# "Oh no! It's ....!" (things your tiel dislikes/fears)



## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

(If this topic is placed in the wrong section, or not appropriate for the boards, please let me know and I can remove it!)

They had a topic like this over at the talk parrotlets boards and it was a lot of fun reading all the responses. Our fids can have the strangest dislikes, be it certain colours, parts of our bodies, random items....

*What are things your cockatiel would 'refuse to touch with a ten foot pole'? 
*
I'll start by giving an example.

Puck is really weirded out by nail polish! He tries to pick it off my nails, then looks at it in horror when it doesn't come off.
In all fairness, he's never seen me wear the stuff on my nails until I put it on for Christmas. I'm not a regular wearer of nail polish anyway, since I will need to remove it for any pet-related work (I am currently on an internship at a shelter) for hygiene reasons.


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## gottogo (May 2, 2012)

Dusters, like this.


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## Featherstone (Dec 27, 2016)

Lore said:


> Puck is really weirded out by nail polish! He tries to pick it off my nails, then looks at it in horror when it doesn't come off.
> In all fairness, he's never seen me wear the stuff on my nails until I put it on for Christmas. I'm not a regular wearer of nail polish anyway, since I will need to remove it for any pet-related work (I am currently on an internship at a shelter) for hygiene reasons.


Both of my birds freak out at nail polish too, except for french manicures. But any nail polish with bright colors really weirds them out. They won't step up on my hands if I'm wearing it. I'm also not a regular wearer.


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Jaid actually isn't afraid of anything, surprisingly. He'll fight anything. 

I know this is specifically for tiels, but my conure is much more shy and isn't bold. He's more timid of pretty much everything. He's always been a shy bird. Since he's young I'm still trying to desensitize him to stimuli. 

And seriously, what _aren't_ my budgies afraid of?


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## vampiric_conure (Jul 8, 2012)

The dustpan and broom. The same one that's been in my bird room for 15 years and they see every day. I move it, they freak. 

Birds are weird, LOL!!


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

Dusters, brooms and similar items.
The other day I entered the room with a teddy bear in my hands (I thought he would even like it) and he got really scared. I think he thought it was a real animal. Funny how he doesn't react like that if I have something else in my hands. Somehow he recognized it had the shape of an animal...


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## Bigvally (Sep 4, 2016)

New toys. All new toys must be hung outside of the cage for 2 days before I can put them in the cage with them.

Ravens outside. IF they hear a raven close by they get worried. if they SEE one fly by in the window... I have to go settle calm then down after that.


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Love the stories, guys! Keep 'em coming! 
It really is funny how random their fears of things can be, especially if it's things they see every day. 

Puck isn't a fan of the vacuum, but he isn't really scared of it. I mean, I can hardly blame him, that thing makes a LOT of noise (One of those that doesn't require a bag to be put inside). But he will be more quiet than usual and give it the stinkeye when I'm cleaning up around the cage. 

He also seems to dislike/fear any perches that move.
Maybe that's because he is clipped, though. Regardless, the two swings I got him because I thought they'd be fun for him, he will refuse to touch!


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## ParrotLover2001 (Dec 30, 2016)

Elvis my Ttiel isn't afraid of anything (that's kind of a a bad thing in my household)
But my other two birds (not cockatiels) are afraid of lots of things

Jordan my lovebird is afraid of Elvis my cockatiel, but that's about it.

Chrissy is afraid of anything smaller then him.

Elvis use to be scared of his cage. When I first got him he sat on my shoulder for hours as soon as I let him out of his box. I put him in his cage, he freaked out! It took 2 weeks for him to get use to his cage.
None of my birds (or my past birds) liked nail polish. I had 2 budgies (in know not tiel.) 1 blue 1 white. They didn't like each other, and the white one attacked my nails every time I had blue nail polish on. Elvis use to attack my nails only when I had sparkles on my nails. Now he just ignores my nails. 
Sorry it's not entirely my cockatiel, but it's mostly my cockatiel. 

Sent from my SM-T230NU


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## Janalee (Jul 25, 2012)

Dusters for Bennie, too. I was on crutches for a few weeks in November and December and he didn't like them, either. He also freaks out sometimes when I sneeze; he goes screeching around the room in panic.


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

Joey seems to be so afraid of every little thing he has earned the nickname of Captain Coward. I love my little coward though, so we've learned to be patient with him.

Flies and gnats send him into a flying panic. 

Brooms, mops, anything with a handle, especially the long handled Swiffer duster. Flyswatters freak him out like nothing else does, even though the handle isn't huge or overly noticeable like some things.

Wrapping paper, whether on the tube or not, makes him go to into a huge panic, screeching and flapping like a mad fool.

