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DD has saved up her money and is buying a ****atiel today. She's buying a heand reared one so she can train it to talk and do stuff.
I have no idea about birds. In fact I dislike them immensly, I got sick from a bird once and have never liked them since.
Is there anyone out there who can tell me about how to look after them etc?
I'm bumping htis because I need some help.
DD got her ****atiel on Monday. It was a hand reared one. In the shop it was gorgeous, she let DD hold her and was happy. We got her home and put her in her cage. For the first day she didn't eat and was quite scared, I put it down to settling in. Yesterday I came home from work and she'd started eating and walking around her cage but she's still scared. She doesn't chirp, she hisses and kind of squeals when we go near her cage.
I'm actually worried DD has scared her but the pet shop lady said she'd hand reared her.
Is this kind of behaviour normal? Do you think she'll get better?
Hi Tinks
My parents have had a couple of them over the years and they are one of the cuter bird types :)
Mum just got a new baby hand reared one a couple of weeks ago too, the first few days it was pretty timid and would carry on everytime you went near it's cage & fly off his perch all startled. You do have to handle them regularly & get them out of the cage, pat, scratch and talk to them. Buddy now gets all excited whenever anyone goes near his cage in expectation of getting a cuddle.......he's even endured a couple of "pats" from my 8 month old :)
They are pretty good talkers and mimickers, one we had used to ring like the telephone and wolf whistle whenever it saw you but the most remarkable thing I've seen was new years eve while filling with up the car a guy walked out the servo with one on his shoulder and he was chatting to it all the way to his car :D
Your DD needs her handle him as much as possible. The more she handles him, the quicker he will settle in. If she doesn't handle him much, he will not like human contact at all, he will bite, and be terrified of coming out of his cage.
Hold your finger out infront of him and get him to climb on, alternate each hand, getting him to climb your fingers like a ladder.
Hold him close to your shirt, and gently stroke/cup his back. He will try and climb up, but keep doing it until he settles down. This is a great way to get birds used to being handled.
Whistle to him, talk to him, get him used to hearing your voices. The more you whistle a certain tune (wolf whistle for example), the more likely he will pick it up. Same goes for words the more you say, "pretty boy" to him, the more likely he will learn how to repeat it.
He will love treats, brocolli, apple, some nice long pieces of grass bunched together. Not lettuce.
Make sure you have natural tree branches in the cage, as opposed to the perches which came with it when you bought the cage. Natural tree branches will exercise his feet, and help keep his nails short.
****atiels are beautiful birds, and if you keep it up, he will become a member of the family. They have such lovely little personalites :)
If she keeps up the hard work, it won't be long and a cage won't even be necessary :)
HTH :)
Sorry tinks, it sucks that the bird has changed so much on your DD! Is it just your DD that gets this reaction from him? If so I'd say there's a chance she's scared him, and maybe should leave him be for a bit while he settles in more.
I had a few budgies when I was a kid, and even if the shop person said they were hand reared they took ages to settle in. I'd go a week or two without opening the cage except for food and water just so they could get used to the new environment. Once they were ok with that I'd leave my hand in longer and longer and talk to them. It took a while, but eventually they could be taken out of the cage on my hand.
My brother didn't do so well, as he'd jump and yelp when it touched him so he'd scare the bird away. Good luck, I hope he's behaving well soon!
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Thanks ladies.
I'm so worried about the bird. She's not happy at all. DD saved up all her money because a friend of ours has one which she just loves. It sits on her shoulder and shares her food every time she goes there.
DD's got her out of the cage atm and she seems happy but she's still a little shakey. She's started chirping!! Maybe I should keep the cage open during hte day when we're home?
I had a ****atiel and he was gorgeous!! He took a while to settle at first but keep talking to him and interacting with him to get him used to being handled. My brother's one was always a bit cranky and would hiss at people, its just different personalities.
