I have had my cockatiel, Picasso, for almost 10 years. We used to be best friends. He'd hang out on my shoulder for hours, give me kisses, and was generally a content and happy bird. A friend gave me a female cockatiel that he could no longer care for, and Picasso loved her very much. Then she fell ill and died. Picasso grew sad, and was still quite depressed when I left for college. A year later, I came back and finally lived in a place where I could bring him with me. So I brought him to Portland a year and a half ago. Since we were reunited, however, he demonstrates very mixed emotions. He loves to see me, and whistle to me, and communicate vocally. But he refuses to get anywhere near my hands. If I open the cage, he will come out briefly, but if I ever do succeed in getting him on my finger, he only hisses and screams at me. I'm pretty sure he is bitter and angry with me, but his attachment to his cage, and fear of everything, is very depressing to me. Does anybody have any suggestions? Or know of anyone who has a knack for understanding bird behavior? I just want him to be happy again.

I talked to some people on craigslist, and they were quite pessimistic about it. I was told many times that he would never be happy again (one woman said her bird's mate died fifteen years ago, and he still refuses to bond with her), but I think that is ridiculous. There must be altrenatives. Right? No way can I have a sad, angry bird that squawks incessantly, asks for my attnetion, and then rejects it, and makes all my roommates want to wring his neck for the next twenty years. That sounds horrible...

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