Whether your cockatiel is a young bird or an older bird that has never been tamed, he will learn to trust you if you take your time and go slowly. Allow several days for the bird to get used to his new environment after bringing cockatiel home before beginning training your adult bird.
How to Get a Cockatiel to Like You: 9 Ways to Create a Bond
Although a cockatiel will eventually grow to like his new surroundings, it will take time and effort. You can try companion animal practice if you like. But here are some pointers to assist you along the way.
1. Know the Background
A cockatiel’s behavior is relying on his past interactions in the old environment. If your cockatiel wasn’t hand-fed, hand-tamed or socialized when he was young, it’ll be difficult him to trust people. He might bite or act aggressive towards new individuals he meets. Hence, bird’s trust should be gained slowly, if you have a new cockatiel.
How do you train a cockatiel to stop biting? It is considerably more difficult to retrain a cockatiel that bites than one that does not. If you’re inexperienced with cockatiels and are choosing your first one, I recommend getting one that was docile when it was a baby.
If you’re ever in this situation, remember that biting or any aggressive behavior is a sign of fear. So do your best to make the environment as comfortable as possible, and don’t let anyone provoke him.
2. Visit the Veterinarian
Bring your cockatiel to a veterinarian before taking him home. Ask the vet to clip the bird’s wings. This is critical for allowing him time to become acclimated to his new cage before flying about the house. nIf he flies out of the cage before you tamed it, you’ll have to chase and capture him. It will scare him off and cause him to believe that you’re trying to harm him as a result of this incident. As a result, training will be more difficult.
3. Give It Some Time Alone
Put your cockatiel in a spacious cage where he can explore and feel comfortable. Leave your pet bird be for a few hours so he can adjust to his new surroundings. Don’t try to talk to him right away.
4. Sit and Say Hello
After some hours, you may sit next to his cage. Allow him to view and observe you. Talk slowly with normal voice and softly if this is your first time greeting him. Whistle for a few seconds, then say something. You’ll be pleased to see him listen and approach closer to you. Perhaps you’ll notice that they start copying what you say.
5. Talk to Your Cockatiel
On the following day, you may begin to speak with him more frequently. When you’re ready to talk to a cockatiel, follow these guidelines:
- Greet your feathered friend with a hello or good morning, and say bye-bye when it’s time to go.
- Get down on his level. Stand over him not taller than yourself.
- Chat with him a few times before placing your hand outside his cage. Once he is ready, open the door and touch his feathers, but avoid contact with his head.
6. Offer Yummy Cockatiel Treats
Your cockatiel loves treats just as much as any other pet, so try to have some fun with him by giving him some of his favorite snacks. Offer packaged seed, dry cereal, or spray millet. If it is the first time you are offering these types of treats, put them on a bar near the cage. Next, you can start offering the treats from your hand and your cockatiel will gradually get closer to accept them.
7. Create a Play Session
When your cockatiel knows that you’re his friend and behaves confidently around you without any aggressive manner or defensiveness, spend cockatiel time, invite him to play with you. Cockatiels love toys and flying around the house, so they don’t like being stuck in their cage all day long. If you have some free time, let him out of his cage to play with other toys and with you. Observe his body language, your cockatiel’s wings, if your cockatiel trust you even only a small part of signs.
8. Schedule Regular Interactions and Training Time
If you have a lot on your plate each day, try to still find time to connect and train with your cockatiel. Get your cockatiel some fun activities may include talking to him, petting him or teaching new tricks.
Pay attention to how he responds to any activities you offer him. If you can manage to get him excited about the activity, the bond between you will be much stronger. Additionally, this is also a way of getting your cockatiel used to being petted by you.
9. Introduce It to Other Members of the Household
When you think your cockatiel and cockatiels have a solid bond and positive interaction, other family members could get to know him. Introducing a new buddy to the hand-tame cockatiel is simple.
Place the cockatiel’s cage in the busiest room of your home, and let him watch all the activity going on around him. Slowly introduce new people to your bird, but don’t try to do it all at once.
Final Thoughts on How to Get a Cockatiel To Like You
Cockatiels are a lot of fun to have as pets, but training process, taming them takes work and time. So, how do you persuade your cockatiel to like you? Learn about your cockatiel’s background and take him to a veterinarian and should be same animal clinic every visit. Give him time to adjust to the new environment and don’t hurry things along by giving him snacks or toys. Make intelligent interactions with him.
If you need more first aid tips and can’t take your bird to a veterinarian this article can help.
