Cockatiels are probably one of the most common pets that people will own. The certainly are one of the easiest to raise and train. But like any other pet, they require some patience.
You will never be able to train your cockatiel until you have gained its trust. Once the bird is used to you and its surroundings, it will learn quickly what you are trying to teach it.
GET IT AS A BABY
Cockatiels are most easily trained if you can get them when they are very young. That way, you will already have a good idea of their personality and attitudes. With an older bird, you will have to go a lot slower with the training. And if the bird came from a different owner, you have to wait for the bird to become adjusted to its new surroundings. If the bird was abused previously, that will make your job even harder.
Also note that if the bird has any health problems, he will not be easy to train. One common problem with Cockatiels is blood feathers. These are feathers that are not fully developed, and may have become infected. They will be painful if touched, and the last think your bird wants to do is be cuddled and played with. Therefore, do a quick inspection of your bird for any problems before you begin.
LET’S GET STARTED
Cockatiel training is going to involve a lot of repetitive routine. Therefore, try to set a schedule for when you are going to teach your bird. You will want to work with your bird two to three times a day for 15 minutes each session.
Start by getting the bird to be comfortable with your hand. It’s scary to have this large hand reach into your home, grab and secure you, and drag you out of your home! Do you remember your first school days? Yeah…it’s something like that. Birds don’t care for it either.
So begin training your cockatiel by reaching into the cage, but don’t touch the bird. Offer him a treat with your hand. Do not waive your had around, but hold it steady. After a short time he will learn your hand is not a threat.
Next, work on trying to get the bird out of the cage. Place your finder under the birds belly and press in, while giving the command “Step Up”. If the bird nips at you, firmly say “No Bite!” and repeat the exercise.
If the bird still refuses to step up, it may be better to remove it from the cage and try teaching in a different part of the house. Take a towel and capture the bird, wrapping the towel around it so the wings are secured. You can also use this method to secure the bird and hold it for several minutes. Gently talk to the bird while doing this to reassure him you are not a threat. Once away from the cage, continue to work with the “step up” command until he willingly stands on your finger.
After several day so this, you should be able to reach in and remove the bird without any difficulty.
>> My ebook, The Easy Parrot System goes into detail about training your pet birds. If you have a bird that bites, screams, or just will not behave, this book will give you a tremendous amount of information on fixing these behaviors. It’s written in an easy to understand, step-by-step approach to training. Check it out – http://www.thetameparrot.com/cb/
[tags]cockatiel training, bird training, train parrot, parrot taming[/tags]
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thankyou so much for your website i have just purchsed a rainbow loirkeet and found the information on other parrots very interesting keep up the great work. looking forward to you next email thankyou
your info was great my bird comes at step up every time
I have this kind of bird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just brought a new cockateil from a breeder, he is a gorgeous white face pearl pied about 4 years old, he wasnt tame when i brought him, but now he will eat seeds from my hand and responds well to whistles and noise,
the only problem was, that when we brought him, he was on an all seed diet,
whenever we try to feed him different foods, or replace the seeds with something else, he wont go near them, i think this is because he doesnt recognise it as food, what can i do?
I realy want a healthy parrot…
From, kayla, and ‘teil Chester
if is ok a pair of cockatail is good for training in every session!!!
if the cockateil is more then 5 monts or five yrs old it is harder to train?
my bird runs away and whistles when i put my hand in the cadge… when I grab her and put her on top off her cadge she goes crazy and starts flying to the ground but before when i first got her she loved coming out and playing going into different rooms then i moved and still after two years living there still she hates coming out =[
We just got one it had a previous owner. We are trying to get him to trust us but everytime we stick our hand in the cage he wants to bite. What can we do?
my mum and i have 22 birds the parrot we have are 2 red-rumps 6 budgerigars 1 green cheek conuor, 4 cockatiels 1 princess parrot 2 rainbow lorkeets 1 galah 2 IRN all of our other birds are 1 spottrd turtle-dove ,3 crested pigeon 1 diamond dove 2 African dove and 2 of they baby .
and all of our birds are inside the house flying in our living room by day and sleeping in there bird room made just for them
if u are interested in any pics or trainning I or mum uses contact me on http://www.annaleasebellesina@yahoo.com
i have a special hook for my cockateil outside so she can enjoy the summer but will my bird catch cold if i let him sit outide for a short time during the winter months
I have tried this method with a bird we had just bought. Thirty minutes later, the bird was on my finger, talking to me, and watching the outside world as we drove down the road. It is a wonderful method that I would recommend to anyone.
I think you are all crazy to take your bird outside, it is a good way to lose that bird that you just paid a lot of money for , just have it fly away, by by birdy, and now the cage is useless
this website is no good go somewhere else.
I don’t think you should begin with putting your hand into the cage from the”get go”. I think you should target train your bird first to build trust, and THEN slowly work your hand in. I also don’t think you should “PUSH IN” to the bird’s chest to get it to step up. It wouldn’t be stepping up because it wants to but because it HAS TO. It has to step up on to your finger to avoid you pushing into it’s chest (negative reinforcement). I think the bird should only step up on to your hand because it wants to. There are ways to get to that point through positive reinforcement.
I just aquired 2 cockatiels, a 2 yr. old male and one yr. old female. The male whistles a song and wolf whistles and tries to say something that I can’t quite understand. They are in the same cage together. Should I seperate them seeing as I want to be able to have him come on my finger and such. He was fooled with as a baby but the female was just in a cage with the rest of the babies. I have had him a week now and he seems happy but he bit me the second time I tried putting my finger in for him to get on. She just gets out of the way. If I seperated them would they get depressed seeing as they have been together so long?
I messed up and didn’t put the whole e-mail address it is rita861@aol.com
thank you for your info.. i have just been given a male he is lovely, think he is about 2years old never been out of his cage. i have had him 3 days now, and gaining his trust,, he loves my dog,, she thinks is her baby. he is so sweet,, looking for a lady for him (billy) his name,, many thank for your info again
maggie
I have two cockatiels, I got from two different people. After a couple weeks quarantine I put them together. They got along great for about three months then the female began to bully him, and bite him, and pull hs feathers. The male had a terrible start in life, somebody cut his wing while trying to clip his wing, now he can;t fly.Could that be why?
Good info. Building trust is the most important. Without that, training usually doesn’t work. Everything is taken in small steps. Rewarding the desired behavior works wonders too.