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Hi, peeps - former bird owner, then cat owner, and now again bird owner here.

So I now have an adult, cagebound male cockatiel I rescued from my younger sister a month ago. His name is Dickie. I've been working patiently with him, since he spent a LOT of time in closets and under cage covers. (Sister hated noise.) He's been warming up to me in the last week or so, taking treats from my fingers through the bars, and he even went on a little ten-minute exploration of the apartment a few days ago. (His own initiative.)

But now there's been a setback. I was going to feed him breakfast yesterday when I fell - not even sure what happened, I just found myself on the floor suddenly. I twisted the hell out of my ankle. I gave a yell of pain and probably rolled on the floor for a minute uttering choice expletives. Long story short, I scared the crap out of my poor birdie, and now I'm on crutches, too. Dickie's terrified of me again. He cowers at the end of his cage trembling whenever I'm within two feet of it. I'm all discouraged now. I hope he forgives me soon, I really want to be his friend. He's so smart, too - he's already learned two new little songs!

Oh my! Bless you for rescuing Dickie from what sounds like a horrible life and I'm so sorry about your accident. I hope you're better soon! Don't be discouraged--just be patient. Imagine how traumatic is must have been for poor Dickie, just beginning to trust, recognize kindness and get used to his new home, and then boom! (literally). It sounds like he was making fast progress so I'm sure he'll get over it, you'll just have to start again. Can you place his cage near you when you're sitting, so you can interact and he can explore without the fear factor of the crutches?

Yeah, I know. I felt so bad for the little guy, but I didn't scare him on purpose. Bah.

It's just been difficult because EVERYTHING scares him. He didn't get much stimulation at my sister's place. He's afraid of television, the shower, when I wear black pants, people walking past my house, windows, doorways...everything. I've got him in a fairly quiet corner, but he's still extremely skittish.

I took the advice of trying to keep the crutches out of his sight as much as possible, and it does seem to be helping. (Crosses fingers for luck)

When one of my birds went into mild shock after an accident, the vet suggested covering a corner of his cage for 24 hrs to give him a safe cave in which he didn't need to be on-guard while he recuperated. That might benefit Dickie.

I have an African grey who's very skittish. Sold to me by a friend who was dying, she arrived at age 3 scared half to death and is still my shy girl 4 yrs later. But she's much better. Expert breeder Jeanne Pattison has written and spoken at conferences of chicks who are scarred for life by the trauma of frightening techniques used to remove them from the nestbox for handfeeding. She finds their personalities are too often wrecked by that ordeal for them to be suitable pets. But as breeders, they teach their chicks to be fearful. It's a tragic cycle of fear.

I inherited 20 breeder tiels a decade ago and have kept them as "pets" since then. They were not handfed and few had been socialized at all. Obviously, not all have survived this long, but 9 are still with me Only one is nervous at my approach, and I feel some of her fear comes from badly failing eyesight. She's a lutino, so inbreeding could account for some of her nervousness. But when I describe the others as no longer being afraid of me, I don't mean all are handtame. Your progress with Dickie in this VERY short time is quite remarkable in comparison!

Another UAS member has written of Dr Susan Friedman's teachings about building trust with our birds. Being consistently gentle and loving is key to building what Friedman describes as a "trust account." Your accident caused a sudden withdrawal to be made from the trust account Dickie has with you, but it didn't close the account. Your return to that consistently loving behavior can replenish the account with speed that I predict will surprise you

Go for it!

I hope you are OK
I agree with Bluebird
please be patience. the poor bird has been through alot. it will take patience patience patience. Don't give up
Are you kidding me this bird was stuck in closet!?!?!
jeeze......

gee poor bird (and poor you for hurting yourself so badly!!), the others have said it all, it will take time....
Poor birdie, stuck in closets, being covered up all day long
Are you still on speaking terms with your sister???

Heh. Yeah, I still talk to my sister. I don't think she was deliberately being mean, she just doesn't really understand animals. I'm trying to talk her oiut of getting a dog now. Don't want to have to rescue a puppy, too, and I just know I would. :S

Anyway, update on Dickie. I tried covering a bit of his cage as suggested, and he seems much happier. (He's singing away right now, in fact. He recently mastered "Winnie the Pooh" and seems very proud of it.) I'm currently trying to expand his diet with a healthier variety of things. (He used to just eat seeds, and she was feeding him grit.). Does anyone know the best way to encourage him to try new things? So far, he's accepted fried plantains/bananas, raw celery greens, fresh green beans, fresh broccoli, peanuts, raw yam, and soy cheese. He won't touch apples, raw banana, cottage cheese, cooked yam, spinach greens, cooked broccoli, fresh mango, yogurt, fresh strawberries, or dried apricot.

It sounds like you're off to a good start with diet. He has accepted quite a lot of things in a short time. My tiel wouldn't eat any fruit at all, and from other posts here it seems tiels are not big fruit eaters generally. Mine liked zucchini but it had to be cooked just right--she liked it soft, which I did in the microwave--and she mostly ate the skin. She liked broccoli but sometimes only cooked, other times only raw. She loved baked potato. But sometimes she would ignore things she normally liked--just not in the mood, I guess. On the other hand, she wouldn't touch carrots if I gave them to her every day for 100 years. Just keep trying a variety. You can also try cooked grains like brown rice, oatmeal, etc. and very small amounts of whole grain bread.

Well, Dickie seems to have recovered from his shock at my injury. We're back to where we were, which is good, and making more progress. Thanks to peoples' suggestions, I tried him on carrots and zucchini, both of which he accepted, and I made him a tiny grilled soy cheese sandwich as a treat. Boy was I his favorite person that day! This morning he's dicovering snap peas, which are a huge hit.

I've been trying to get him to be okay with television, without too much success. Even if it's on in the next room, he freaks out. Has anyone ever encountered this? I've tried exposing him to a half-hour of it each day, but so far, no dice.

On the bright side, he's stopped panicking when I shower - no screaming, only a few worried-sounding flock calls, which I respond to.

I've progressed from feeding him treats through the bars to feeding them to him with my hand in the cage. Mixed results - sometimes he eats them, and sometimes he gets all huffy. But still, progress. I think Dickie's actually a sweet little boy, if I can get him used to me. Encouraged now!

It sounds like Dickie is quite the open minded little bird ... at least regarding the new foods!!

And I'm just curious, are you feeding him in the cage, or is he out with you, on the dining room table or kitchen counter? I'm amazed that he's trying all these foods ... my single 'tiel has her faves ... and that's it! Banana, cottage cheese, carrot, rice ( it's gotta be Basmati!! ) and almonds. ... oh, and picture frames!!

We've had this bird for about 5 years now, and I'm fascinated with the personality this little creature displays. I never woulda thought a bird had one ...!

I'm thrilled that your little bird has a new, and wonderful home! Well done, Blackrose!

Pete

Hi Pete. To answer your question, I feed him in his cage. He's cagebound actually, and was terrified of hands when I got him. He's still quite suspicious of them, but he's making the connection between fingers and yummy bits of soy cheese/millet/other treats now, so there is hope. Heh. I'm trying him on stir fry tonight...he might like it, since it's got rice and snap peas, two things he's decided are acceptable foodstuffs already. XD