We bought two cockatiels approximately 3 weeks ago. From our reading, 1 is male and 1 is female. They are between 6-8 months old (siblings.)
Our problem is that they seem to not want to have any human interaction. We've tried short sessions of just talking to them but they still seem afraid of us.
In the books we've read, they say the birds should be used to us by 1-2 weeks. We've also read several articles but none seem to really address the issue of training 2 birds to become pets. Do you have any suggestions?
We'd really like your help. We are very anxious to have these birds as our "pets."
We also have two toddler children that get noisy at times, could this be alarming the birds so that they are afraid of us?
Raymond and Trista
Dear Raymond & Trista,
Six to eight months old is young but they are old enough to have developed
certain behavioral patterns.
If their wings aren't clipped, that would be the best way to begin. Just about any quality pet shop or vet can handle that for you, if you wouldn't feel confident in doing it yourself. If you haven't clipped wings before, we suggest letting a qualified person show you the proper method.
After the wings have been clipped, we suggest you set aside a time period at least daily to begin your friendships. You may have to physically remove the birds from their cage until they come to realize you mean them no harm. These sessions need to be repeated time and again until their behavior has been reprogrammed. You will need to be consistent but remember to make it as enjoyable as possible or yourselves and the birds.
Whether it's 1 or 2 birds, the method is the same, you only need to spend equal time with each bird, separately or together. What it really adds up to is, you and your best friends must learn to trust each other.