This bird came to me in August 2017, near death from heat exhaustion and dehydration. It was mid-heat wave when one of our maintenance guys at work found her sitting on his truck. He wasn’t sure what to do, Oslo I jumped in and, using a gas-stained towel, nabbed her. She brought in no fight, but happily drank from a bottle cap. I only had a small reptile habitat to keep her until I could borrow a cage. A friend quickly heeded my call and loaned me one in a heartbeat.
Surprised she made it through the night, she recouped pretty quickly afterwards. We learned she had no socialization and was downright mean. Cockatiels are either the sweetest things, or will willingly chew your finger to a bloody pulp. She was incredibly fearful of us and would thrash in her cage until we walked away.
Fast forward a year and 5 months later. We’ve worked with her to earn our trust. She no longer thrashes, but still doesn’t like her space “invaded” by us. She won’t step into our hands, but She will now eat out of them, and we learned she really loves safflower seeds and parsley.
I had a huge breakthrough yesterday, as I tricked her into thinking my finger was part of her bell (that she really likes to hide under), and I was able to give her scritches for a few seconds. Once she figured out it was my finger, she went for blood. Still...progress. Lots to still do, but she’s coming along.
Posts
