Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have a new cockatiel that was supposed to have be "hand raised," but seems fairly unsocialized. She seems afraid of things rather than being curious about them.

I had her/him in the bathroom with me just now, and she was walking around pecking at the patterns & veins in the counter-top. Then she went up to the mirror, where because of the back splash, all she could see was her neck & head. She's never reacted to her reflection before so I was surprised when she started "pecking" at "that other bird." At first I thought she was being aggressive, but I took note of her over-all behavior. She kept repeating this scenario: peck / squawk, draw back her head (or slightly tilt it), slightly open her wings, then grind her beak, look at herself, repeat.....). She thought "the other bird" was her parent and was asking to be fed!!! I put some food on the little ledge, which she ate. After a few minutes of eating, she was totally relaxed! Apparently she needed a kind of security that she could only get from her bird-parent. It was sooooo sweet! I'm surprised, too that I figured that out -- it was the open wings that tipped me off, though. I see that with wild birds all the time! Silly bird has trained me better than I've trained her!

Yes I think many of us are well trained by our birds, LOL!! A mirror buddy is fine just make sure that your baby doesn't bond too closely to her mirror parent instead of to you. If she seemed to like the feeding you can actually make a mash to feed her off of a spoon which might help with the bonding process. It also helps getting some more nutritious foods into them. One thing you could try is microwaving a sweet potato until soft and able to be mashed. Add a couple teaspoons of orange juice and some cinnamon and mash all together. You can feed it warm but not hot. Put it at the tip of the spoon and see if she will eat it from there. You can also try warm oatmeal or other combos which sometimes go over quite well and help making your new bird see you as the loving parent!

Sorry I can't remember how long you have had her for again???
Some do take longer than others to adjust & you do need to give them that time. Cockatiels are also very nervous by nature. She probably just needs more time to fully trust you & where you put her & what you do with her, patients.

Has she been properly weaned? A properly weaned bird should behave in that kind of way to ask for a feed from mum or you.

We've had her/him about a month. Not sure of the exact age, but she's suppose to be a baby.