand, though. Funny that he will step up but refuses to take seeds from me!


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## Pepper-oni (Dec 28, 2013)

*slowly moving.*

I'm glad to hear you are making progress. My cockatiel, Pepper, is VERY smart. Like you I have tried to use millet to get her to step up onto my fingers but does not like to. Although she has done it a couple of times, she has figured out that she can go around my hand to get to the millet. LOL!!!! When I pull it back she screams. How did you do it? Maybe I am doing it all wrong. I have had her for two months now and she still has the screaming issues. She does come out on her own, she will eat from my hand. She is so adorable, I just can't wait until I am able to pet her.


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

Yay! That's great.
I have a tiel that's just the opposite: she will take seeds from my hand, but won't step up.


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## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Pepper-oni said:


> I'm glad to hear you are making progress. My cockatiel, Pepper, is VERY smart. Like you I have tried to use millet to get her to step up onto my fingers but does not like to. Although she has done it a couple of times, she has figured out that she can go around my hand to get to the millet. LOL!!!! When I pull it back she screams. How did you do it? Maybe I am doing it all wrong. I have had her for two months now and she still has the screaming issues. She does come out on her own, she will eat from my hand. She is so adorable, I just can't wait until I am able to pet her.


Sounds like Pepper is very smart indeed! What I do is:
I only give Elvis millet spray during training. That way he associates delicious millet with interaction with me. Since he is still scared to be out of the cage, I train him inside his cage. He stands on a perch, and I give him the millet with my left hand. I let him eat for about 1 minute, then I put my right hand inside the cage, stick out my index finger, and slowly move it closer to him until it reaches the tip of the millet spray that he's eating. Then I start moving the millet away from him so that my index finger stands between him and the millet. I move the millet away slowly until he can't reach it anymore, and eventually he has to step up on my finger to get to the millet. 

Initially he was very scared to have my finger so close to his chest but after many tries he is finally comfortable with it and has started to step up. I do this everyday. Long process! I think his problem is that he spent his whole life inside a cage away from humans so he finds this new lifestyle strange.


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