hubler@tomcat.lerc.nasa.gov (Dale Hubler) (12/15/90)
In article <1417@acf5.NYU.EDU> gonzalez@acf5.NYU.EDU (maria gonzalez) writes: >Hi - > I need some help >I have recently become a new pet owner of a six year old cockatiel and would >really appreciate some helpful hints. My bird is a female about six years old >and not very tame. She spends most of her time on top of the cage but >hisses everytime I get near her, though she has stopped biting very hard >when I pick her up. My question - will she eventually get tame enough to >interact with me?? Should I get a younger bird and will this bird's tameness >rub off on her? What are my options?? > Hissing is a defensive behavior in cockatiels, she probably feels threatend by you. Does she willingly come out of her cage or do you reach in and pick her up? Cockatiels can bite quite hard, hard enough to draw blood, so if you are picking her up with bare hands she is probably not biting at full strength. Cockatiels do need to have the security of their cage and this should be violated as little as possible. With work, if she is not tame now, she can be tamed and become a loving pet. If you get another cockatiel my guess is they would prefer to interact with each other rather than with you. I could be wrong, but I doubt if cockatiels have been imported for a long time. Australia does not allow exporting of native birds and cockatiels are very easy to breed, have been bred in the US fr many years, and would not be worth the time nor expense to import from anywhere. Hope this is helpful. Dale Hubler -- Dale A. Hubler *** hubler@galaxy.lerc.nasa.gov *** (216) 433-5649