upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Hello there, I'm new here, but not new to owning a cockatiel.

Okay, okay, its actually been a really long time before now that I've owned a cockatiel, but definitely not long since I've owned a bird in the parrot family.

Anyhow, I wanted to stay informed on the latest tricks, share advice and basically have some fun talking to some people. While I was brushing up on owning a cockatiel before I got my little Avenger here, I found a book that referenced this site in it. Long story short, here I am.

Let me introduce you to Avenger:
Avenger is my six month old new baby boy (I believe! I mean, I know females have barred tail feathers but I only see a few and the rest are a dark grey, and the crest is a very dusty speckled yellow-gray...). Six months old and he's adapted to his environment here very well.

My only problem with Avenger is that he likes to bite. We're still bonding, and I handle him every day but I can not go an hour without getting a nice sharp little peck to the fingers that causes me to bleed. Its an ongoing thing, but we seem to be making at least SOME progress.

Here are some pictures!


(I thought this one was particularly funny. He cocked his head just like the picture of Gregory House from HOUSE M.D. in the picture on my myspace in the background):




Thanks for letting me share! I'll be around here from now on.

His crest makes me the happiest thing alive. Those back feathers of it are really short, and then the front feather comes up long and curls into an almost perfect sproing!

I'll *try* to cuddle him. I handle him for hours a day giving him a break all day on some days (only leaving the door to his cage open so that he can happily come out and still stay within sight of myself and my other family) but I believe that I might have been lied to about how much that he was actually handled as a hatchling.

I don't know what it is, but he seems very intimidated by a human hand, something that doesn't make sense to me if he were handled as much as the sales lady had told me that he was. Either way, I'm happy to have him and though its been hard (my fingers are really bloody thanks to the little guy) he's finally got to the point where I can get him to "up!" and he enjoys my shoulder (although now my ears take a beating every now and then)

Congratulations on your handsome fella!

Have you discovered Barbara Heidenriech's Good Bird magazine? You might really enjoy it and find her positive reinforcement approach perfect for you and Avenger. I think she would say that you are training him to bite, a common problem. We want to cuddle; our birds don't. They bite to warn us away, but we're tough and just wipe away the blood and come right back with those hands ready for touching and rubbing and preening and bugging the everloving fool out of our birds.

You didn't mention how long you two have been together, but that first picture reminds me of my youngest tiel on his first few days here. He looks very wary, even scared. I recommend using your voice much more than your hands. When you do use your hands, let it be for step ups instead of cuddles. Let him begin to want to be with you rather than always having to fight you off. It takes patience, but it pays off royally for happy years to come!

Avengerandme,

Welcome to the UAS family. We've got a great group of people here, and while you are not unfamiliar with cockatiels, I'm sure you'll be able to find some tidbit of info that gets passed around that might be of use to you. I feel for your fingers... I have been there sooo many times, and while I have gotten most of the bite out of my flock, there are still some, including one of the chicks that don't mind biting anytime you get a finger near them. My worst biter got lose back at the end of February, and since his departure, I don't think either myself or my wife, Emi, has been bitten by any of the kids. Biting is something that the birds learn at a very early age. The offspring of my bonded pair never learned to bite when they were growing. I did handle them daily for weighings, but they were entirely parent fed. Some do not like being touched, others won't even come close to you, but they are all very socialized. The male of this family's pair used to bring blood every time I'd try to handle him, but it's taken 3 years for him to fully accept me, and even come to me or get on my hand. As others have stated, it could be you have one who prefers not to be handled, and I've learned you have to respect that, or the kid can actually turn against you. Now, what I do when one of them does not want to be handled, I just leave them alone and let them decide when to come to me. That method seems to be working out fine, as all but 2 of the birds will come to me at some point during the day. The fact that the chicks and yearlings still have their parents I'm sure, makes a huge difference in them NOT bonding with us, vs. the other adult birds bonded with us because we became their new flock.

You might try giving him some space, and find some little goodie that he likes and try the reward / praise method when he does something right. Another thought which can go a long way in training is when he does something bad or bites hard, immediately put him back in the cage, and don't say a word. If he bites hard enough to make you holler, try to NOT holler, as that gives him positive reinforcement that he caused you grief. I've done that with misbehaving birds and while it takes some time for them to figure out their behavior was unacceptable, they eventually learn biting will get them put into a cage.