Pip (my bird) used to copy my dad's whistle and the sound of a spoon clanking on a bowl and make the phone ring sound! He also said "hello Pip". It was terribly sad when he died aged 7 :(
****atiels can live up until almost 30years. Definately handle him as much as possible (what's his name?) - often people who hand-rear them "stick train" them - get a perch and put that under his tummy and above his feet, touching his legs, he should climb onto it. Then you can move the stick out, and he will be less worried about this. Both of my birds were hand-reared and stick trained.
I've found that fingers going towards birds get bitten, instead I have my whole hand, fingers together & palm down when I approach the bird, the bird will step onto the hand.
As a PP mentioned, put the bird on your chest and stroke the bird using the whole hands so he's always got a hand on him. I use a "tunnel" of hands for the bird to climb through instead of a staircase of fingers. Also until you have the bird tamed to your family, I wouldn't leave the door open during the day as they can be a real pain to catch. If you have someone near you who is confident with birds, I would suggest getting one of his wings clipped so he can't escape the house if he does take flight. (else take him back to the pet shop and ask the owner to clip his wing).
Enjoy your bird, they are brilliant creatures!!!
We've had her out of the cage this morning. She knows 'step up' and happily walks around DD's lap while sitting on the couch but still is a little scared. I hope she calms down soon.
Thanks heaps for your tips!
Her wings are clipped Kaz. Her name is Honey but that could change in 5 mins lol.
Just editing to say she's soooo cute. She's pale yellow and grey.
Ah, it's a She! Sorry!!!
Lol don't stress I always call her he.
girl birds won't talk i'm afraid hunni :) boy birds are the talkers
we have a grey/white (pied) named 'chooki' he talks mimics the fone, microwave beeps, whistles, blows kisses.....
also if it is infact a 'boy' you will only know the sex if dna tested or it is of age where it's 'cheeks' orange feathers on his/her cheeks are fully coloured boys have bright orange 'cheeks' don't put a mirror in the cage..they won't talk if there is a mirror...they bird 'talk' to the bird in the mirror
Thanks for that Katones. DD's had the bird on her shoulder all day, the dog keeps barking it it. She seems to be calming down now but she still growls at times.
Today the bird's name is Gypsy.
Lol, I love her name changing :) Sounds like she's settling in wonderfully! Your DD must be doing a fantastic job with her :) I think half the problem with my budgies is their wings weren't clipped, if they got scared they'd fly to the too of the curtains and no one could catch them lol
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I'm really worried that she doesn't chirp. Our friend's ****atiels chirp all the time but she doesn't.
our ****atiel does NOT shut up!!!!! he is VERY annoying
Katones do you think she'll start chirping?
when we first got ours he was quiet for a while but as he settled in he started making noise...now he doesn't shut up...lol
maybe she/he is just a quiet bird??? it is possible
Do you cover the cage at night? Mine (both the boy & girl) chirp very loudly when they first get light for the day. Also when they hear native birds outside chirping, they will chirp back.
You've inspired me to work more with my male bird who is a bit wild.
Kaz I'll send DD over to tame him lol.
Yeah i've been covering her cage at night. When she first came home and was scared I covered all of her cage except the front which made her a bit more relaxed.
She just chirped!!!
Just thought I'd let you all know :redface:
Ahhh, a post worth tweeting ;):
lol Kaz.
She did it again!!
Haha! Yay! Glad to hear she's making some progress!
Good work for your DD keeping her on the shoulder for the day :)
Have you decided to keep the door open or closed?? I keep mine open (but remember to turn the fans OFF!! :o)
I think 'she' is a 'he'. She's started to say hello.
She's so cute. She loves DD's laptop. She prances around on it trying to eat the keys.
Tellytubby - I'd love to keep the door open but our dog keeps barking at her and her wings are clipped so I don't think it's a good idea atm.
awww lovely! And yay on "hello!"
My vet said that don't believe it's a male unless it never lays an egg....
Woohoo on the "hello"
Sounds like he/she.. shim? (lol) is settling in well :D