# Will My Bird ever get used to me



## Kerry78 (May 25, 2009)

I know it's still early days ive had "Teallie" for a month,
he's approx 4 years old, anyway I think he's been caged up for this amount of time with the previous owner and I don't think she ever bonded with him to get used to hands etc, he does "Wolf Whistles" and dances..

With me he Hisses and bites anytime im near him changing water, food etc,
I recentley aquired a Youngster Female Tiel everything was perfect when I added her to his cage but now im noticing he will peck at her, he keeps rubbing his head against her and when she doesn't respond back he bites her is this normal?

I really would like to know if theres any hope of him coming open to me,
earlier I gave him his first Spray bath cos "Sandy" pooed on him lol
it was a nightmare I had to cover him in a towel and spray him that way, he hated it anyway he's almost dry in his cage with "Sandy" atm sulking by the looks of it,..

I would appreciate it someone could give me some advice please cos im beginning to think "Teallie" would be better of with someone who had a Avairy 

Ive had Sandy since Friday she isn't scared of my hand as much as "Teallie" is she even sat on my finger when I got them both out the cage for abit of a fly about, funny cos "Teallie" came out and she followed after him lol

anyway I hope someone will help me here


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## ownedbytiels (May 22, 2009)

my experiance with tiels, is especially if they were mishandled or not cared for it may take them years to get use to you. try little things, singing to them, reading to them, offering treats in your hand. it can be very hard to gain trust of a tiel. i know with Peanie, my 9 yr old still has a hard time trusting me. she will not come to me, and i respect that, some tiels are very fast at warming up, others may never warm up. 

just take your time and do not give up. work with the tiel and they will come around.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's normal to have a little pecking when one bird asks for head-preening and doesn't get it. Sometimes the bird being asked will peck the one who's asking as a "go away" signal, and sometimes the bird who's asking will peck as a "pay attention, I'm talking to you" signal.

Your chances of building trust depend a lot on how often you do things the bird likes versus how often you do things the bird doesn't like. You'll do better if you act safe and friendly almost all the time, and you'll do worse if you regularly frighten the bird.

I recommend that you not bathe your bird that way again unless there's something on him that's an actual health hazard. Being held in a towel is traumatic and being sprayed at the same time probably made it worse. You don't usually have to bathe birds at all to get another bird's poop off - they'll preen it off after it dries, and if a little stain is left behind it's no big deal. 

A lot of birds have to be taught to enjoy a mist bath. To get them used to it, you can lightly spritz the bird from above while it's inside a cage with a barred (not solid) top. If the bird starts looking frightened, stop and repeat the experiment some other time. You don't want to set off a panic. If the bird merely looks annoyed you can keep on going for a little while longer. It may take a few sessions, but most birds will eventually start to enjoy the spray.


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## Kerry78 (May 25, 2009)

Oh thanks for that 

I do not wanto to go anywhere with water again at "Teallie" but he did like the water mist before I picked him up so maybe I could do this once a fortnight just mist him over.

btw Teallie is getting used to me he doesn't bite me as hard anymore,
if i whistle he gets excited i think he puts his head to one side and opens his wings slightly 

Sandy my 6mth Tiel is very clingy to him she follows his everywhere and I think he's abit peeved of so he will peck her,

but I did catch them earlier preening each other it was so cute!!!

I will continue to interact with them to try and tame Teallie anyway,
Sandy is a little tame but she watches Teallie with me and trys out what he does!


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## saj (May 14, 2009)

The best thing I found in helping to tame them (I'm not sure if this is an aviary raised or hand reared bird), but every day, just leave your hand in the cage near the bird for a at least 5 minutes, which gets the bird used to you and your hands, over the next few days/ weeks slowly bring your hand closer to the bird, but never try and grab the bird, otherwise the trust you've been developing gets destroyed pretty quickly. Try offering the bird millet sprays after a few days when its no longer as scared of your hands and keep persevering at hand feeding it.

If you take it slow and easy the bird should warm up to you


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## Kerry78 (May 25, 2009)

Both of my birds eat Millet Sprays if I place them by them but ive not tried putting them on my hand yet, Teallie looks like he is getting used to my hand, he doesn't walk away from me if im near the cage neither


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## kevncaz (Mar 25, 2009)

Patience is the key , earning trust both ways , tielle has to trust that your not gonna eat him as your next meal and you also have to trust that tielle is not going to remove your fingers bite at a time .
Our homer and sparks are in the same cage and homer is just starting to get sparks to preen him , they often end up not wanting to and homer will try and peck sparks for not preening him , and also sparks will peck at homer to say not now ! and that causes homer to ....... peck out at sparks for pecking at him .
Homer was our first tiel , we got him in january from a pet shop and he will step up onto a perch reasonably well but is still a bit iffy about stepping uponto a finger , if he is taken away from his cage into a seperate room then he is loads more responsive , he is still shy of coming out of his cage but with patience and perseverance he is getting better , but sparks , she is very reluctant to come out her cage so this is hampering her training too ,when homer and sparks are out of the cage they kinda just sit around doing nothing ( we have a play gym and swings attached below there cage ) kinda just chillin lol , homer is very skittish when he is out of his cage and we are sure he could outrun usain bolt over the front room ! 
But i can be as stubborn as they both are !
All our birds love millet but havent yet tried millet training , none of the tiels as of yet are big fans of veg or toys , only the budgies have a fondness with toys so far !
Honey our newest tiel does adore her hard boiled mashed up egg though , 
keep trying different things till you find what tielle likes and keep trying with the training , it can be a slow and tortourous( is that even a word ?) process for you , but patiently gaining both way trust is the key !
OK thats our newbie input so if any experts out there want to put us right feel free cause we too are looking for as much help and advice too !! 

26/6 our primrose pied comes home !!


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