# cockatiel scared after 6 months, getting worse every day :(



## vlade (May 30, 2019)

Hei everyone!

Another typical problem for a newbie like me. I really wanted a pet bird and after some research, my gf bought me a cockatiel since everyone says they are very friendly and social and a good bird for someone with little to no experience.

She got it from a petshop, I don't think he was ever hand fed. Very quiet and still the first days, he suddenly started acted very scared once in a while , flapping his wings and hitting the cage walls while screaming over and over again. I was really scared too, didn't know what to do, and finally after some research I got him a bigger cage and this behavior stopped. He got out of his cage a couple of times ( i left the door open), just flew around hitting some walls and then sitting on the floor and not moving or anything for HOURS. I had to take him with a towel and put him back.

I started working with him like i read online, talking to him, getting him used to my hand - and in less than a month he was eating from my hand, and in less then two he was stepping up on my finger. I was delighted.

But since then, I took of the cage top and just allow him to exit and explore, thinking that this would do him good and he would begin to trust me more. But his attitude changed all of a sudden. He never goes out on his own, even though he can fly whenever he wants. Just sits on his perch , struts around , doesn't want to perch on my finger when I come next to him, and every day he seems to be hissing more and more at me, even when I'm meters away. I can sometimes get him to step up when i feed him millet, but when i take the food away he just becomes scared and jumps back onto his perch.

I would accept a status quo for awhile , but I really feel this is regressing and I don't know what to do. I am really friendly around him and try to make him trust me, but it seems to be going backwards.

Can anyone advice me? I would really appreciate any advice. Is it just time he needs (even though time has a negative effect for the last 2 months)?

THANKS!


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## PinkysMom (Oct 2, 2018)

Young birds get hormonal this time of year, they want to breed. I am seeing the pattern of "bird relationship regression" in a lot of posts lately, and it correlates exactly with the onset of breeding season! These upheavals seem to point to "it's full spring, I want to find a mate." It makes birds of both sexes less friendly and more internally focused. Just my opinion, but the pattern fits. I think your relationship with your bird is not damaged because you did something wrong. I think your feathered friend is going through a period of unrest due to mating instinct. Read about it online and see if it meets the description of what is going on with your young bird. It will settle down in a couple months, but you need to know what is going on with him. It's quite possibly birdie puberty! Good luck with your little one. Birds are lovely but they require quite a bit of understanding on our parts. I am learning new things all the time about them...


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