Hey everyone,


Two days ago I drove me and my girlfriend down to Dorset after searching / calling almost every pet shop private add on the internet for 9 hours until we found a small Avery In Riverside that had a young 7 Week old Cockatiel ready for taming.

My girlfriends family have always been a bit pet obsessed and have had a range of different animals from bearded dragons to love birds and horses. Sadly they always opt for getting pre-tamed animals and have never tamed one on their own. (not surprising as the kids in that house are evil)

Anyway two months ago they got a male Cockatiel named "Gizzy" which had been hand fed and trained since birth. He's a very tame bird and they leave his cage open at all times letting him fly around freely, He's now two months old and I've got rather attached to him as he will always fly on my shoulder and just spend generally all his time with me.

Anyway moving on from all that to my own Cockatiel :P.

He's 7 weeks old yesterday and I've had him for 3 days now. I decided to call him CJ for a private reason which he seems to already respond to when I call for him. I haven't let him out his cage yet as I've read that it's best to let them get used to their surroundings before hounding them with attention. I sit next to his cage every night and talk to him for a bit and I refer to his name as much as possible when doing this so he knows I'm talking to him.

Last night I thought he seemed pretty relaxed so I placed my hand in the cage. He seemed very weary but didn't look very threatened, until of course I got closer. He seems to peck at my finger on occasion but doesn't seem to mind me getting very close when I'm feeding him millet. In fact when I'm feeding him millet he bows his head after and lets me stroke his back, but will not allow me to stroke his chest at all, he will instantly peck me and run to a corner until I feed him millet again

After a couple of hours of bonding me calling his name talking to him and feeding him millet he started to get a lot closer to me still biting me on occasion but stopping instantly after I call his name. He's started putting a lot of interest into the purch hanging from the top of the cage but he couldn't get there himself.

After about 10 minutes of bribery with the millet he literally jumped onto my finger and would let me carry him around the cage until he jumped off onto the purch. I found this funny because i've read alot of websites talking about taming a Cockatiel for the first time and it said that you should only really let them get used to your presence, try feeding them and maybe stroking them at first but CJ has seemed to skipped a few stages and already steps up, He will also step up and down from the purch and let me take him around the cage on my finger.

Like I said he's only 7 weeks old and I'm panicking incase I've done anything wrong which could affect him later in his life, do any of you have any tips which could help me improve our relationship even though it's only a short one so far. Or should I just back off him for awhile. He isn't pre-tamed.



Thanks so much.

Shamie

He sounds adorable!

If he isn't showing any fear of you, and by the sounds of things he has really taken to you, you must be doing very well with him!

If you've had him for a few days and he is happy stepping up on your hand you should try leaving the cage open and start to let him explore outside of the cage. I'm sure he will be dying to speak his wings .

As least now if he has problems finding his way back to the cage he shouldn't have any problems stepping back up on your fingers.

Just make sure all the windows and doors are shut and clear windows covered so he doesn't try and fly through them. I maybe be stating the obvious but it's easy to forget.

Good luck and looking forward to some updates

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Hi freebird,

Thanks for your reply I got back from work 3 hours ago and went straight to the birdcage haha :P I left the radio on for him today and yesterday and he has seemed very happy each time i've got home.

I took your advice as he looked quite excited and opened his cage he didn't leave on his own but he was happy to leave the cage on my hand. Even if he flew off me onto the top of the cage i'm guessing thats where he feels most safe. He spent a total of about 30 minutes outside the cage looking around sliding down the sides of the cage, it looked like he was playing agame but I'm really chuffed!.

He climed onto my arm from the cage when i presented it after me whistling and calling his name and he was quite happy sitting there for about 15 minutes

I can't belive how tame he is already although i think my girlfriend is getting slightly stressed with how much time i'm spending with him.

He's such a lovely bird but still pecks my fingers abit every now and then, hopefully that will just pass in time .

Hi Shamie, sounds like you're a natural with cockies Well done for researching what you need to do.


He's checking out his surroundings and by sitting on top of the cage it's the highest spot he's found so far!

Carry on with what you are doing, offer him some treat......hemp.....yummy for cockies when he comes to you will guarantee he'll come to you in future.

Love the photo of him.

Hehe last night was so funny he actually started flying around my room going to each shelf and having a good nipple on most of the clothes piled up That was the first time I'd actually seen him fly and he was amazing I've never seen how amazing it is up close.

Also I let him out of his cage for about 2 hours before I went to bed, while I just sat on my computer looking at the forums :P he had obviously been watching me as he flew onto my desk and started running up and down my arm until of course he was going to fast and fell off but as I suspected was back on my shoulder within a couple of minutes.

It took me about 10 minutes to get him back in his cage as he kept running across my shoulder and playing with the back of my hair ha it was so hard to get him off when you cant see what he's actually doing. I also became the victim of his poo :P which I'm guessing Il be getting used to very soon

Anyway il try and post some more pictures of him tonight maybe on my shoulder or something

Thanks for the replies

He sounds adorable I'm sure it won't be long before he is flying around and sitting on your head too lol.

Just let him explore at his own pace. If you are leaving him on his own everyday do make sure you always leave he radio on for him. Also make sure you have plenty of toys to keep him amuzed.

My tiels love chewing, you can get some great chewing toys now-a-days for birds. My tiels love cooked corn too, also another favourite is fresh thinly sliced cocount ;o).

Hopefully your girlfriend can help give him some attention at the same time so she doesn't feel left out lol.

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Will do :P I leave capital FM on all day for him to listen to :P I forgot that I also brought a water sprayer yesterday and gave him a little shower :P he wasn't amazed with the whole thing but seemed quite happy after

I think his favourite toy is his mirror he loves playing with shiny things, I was wearing a shirt with shiny hooks on yesterday which he seemed to love pecking at :P

Damn I can't wait for a day off to actually spend a day with him

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R.I.P ...Mesha xx Never Forget you xx
I will be back! i need to fight the BIG "C" atm!

Thanks Scosha happy to be here, as is CJ I heard that their colours take awhile to come out but CJ's seem to be coming pretty early .

Also I was just wondering how much bigger is he likely to get he is 8 and a half weeks old now