Toddlers, even playing quietly on the other side of the room, although they haven't been loud or gotten close to his cage make him a nervous wreck. Mom's little guy, Moe, is fine with my great niece and great nephews. They can even reach their little hands into the cage to help feed and water. Same kids, and Joey freaks out if they are in the room and nowhere near him.

He's fine with most toys from the very beginning, but he was very concerned with his birdie kabob at first. He kept eyeing it, even while eating, as if he was expecting it to attack. It was funny watching him take a bite, then turn to watch it while munching each bite.

He's not a fan of nail polish either. I know it is because I rarely wear it. Two of my days at work I am in breakfast (I work at a hotel) and am too lazy to take it off and put more on twice a week so I just don't wear it often.

I'm surprised how much he loves the vacuum, though. Any one I've ever had, and I've had 4 in his short little 3 years of life.


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

Bigvally said:


> New toys. All new toys must be hung outside of the cage for 2 days before I can put them in the cage with them.
> 
> Ravens outside. IF they hear a raven close by they get worried. if they SEE one fly by in the window... I have to go settle calm then down after that.


Yes. New toys and ravens too. In particular ravens. Once the window was open and a raven was obviously very close and when my boy heard the raven so close he really went mad. I was so worried he would break his neck because he started to bump into things...


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## SaraAndSammy (Aug 15, 2016)

Sammy tolerates just about anything. He's okay when I run the vacuum, or dust, or move things around. He's even happy with new toys. He does startle with sudden loud noises, but there is not really anything specific that is frightening him.

However, if I have a band-aid on my finger when I go to pick him up, it's like the end of the world! He loses his mind!


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

I forgot about our old microwave. It never made him happy, for the 2 1/2 years he and it co-existed. He screeched his head off every time it beeped, even if we caught it before it went off and made the more subtle beeps of opening the door, and shutting the timer off. It was to the point where I happily gave it to dad when his died, and bought a new one. I kept the receipt until I was sure he was okay with this one.


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

TamaMoo said:


> I kept the receipt until I was sure he was okay with this one.


:rofl: Well, you have to listen to the boss!


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## Lunawolfsong (Mar 31, 2016)

The broom

If somebody forgets that his nightlight isn't on and turns off the lights

If I run past his cage or run into the other room when the dogs bark

If I try to leave the house via the backdoor (which he can see) after dark

Predatory birds (duh)

If I start acting all excited and hyper (it's so funny, I'll go up to him, start jumping and going "Kirby! I'm so glad to see you!" and he screams at me. I do the same thing to my dog and no matter what he was doing he gets excited and responds as if saying "I don't know what's going on, but I'm so glad to see you too!"

This isn't necessarily something that he's afraid of, but I just thought it was so funny I wanted to mention it; when he sees airplanes, he's not necessarily afraid of them, but he cocks his head and looks up at them like "what the he**?". It's so adorable the way he does it!


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## Lunawolfsong (Mar 31, 2016)

Also, I forgot to add, I adopted Kirby from a bird rescue, which has exotic parrots as well as raptors. The rescue is probably the biggest reason why Kirby fears so little and never has nightfrights; he lived within sightline of a great horned owl, an American kestral, and has seen his share of dangerous birds. I remember before I adopted him that if I wanted to play with him I would have to do it before working, because if he saw me with a dead rat/mouse to feed the owl and kestrel (or any other raptors he may have been able to see), he would _not_ let me touch him for the rest of the day! 

Then, one time he happened to be able to see some live rats when a friend of mine was interacting with them at a pet store. He was all fluffed up and showing signs of just being overjoyed. I guess he was thinking "Hey! I didn't know you guys could be alive!" lol


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## SaraAndSammy (Aug 15, 2016)

Lunawolfsong said:


> Then, one time he happened to be able to see some live rats when a friend of mine was interacting with them at a pet store. He was all fluffed up and showing signs of just being overjoyed. I guess he was thinking "Hey! I didn't know you guys could be alive!" lol


Haha, that is pretty awesome!


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## ParrotLover2001 (Dec 30, 2016)

I had bandages wrapped around my hand today, my tiel Elvis saw them, flew over to me. And attacked the bandages! He tried to pull them off, but he was unsuccessful. He is still trying to get them off as I write this. He obviously doesn't like things wrapped around my hands!


Sent from my iPod touch


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Hats, bright coloured clothing, new toys... And Coco has this intense fear of painted nails. He scrambles away at the sight of them! I can't even pick him up when my nails are painted. Silly boy! :blush:


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Puck is afraid of fireworks. Or, to be more precise, he seems to be scared of the flashing fireworks cause on the night sky.
I checked on him just after midnight (had kept music and the lights on for him but he could still hear the fireworks) and he was clearly stressed. He sit by 2 windows, of which one is matted glass. I had pulled the blinds in front of the other one, but don't have blinds for the matted glass widow yet. 
Put a towel (light gray one, I had never covered his cage before) over the side of the cage where he could see the flashes through the window. He calmed down pretty fast after that.


