How Do I Handle 2 Flighted Out of Control Cockatiels?

Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Elleen A. relates,

I have 2 male fully flighted cockatiels that will not let us handle them. They are bonded. How can I get them to let us handle them again?

Dear Elleen

Short answer. You can’t. Birds of a feather stick together and you have no feathers.

Long answer.

You can clip their wings, separate them into different cages, and plan to spend several hours with each of them individually in daily sessions in hopes to earn their trust and want to be with you.

But most likely, you will fail.

What is the reason for doing this?

Did you get them hoping to change them?

Did the seller tell you they could be tamed with some work?

Building trust with your bird ~ Video

Are they your own birds that you spent little time with during their formative years and now want to separate them?

There is a relatively short period of time after a bird is born that creating a human bond can be well done. This usually is done by a lot of handling while weaning away from the parents, sometimes sharing weaning can be done resulting in decent pets.

But if the birds are not handled a lot and affectionately during this period, by 6 months the bird is no longer interested in human companions unless they have been isolated to only humans.

But even then, the bonding time is lessened considerably. Imagine a roommate, but buddies.

These birds have each other and are happy together. They might separate well with a couple of girls and might be decent breeders.

But if the boys have been together a long time and the cages are within view or hearing of each other, they may be too distracted to be good fathers.

Please write us with any further questions.

Regards,

Catherine