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The vet is recommending a technique called "towelling" which is really intended for a different purpose with birds.
First I'd recommend finding an AVIAN vet if yours is not one. They are not plentiful, so it's possible you may not even have one in your town, but regular visits with an Avian vet is very important. You want to have one lined up before there's an emergency. They can also assist you with all the behavior issues and clear the bird for any health issues which may be the source of the behavior.
Assuming it's not a health issue, your cockatiel sounds like he's being cage agressive/possessive - not unusual at all. Here are some tips to help with that:
*When you place your hand to your bird for him to step up on it (and saying "step up"), lightly press your hand into his belly a bit, this will prompt him to move his foot up onto your hand. He may bite you the first few times - don't react at all - just repeat gently "step up" and press ever so lightly into his belly again. The biting WILL stop if you don't react.
*Take your bird to a quiet, unfamiliar room, close the door and sit with him for 5 minutes at first and build up to 15 minutes day-by-day. Being away from the cage (it is out of sight) and being in an unfamiliar place will force your bird to rely on you for safety and so the bird will bond with you and develop deeper trust .
I would hold off on towelling until you can resolve the cage aggression issue. Towelling is primarily used to desensitize the bird to the restraint used whil at the vet's office......it doesn't serve much other purpose beyond making the vet visits easier on the bird and the vet.
Also, Bird Talk magazine is an excellent reference if you haven't checked it out already .
This is wonderful advice. I got my bird and was terrified of it after it flew out of the cage and I literally had to grab it before it landed in my kitchen sink which was full of water. This scared the bird, which bit my hand all the way back to it's cage. Of course, not being experienced, it scared me too. So, there we were at an impasse. My friend that had an exotic bird pet store got fed up w/ my whining and showed up at my door and informed me that today was the day we were training me and the bird. Best thing that could have ever happened. She used the finger trick, but had me start w/ a stick. It took about a week after the day she patiently forced both myself and my bird to get out of our comfort zone, and me to face my fear of being bitten again. Well, a few times a day I would put my finger up to it's chest it would hop on my finger and then I would talk to it. What happened was within a short times, couple weeks or so, my bird was literally calling for me every am. I would leave the cage door open, though I covered it for sleeping. This bird, Baby Face was her name...was so precious. she actually began to have such a personality, and do really cute things including hop on my shoulder and snuggle her little face next to my cheek. Unfortunately I had to give her away when I moved 25000 miles away...and knew we would be living out of a hotel. I think about her often, I'd like to think she is still alive and well somewhere, since they can live 60 years Force yourself to get over your fear...the worst may be that you bird hisses....They are afraid, bottom line. Follow the other posters advice....please keep us posted.
Don't get another one,Becuase one of them will die i have experienced that.The mean one killed the nice one.So i am warning you.I had both my birds for about 16 years then one morning the (Nice)Female lie ded on the bottom of the cage.
I just got a cockatiel and i know he has been in 3 different homes in the last 2 monthes so i took him cause they was wanting to get rid of him and i wanted to give him a chance to have a good life and when we go to feed him or cover him up at night he tries to bite and he hisses at us and i dont know what to do with him to help him live a good life can some one please help me...
It sounds like your expectations about this bird are unrealistic. Super cuddly and friendly birds are most often hand-raised from day one, so that they are imprinted with humans as care-providers and sources of comfort. Birds also have different personalities (birdalities?), and you can't change those inherent traits. And all birds bite or act "aggressively" at one time or another ... they are not domesticated animals even when tame and their innate survival instincts are always there. So don't be surprised or upset if you are bitten or rejected from time to time.