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

littletiel said:


> :rofl: Well, you have to listen to the boss!


Certainly!  And he knows he is the boss, too.

I just remembered popcorn being popped. He will greedily munch what I give him, but he doesn't like it being popped on the stove. I have to do it that way to use very little oil and no salt. so that he can have some.


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

TamaMoo said:


> Certainly!  And he knows he is the boss, too.
> 
> I just remembered popcorn being popped. He will greedily munch what I give him, but he doesn't like it being popped on the stove. I have to do it that way to use very little oil and no salt. so that he can have some.


Haha My boy is my boss too. Just now for example I wanted to go to the kitchen and as I was leaving the room he yelled at me (a single, well-defined scream), his crest went up and I had to come back or I knew I would be in trouble.

PS: Once I was in a taxi with my boy and I told the taxi driver my boy was my boss, and he said: "Are you married? Your husband should be your boss." And I said nobody else but my boy will ever be my boss, and he looked at me a bit horrified. :/


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## rpo (Mar 8, 2011)

Cats' I don't have any, but they occasionally walk through my yard. If Corona sees them outside she screams bloody murder. It results in, by far, her loudest screams. The cats don't care.


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## galactickiwi (Feb 4, 2015)

Bagels. miso will hiss at bagels. i'm not sure why, every other food she sees me eats she also tries to eat it. but not bagels.
nail polish or fake nails. one time she tried to crack my fake nail open like a seed and it was extremely painful, but mostly she'll bite any really long or painted nails. 
running water, the hand vacuum, carrots if theyre cut into slices rather than strips unless theyre very big and very thin slices, and my tablet pen are a few more she hates.


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## Pip (Nov 19, 2016)

They flipped out over a fly that got trapped in the cage one day XD


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

I feel like a monster today as I really scared my boy. I didn't feel very well and was in another room trying to have a rest. My boy was in this room and was so unusually quiet I was worried (in spite of wishing for peace because I didn't feel well... lol). 
I decided to go and have a look and entered the room very quietly, but he completely freaked out and I really thought he was going to break his naked neck as he bumped into things making noise so he did hit these things, while I kept saying very softly it was mum, trying to calm him down. Anyway, suddenly he did calm down, even if he remained quite stiff for awhile, ignoring me. When I entered the room again later I announced myself from outside and he came to me and started grinding his beak... 

Not a good idea to enter quietly I guess...


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## Ruby (Jan 15, 2017)

I only have spike a couple of days and he's very tame but quite jumpy at the moment so I'm guessing that's normal until he gets used to our mad house but so far he doesn't seem to be very impressed with me knitting he runs down from my shoulders and attacks the needles and run a back up and this goes on for about ten minutes also the same with remote and was trying to pull my glasses of my face yesterday evening I only have to wear them watching tele so maybe he was like what the **** are these things he also doesn't like my nearly three year old and keeps eyeballing our tank with the angel fish in everytime he notices them move he's a funny little guy


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## Janalee (Jul 25, 2012)

*oh no it's...*

I found a new thing Bennie didn't like a couple of days ago. Someone gave me a glass rooster filled with red and green peppers placed to look like feathers. I had space beside Bennie's cage, so I set it there. Well, Bennie's crest went up, he made that funny little cockatiel hiss, then started swaying back and forth. The swaying is something I have seen before when he is unsure about something. The rooster now resides on the other side of the room!


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## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

littletiel said:


> Not a good idea to enter quietly I guess...


I learned quickly it is always best to announce myself, especially if he is in the dark. When I get to the doorway of the room, I gently say "It's just me, buddy." 

With the layout of our apartment, I don't feel I need to do this except at night, since he can hear and see us enter the living room from the kitchen. In the dark things are different.


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## Schubird (Jun 12, 2015)

Me going to the bathroom. Schubert can't stand it. From the moment I close the door until I come out, he will just scream. I have to poke my head out as soon as I'm done and tell him I didn't get flushed down the toilet and he immediately calms down. But when I get up and walk into the bathroom again, he'll just scream. He doesn't do this to my boyfriend or anyone else, either.


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

TamaMoo said:


> I learned quickly it is always best to announce myself, especially if he is in the dark. When I get to the doorway of the room, I gently say "It's just me, buddy."


I wonder if they have some sort of innate fear of predators? Predators can approach their victims very quietly (obviously, otherwise their victims would run away), as I have seen many times in David Attenborough's series.


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## FlyingHigh (Jan 21, 2017)

Grace goes nuts whenever she sees thumbs. If I move them even slightly, she will throw a big hissy fit as if to say: "Hey! Keep those thumbs away from me and hidden from my view. You know fine well that I hate those things!".


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