Hey everyone, I got my first cockatiel today. I am a new owner and would much appreciate any tips you have about looking after them. I have done a LOT of reading up

He is only about 12 weeks old and is a lovely looking grey with red cheeks and a small amount of yellow around his beak and eyes, it almost looks like make-up haha.

I am unsure on a name at the moment and he seems quite afraid. I have seen him eating though and he has come over to the bars once and seemed interested when I was whistling. He isnt really moving around much and has only chirped quietly and squealed a couple of times.

The only time he has moved about was to eat food and when he went mad climing all over the bars

I hope he settles in well soon, he seems quite afraid of me at the moment and puffs up his feathers etc. So I have just left him alone to get his bearings but I am still in the same room in sight.

It may take a while to gain trust,but you'll get there with patience.The first hurdle is to get him/her to take food from your fingers through the bars.And then later with the door open and no bars between you...once trust is gained it doesn't take long to progress to the bird stepping up on your finger.Lots of patience and no sudden movements are the way forward.

PS....More cockatiels escape than any other bird...they don't miss a trick...watch those open windows.

__________________

Its now day 2 and the cockatiel seems a lot more lively. He must be feeling braver too since he has spent the day watching what we are doing, running around the cage and climbing all over the bars and also calling out quite a lot.

I have tried offering some food since he comes right over to the bars and starts chirping but he quickly shifts over to the other end of the perch lol.

Are they supposed to go this crazy though? he really does seem to be going mad climbing all over the bars and biting them and running around at the bottom.

He also seems to like sitting underneath his food dish too haha

I have 1 called Oscar he is 17 yrs old he runs about bottom of cage mad and climbs over bars all day slowly down a little getting older

Haha aww They really do go for it!

Day three, he has really perked up now and has again spent the day running about in his cage like a mad man. He is showing a lot more interest in having people nearby and will try to go to your side of the cage, his crest is relaxed a lot more now too, with the occasional noise frightening him.

He also keeps calling out to me to see if i will respond and when i do he chirps happily

He has been up and down his perch and attacking the bars and his food, water dishes all day

He seems to be getting the hang of jumping and climbing about too as he no longer smacks into anything or gets his wings or tail stuck

awww i envy you, i remember when we brought our darling Spongebob home, she was hand reared and on the first morning we had her OH got her out the cage and sat her on my chest so when i woke up I had this little bird face looking at me

I do miss her

aww it must be hard for you... sorry for your loss :/

Day 4
He has gotten really vocal today and calls whenever I leave the room. We also went and got him some toys. one is a corn on the cob suspended with wood and stuff, another is a big swing, a ladder (he really likes it for some reason lol) and a cuttlefish bone.

He has ignored everything except the ladder so far which he seems really interested in because he can push it around

All day he has been running about the cage again but i noticed something new, he is getting on his perch and sidestepping back and forth across it really fast whilst sometimes ducking his head down i think its funny, its like he is dancing to mc hammer.

His face seems to be more yellow also...

Ok so I have had my little baby for just over a week now and I thought it was about time I tried taming him, I have let him out to stretch his wings a couple of times and he was fine as long as you didn't approach him too fast or get too close.

He still is very scared of hands though and whenever I try feeding him a treat he just runs away from it and stares at it from the other side of the cage, I even tried pretending to eat it but he was not convinced lol

He has figured out what the rattling sound that his seeds pot makes and goes mad whenever I refill his food dish

His face seems to be getting more yellow on it every day and he has settled in nicely, he has started doing a really loud chirp if I leave the room though


So anyway, any tips on taming this little guy would be very appreciated thanks

Hi just keep trying to hand feed him he will get tamer :thumb up:

Attached Images

P1050605.jpg (87.9 KB, 8 views)