My personal philosophy is to let the bird have a lot of autonomy in deciding what they are going to do in their limited sphere of influence. I suggest that after you have gotten the bird's wings clipped you simply open the cage door and let the bird come out of it wants to. If it doesn't want to come out, stay and talk with it in a low voice. Go away for a while and come back and see what's going on. Let the bird see that you respect its autonomy and space. I would stop sticking your hand into the cage, since you've seen that the bird doesn't like it. Put some millet on top of the cage and see if the bird will climb out to have a snack. But don't go over and start grabbing it ... just let it be. One of the pleasures of having a parrot, in my opinion, is that they are great to hang out with. You don't have to be touching it to enjoy it. Most of all be calm and serene, since I think birds are very sensitive to stress and nervous energy in their environment. In other words, don't engage in a struggle of wills with the bird, which I think is often a mistaken goal behind a lot of the advice parrot "experts" give. You don't need to "win" or "control" the poor thing by asserting your "dominance." (I always try to keep in mind that pet parrots are basically wild (but smart) creatures who are in a foreign environment for which they are not genetically prepared, so I always am respectful of their abilities to adapt, in what ever way they do, to an environment over which they have virtually no control.)
You should also accept that this bird may never be a hands-on bird, since you don't know it's past and it has communicated it intentions to you pretty clearly thus far. That doesn't mean he can't be a fun and valued member of the family, or that he won't become more tame over time. But if you're really looking for a bird who loves human contact, you might want to get a baby, letting this guy/gal live out its days in a way that it enjoys.
I just got a cockatiel and i know he has been in 3 different homes in the last 2 monthes so i took him cause they was wanting to get rid of him and i wanted to give him a chance to have a good life and when we go to feed him or cover him up at night he tries to bite and he hisses at us and i dont know what to do with him to help him live a good life can some one please help me...
That doesn't sound particularly abnormal ... think how you'd feel if a giant hand was placing a large cloth over you! See above post for further advice.
We found a lemon cockatiel well actually she was dropped by a butcher bird who was carrying her off for lunch, we still have her but we too thought she was lonely so bought another grey cockatiel for company, thinking a male would be company,turned our to be another female, they really didn't like each other very much.The difference between them was amazing the grey had been handreared and was very friendly the lemon we think was an avery bird. The lemon one loves my husband the grey loves me. Trick is like everyone is saying you have to be firm in your commands, they will protest but eventually they come around.
I just got a cockatiel and i know he has been in 3 different homes in the last 2 monthes so i took him cause they was wanting to get rid of him and i wanted to give him a chance to have a good life and when we go to feed him or cover him up at night he tries to bite and he hisses at us and i dont know what to do with him to help him live a good life can some one please help me...
ahhhh dont wanna sound mean or anything but grow up. the bird right know is thinking he is the boss of you so the first thing you wanna do is to let him see that biting does not hurt you. yes the first few times he bites you it will hurt but there is a cool thing you could do. make your hand go into a fist and make shore there is no skin that he can nibble on. after that you should be sweet but before you do that just grap him with a towel and clip his wings. make sure you know what you are doing make sure you reserch because if you do it wrong it will make his wings bleed. you dont want that. but that will just teach him that you are in control and after a few times when he tries to bite you and try to fly away he cant he go splat on the floor. you should vow someone in your family to be a flock leader make sure you dont get made at him because he bites sore and dont shoutnore back awayjust smile at him and go out the room and then shout
I have two cockatiels male and female she is awful bites hisses lunges at me and I have done everything, hand in cage on cage, talk to her l alll he time, feed her millet really I do not know what to do. I do not enjoy this bird,but I want to.
I have two cockatiels male and female she is awful bites hisses lunges at me and I have done everything, hand in cage on cage, talk to her l alll he time, feed her millet really I do not know what to do. I do not enjoy this bird,but I want to.
Does he have his own cage? I had 2 birds one of them flew away. The screen door was just slightly open. I had them in one cage. I tried a neighbors tree-cutting truck with the crane and bucket, but she flew away. Ended up giving the other bird to someone with a few other birds. Sad.
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you should vow someone in your family to be a flock leader make sure you dont get made at him because he bites sore
