How do I make Cockatiels tame?

Question

I have 2 new Cockatiels. They are 5 years old. Their previous owners said they are tame and friendly. I've had them for 2 days. They seem interested in me, but when i stick my hand in their cage, they are apprehensive and shy away from me. They won't go near a my finger when I offer it as a perch. I want to let them out to fly, but I want to let them get familiar with their surroundings a little more first so they don't get lost. How should I go about making them more friendly towards me? I don't want to scare them. Should I just be patient and let them come around? I realize that they still have each other and their cage, but their whole world has changed and they just probably don't know what's going on yet, but I want to do this right so that they can learn to be comfortable and friendly with us...

Answer 1

I have many tiles and if they don't try to bite you when you stick your finger in that's a good sign,buy some millet and make sure that you try to keep their diet close to the previous owners,also you should try and get them gradually closer to a pellet based diet,but one day a time here. first,get the millet and offer it to them,put it on top of the cage and inside the cage.Get one of the perch sticks and push it gently into their belly asking them to step up, and if you have two small perches just keep doing this for a couple of minutes a day,but whenever you are home ,let them out to be with you.eat dinner with them,offer them brown rice,steamed broccoli,macaroni,they love macaroni and kaytee treat sticks. they say kiwi on them.keep a bowl either inside or outside of the cage for them to take a bath,birds love to bathe,tiels do anyway,and if that doesn't interest them try spraying misty warm water on them,they'll like that,you can contact me whenever you have a question,if you've never had tiels there are lots of questions that we have when we first get these birds. try these hints ,I hope they work,but please ask the previous owner what they fed the bird so they don't starve,I hope I've helped.

Answer 2

Sometimes it takes birds a while to warm up to you, but if you were not able to handle them when you went to meet them in person before buying them, or you didn't see the former owner handle them, then the former owner lied to you.

Although you could try letting them out of the cage by opening the door and leaving them come out on their own, because some birds don't like your hands inside their cages but will let you handle them outside the cage.

But if your birds never tame up to you, then the former owners lied to you. Cockatiels should have no problems being handled by anyone once they are tamed. I have been doing cockatiels for 20 yrs and have not met a tamed one who didn't come up to me right away.

If yours do not warm up to you, then don't make them being tamed be so important to you that you get your feelings hurt when they don't act like you want them to.

If you want a pair of hand tamed cockatiels, I suggest buying them from a breeder who hand feeds theirs.