# Tunas training diary



## Safwah (Mar 3, 2010)

This is going to be my tiel's training diary. Ill try to update it as much as i can with progress, I plan to teach Tuna alot of tricks if shes willing to learn.

Tuna was brought home on 6 march, 2010. She is a whiteface pearl and has been hand raised. When i got her she was 9weeks old. 

This first day I just sat her cage in her new home to soak up my life and daily doings. She was extremely quiet, she barely moved even to get food or water. I was abit worried because she just wouldnt move at all but think back to my previous birds they have done the same on the first day being home. I let her be until i could see she was starting to move around comfortably to get food and water. I decided to take her out for abit and get her used to me. Step up was no problem although she did like to backup the first few times. I let her have a nights sleep after.

7 March, 2010
The second day was pretty much a repeat of the first. Quiet, didnt move much, just watched. I took her out more this time, let her play on my desk and do some light foraging which i plan to introduce heavier in a later stage. For now it was just abit of seed on my desk which she happily searched for. Still not used to scritches, she just kinda sits there and makes soft little chirps. I can tell if these chirps are her talking to me, a sign of fear and uncertainty or a mix of both so i kept the scritches short. By the end of sunday night she was pretty obsessed with me. She would sit on my shoulder and softly chirp to me and i would answer back followed by more chirps, she was telling me how my day was while occasional having a go at my nose for being in the way  When trying to put her back in her cage she really didnt want to go to bed, she wanted to be out with me. I left the door open to see what she would door and you could see her mind ticking over working out her to get out and back to me.

9 March, 2010
Took her out again after work, she told me how her day was then started preening while perched on my shoulder. I took her around the house and showed her things, the fan, the table, my gf, bird stuff heh. Need to get some millet spray so i can begin training.


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## elaichri (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi 
as i am having a hand reared cockatiel the begining of april i will be reading this post
with interest as i am new to cockatiels


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## Safwah (Mar 3, 2010)

Well its about time for an update then. Tuna has been very adjusting to her new home, she has settled right in. Each morning i take her out (which she has no objections too) and make my breakfast etc before work. My gfs sister who lives with us was scared of birds but somehow she got the courage to hold the bird, now she cant get enough of Tuna and think she is the cutest bird ever. Its nice to know that Tuna isnt bored in her cage while at work as the sister is there to let her out and have a play. My gf is still to scared to touch Tuna.

As far as training im thinking of how to approach it. I got spray millet on the weekend thinking it would be her treat yet she has shown no interest for it at all, i cut off a section and left it in her food tray to get her used to it. So far she has learned to flap her wings when asked (most of the time anyway) yet she does this just to be the centre of attention as my gf and her sister give Tuna a round of applause. 

I also bought some toys to make things interesting while im away at work. The rope perch was a hit and she loved this right away, the boing was abit too much for the cage size so its hard for her to use it in any way and it will be going in the larger cage once i get one, the cuttlebone she got stuck right into, i also got a couple of foot toys for her to play with.

The foot toys at first she wasnt to interested in. I found the best way to get her interest was durring her foraging time. Each night i have a period where she can run around my computer desk and i drop out a couple of sunflower seeds for her to find. To get her used to the foot toys i also put these down on the table, i would play with them myself abit in front of her while she ate the seeds and nudged the toys in front of her abit. It didnt take long before she started to peck at the abit which i rewarded with sweet words and a scratch. It was a couple of sessions later that i would catch her picking up the toys herself and start throwing them around. Surprisingly she took immediate attention to a plastic peg that was on my desk before she started to play with the foot toys though.

Theres 2 things i really want to work on. 1. Finding the treat she likes and will take from my hand. I may have to introduce clicker training to cue to her a treat is being rewarded for something she has done. 2. Get her a dedicated foraging table as right now it can be abit annoying when she decides to jump onto my computer table and onto my keyboard foraging for soemthing. Id rather her understand that the table is for walking on, not attacking my keyboard and getting under my hands for scritches, although cute as it is 

If you would like to become a fan of Tuna and see pics and videos on facebook you can go to Join Tunas FB fan page


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Tuna is too cute  I like her name


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## Safwah (Mar 3, 2010)

Time for an update again.

Tunas personality has really bloomed now. Ive noticed recently on a lazy sunday afternoon while sitting on her cage she will start chatting away to herself. Starts of as soft chirps then gets into the hissy fit chatter then back to soft talking again. I love it when tiels do this and I view it as them telling you a story about their day as they act out the emotions of the event. This shows how comfortable she is at home now.

My gf also got the courage to touch her. It started off with touching her tail and now shes is a happy Tuna lover letting her sit on her shoulder, preen her hair, attack her phone  No longer is she scared of birds, well at least isnt scared of Tuna and thats what matters.

Alot of progress has been made of feeding vegtables and fuits too. It was hard at first but i could see she loved chewing paper, so i could see the trick was texture not taste. I always offered bits of fruit and veggies when i could but she showed no interest until i had the idea of slicing some apple into very thin slices, of course she thought this must be a different piece of paper she can chew on and after a couple of pecks she wasnt sure on the taste but enjoyed shredding the piece of apple up. Once she aquired the taste she couldnt get enough! I did the same thing with different vegtables and she was eager to try but some she just didnt like the taste of and wouldnt bother with it. 

Now last night i was sitting down to eat my lasagna, she would not stop pestering to try some aswell! I had to get a seperate bowl with some millet and even then she would come over occasionally to try and sneak some lasagna.

Right now her wings are clipped and ive noticed that with Tuna compared to my previous cockatiels she just sucks at flying. An attempt at flying results in a small jump and moving backwards heh. Whereas one of my last cockatiels Seth after having his wing clipped would immediately fly around the room to show it had no effect. So with Tuna ive been brave enough to get some outside time without a harness. Yes i know the risk but i feel comfortable knowing her ability of flight is extremely limited. First i started off by just taking her outside on my shoulder from time to time, she would get abit brave and venture out on my shoulder only to see something like a fly and quickly run over and hide behind my ear. I felt comfortable enough to walk to the shops with her and my gf without a harness. I enjoyed getting looks from people and seeing the smile on their faces as they see this cute lil tiel sitting on my shoulder looking at the world. I havent felt that feeling since i was much much younger and would ride around the neighborhood with my fully flighted unharnessed budgy sitting on the front handlebars of my bike. 

On a side note if people are upset about this understand i know the risk, i also know my bird well and her ability of flight (what ability lol) I pay attention to things like keep distance from the road incase she does happen to jump off my shoulder. I consider myself gifted with birds and i can connect with her feelings and behaviour, i woldnt take her out if i felt she was fidgety etc. I am responsible for my actions.

So things are going really well, my gf and her sister love birdsitting night and almost cry when i have to take her home! Shes really getting into trying new foods (just keep the lasagnas away from her), and shes becoming one of those birds you see that are so tame they sit on their owners shoulder outside. Things are looking great


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