# how to tame baby cockatiels without handfeeding them



## Amyy (Apr 23, 2011)

im planning to breed my pair of cockatiels soon.
but i dont want to handfeed the babies though i want them tame.
what i didn with my budgies was,after the budgie babies were two weeks old,i removed them from the nestbox for 5-10minutes everyday and they became tame,i never handfed them.
can i do the same with the cockatiels??


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

Yes....you can do the same thing with the tiels. In fact you can get them used to you right after their eyes open.....just in your hand in the box, or out for a minute or so til they are older.


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## rainfeather (Jan 26, 2012)

My cockatiel was parent-raised but handled everyday by the breeder and her kids from day one (since the parents were fine with it). She learned to like sitting on shoulders, being scritched on the head, etc. She's actually turned out to be a pretty gentle, sweet birdie and was already tame by the time I got her. She sometimes bites when she's grumpy but it's always been as soft as a touch. She even is fine with me putting my hand over her wings when I put her back in her cage (she loves coming out so she tries to manipulate me )


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## mishkaroni (Jan 6, 2012)

That's exactly what i've been doing with my tiel babies. I had read somewhere that at about day 12/14 if you start handling them 10-15 minutes daily, they can be just as sweet as hand-rearing. As I have two baby tiels who i've done this with recently, I can vouche that it works. I actually started almost immediately, since I would check the baby daily and take pics. But I would only have the baby out about a minute or two before the eyes open, then I would hold the baby for a few minutes longer each day while talking to it within the cage as often as I could daily.


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## Amyy (Apr 23, 2011)

thankyou for your inputs .... i guess i wont have to handfeed them them then


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