Cockatiel that does not like fingers???

[kikibird]

I have just aquired a cockatiel from its former owner however this cockatiel does not fingers. If I go to pat it then it goes to nip me if I raise a hand near it it goes to nip me the only thing that it will do is step up on my finger but not without having a look and a slight nip first.

Any thoughts guy?

[Tigey]

my new tiel feels exactly the same way about my hands

she'll step up fine when shes on a perch or my hand already, but freaks out when i try to scratch her or take her off the bottom of her playgym. if i put a finger up to try and scratch her she screeches and bites me then tries to step up onto it.

she only lets me give her head scratches when im giving my other tiel head scratches and only when her head is already lowered.. i think its because she thinks its the other tiel thats giving her scratches.. when they're waddling around together on the playgym she wonders up to my other tiel and lowers her head like "gimme scratches".. the tiel just looks at her like "eh? dont look at me!"

but what im trying at the moment is just resting my hands near her, doing lots of step up exercises and not letting her bites bother me. if they know their bites work they will keep doing it.. it hasnt actually worked as yet, but ive only been trying intermittently for the last few weeks, i expect it to take a bit of time.

i would also appreciate any further advice on this

[Monica]

Birds can be hand tamed, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are completely tame. They are still wild creatures that have yet to be domesticated. Some birds are just more hands off than others. If you work on it though, just about any bird can become tame and enjoy human company.

Tame only means that the bird is not afraid of you. Slightly tame means that he or she still is cautious but not completely afraid. A fully tamed bird enjoys being handled and may even enjoy being touched anywhere on its body.

Most tiels though don't normally enjoy being petted unless you are giving them a scratch on the head, and that is if they accept you doing this. Before you can do this however, you need to earn the birds trust more.

[Tiki]

Some birds, like some people are just more touchy than others. I can pet Maui all over his body, Koro won't let me touch him at all but he will sit on my shoulder or take food from my hand.

[kikibird]

Yes this little fellow is does not like me scratching him however he will step up cautiously and will sit on my shoulder or fly to my head and fly to me of my partner as we walk past and land on our heads. So there is some level of trust there he just does not like hands anywhere near him, funny little bugger he is. We'll have to work on it I guess.

another thing I have noticed as I am not familiar with cockatiels, under his creat when he raises it he seems to have a bit of a bald spot, well a rather large bald spot. is this just where his crest lowers and covers and is normal or should there be feather there?

thanks guys.

[kikibird]

Sorry about the spelling.

[Monica]

As far as that spot, it depends. If the tiel is lutino or had a lutino parent, then yes that would be considered normal. The spot appears smooth and rounded.

If however this area is not smooth or rounded well it's possible that his head may have been plucked.

It sounds though like this bird is a more hands off type of bird but enjoys being around humans. With work and teaching him that hands aren't that terrible he may learn to get used to them.