Dixie's Mommy
February 27th, 2007, 09:41 AM
We have a new cockatiel and she is a biter.
We don't know for sure if Dixie is a male or female. The best we can tell is she is a female. We have had her 2 weeks and I believe she was about 3 or 4 months old when we bought her at Petsmart (I know, petstores are evil. long story why we bought her there). I am not a first time 'tiel owner but it has been quite a few years and Dixie is so different from my last bird.
Dixie was a hand fed bird but she is not very tame. We are working on gaining her trust. The biting is making it difficult though. I had one suggestion to let her out of the cage in a safe area and let her play with toys and explore, we have been doing that and working on step up. She will sit on my hand after a little coaxing but will just sit and bite at my hand and arm. I don't pull away or make any sudden movements, nor do I give in. I try to take it as best I can and just keep telling her "no" or "Dixie no" whenever she nips. It hurts but she is not drawing blood.
I am looking for any more suggestions how to handle her. I don't want to rush her because I know she is in a new home and young, but at the same time I don't want to ignore this too long and never have a tame bird.
Thank you
We don't know for sure if Dixie is a male or female. The best we can tell is she is a female. We have had her 2 weeks and I believe she was about 3 or 4 months old when we bought her at Petsmart (I know, petstores are evil. long story why we bought her there). I am not a first time 'tiel owner but it has been quite a few years and Dixie is so different from my last bird.
Dixie was a hand fed bird but she is not very tame. We are working on gaining her trust. The biting is making it difficult though. I had one suggestion to let her out of the cage in a safe area and let her play with toys and explore, we have been doing that and working on step up. She will sit on my hand after a little coaxing but will just sit and bite at my hand and arm. I don't pull away or make any sudden movements, nor do I give in. I try to take it as best I can and just keep telling her "no" or "Dixie no" whenever she nips. It hurts but she is not drawing blood.
I am looking for any more suggestions how to handle her. I don't want to rush her because I know she is in a new home and young, but at the same time I don't want to ignore this too long and never have a tame bird.
Thank you