HTH

Sam

Thank you guys on the great welcome and the wonderful advice, I'm really appreciating it over here. I think you guys are right, the more that I watch him the more I can tell when he needs some space.

Let me offer up some more information, since I was up very late last night listening to some comfortable happy beak grinding and chirping, so I didn't even think about telling you guys this!

Have you discovered Barbara Heidenriech's Good Bird magazine? You might really enjoy it and find her positive reinforcement approach perfect for you and Avenger. I think she would say that you are training him to bite, a common problem. We want to cuddle; our birds don't. They bite to warn us away, but we're tough and just wipe away the blood and come right back with those hands ready for touching and rubbing and preening and bugging the everloving fool out of our birds.

Bluesbird, I had not found this magazine yet, but I spoke it over with my aunt whom I live with and after I get back from my surprise vacation this week (an ex bought a ticket for my birthday to travel down to Georgia for a week to see a very good friend's wedding that I was very upset about missing. As an aside, my aunt is very good about following my instructions and I want Avenger to recognize her as a member of the flock as well, so her talking to him and feeding and letting him out of his cage until I get back next week is probably a good thing) I will subscribe.

Would it be too much to ask for a link so that I can find the magazine online and subscribe from there?

Also, Avenger and I have been together for two weeks now. But I believe you are right...its sometimes easy to forget that a bird isn't really out to do exactly what a person wants for affection like some other companion pets (dogs, cats, etc.,) and he's just so cute that I want to press my face to him and nuzzle! (ouch, I could imagine the bloody nose if I tried! haha!)

mytielwoody, That is just so adorable! My Tiels that my parents and I rescued when I was younger (around seven or eight years old for me, the birds were already 15 years old but the family they had just couldn't handle them and they had a five year old who would 'abuse' them through the cage) would only hiss, but they took chunks out of my dad's fingers when we first adopted them. Something about the male presence intimidated them, but he handled every day and made sure that they knew that I wasn't a chew-toy either. He did that whole 'stick them in the cage when they bite without a word' that Sam had mentioned in this thread.

I'm twenty three now, so its obviously been a long, long while since I've had those Tiels, but like I said, I'm not a big stranger to birds. I had two Keets from the time I was eleven until I was nineteen So the basics are there, its just a new kind of 'game' of "Okay, I love you and I want you to trust me, but I can't be overzealous about it!"

You might try giving him some space, and find some little goodie that he likes and try the reward / praise method when he does something right. Another thought which can go a long way in training is when he does something bad or bites hard, immediately put him back in the cage, and don't say a word. If he bites hard enough to make you holler, try to NOT holler, as that gives him positive reinforcement that he caused you grief. I've done that with misbehaving birds and while it takes some time for them to figure out their behavior was unacceptable, they eventually learn biting will get them put into a cage.

Thanks for the great advice, Sam! This is what my dad used to do when I was younger, and I didn't even think of it. When I had my keets, they hardly bit at all (but my god when they did--ouch!). I honestly dont believe that he necessarily hates being handled, because he will let me take him out of his cage and he likes my shoulders (and especially loves playing with my hair and biting at my necklace chain...he's figured out to unhook it).

I simply wince when he bites and tell him in a soft voice 'No-no, biting is not fun' but I have to realize that he is not anything like a companion dog so the words 'no-no' might not have any meaning to him at all yet. I'm going to try putting him back into a cage and I know it will take time and patience and some great advice from you guys and books and magazines!

Thanks for welcoming me again and I'll be adding more pictures soon. I'm a snapshot queen!!!

avengerandme wrote:... Would it be too much to ask for a link so that I can find the magazine online and subscribe from there?

Google makes that VERY easy!

http://www.goodbirdinc.com/

Good luck. You'll learn with this mag that positive reinforcement precludes punishment such as putting him into his cage for biting. The theory is that punishment might have an immediate, short-term benefit for you, but for longterm behavior change, it takes positive reinforcement and trust that comes from NO punishment.

Welcome!! They have all covered what I would say, so I don't have more advice at the moment. He sure is a pretty bird!!!!

Thank you again! Once I get back from this trip next week I'm going to go ahead and subscribe to that. I'll keep you guys posted, definitely.

Here's another picture that I took today, right after he puffed himself out after preening:

Welcome to the flock.
My male Linus doesn't like fingers either. He's happy to sit on your shoulder and get up to your face and 'chat"