Hello. This is a relatively easy thing to teach them. But, you can't just bring one home and expect to start working with it immediately. With birds, we have to earn their trust before we can expect them to respond. How long that might take depends on their age, how long they have been with us, and most importantly, what their previous situation may have been. If you got a really young one and got it recently, for now, you should not be doing anything beyond spending as much time as possible near it while it's still safe in it's cage, staying down at eye level with it and talking softly. It needs that time and that type of interaction to learn to trust you. You need to stay down on it's level because "looming" up over it is frightening. That's what predators do. If this is your first bird, you will have to constantly remind yourself, it's not going to react to you like a dog or a cat. Not even close. In the beginning, don't be reaching into the cage for it either. That will further frighten it, and add that much more time to the time it takes for it to trust you. After it is well settled into it's new surroundings, and it doesn't act scared of you being close to the cage, then you can open the door and allow it to come out, if and when it is ready. Only then, can you start working with it, hands on. I'm going to give you a link that will teach you exactly how to teach the step up. But, I'm also going to give you a lot of links to basic Cockatiel care, diet and safety issues. There will also be links to locate your nearest Avian vet. Please use those links right away, get that vet located and put the information with all you other emergency numbers. The odds are that when you need one, it will be an emergency. You bird will not have time for you to be fumbling around looking for one then. Next, go to these sites and print out all the information about diet and safety issues. If anyone led you to believe your bird can live on nothing but seeds, they have terribly misled you. Seeds and seed products should not be more than about 25% of it's entire dailey diet. It needs a good brand of pellets mixed with the seeds and it needs a separate dish everyday of veggies, leafy greens and much more. Pay very close attention to the safey issues and the lists of toxic items and products. I can almost guarantee you have a house full of products that can kill your bird in minutes, if you expose him to any of them. There are a lot of things you probably use that you will have to give up. There are many but the main ones people use to kill their birds are air fresheners of any kind and most of you cleaning products. You can use the get acquainted time with your bird to study everything you need to know to properly care for him/her. If you will sit close by and read the information to the bird, that can work great. That allows the bird to get accustomed to the sound of your voice and to having you nearby. The more of that you can do, the shorter the time will be until it's ready to come out and interact with you. I hope all this will be helpful information for you so you can have a happy, healthy bird for many years to come. If you have any more questions at all, just let me know. Patricia
Click here: Bird Proofing Your Home: Household Hazards for Birds
Click here: Out With The Old, In With The New
Life After Weaning - Your Companion Bird and You
Caring For Your Pet Cockatiel
Fatty Liver Disease in Cockatiels
Click here: Cockatiels as Pets - Choosing a Cockatiel, Cages and Feeding
Click here: Alerts Dangers and Toxins for Pet Birds Parrots
Click here: Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Poisonous. Parrots.
Click here: Toxic and Safe Plants/Trees for Birds - Household Poisons
Click here: Birdsnways - Safe Plants & Trees for pet birds, pet parrots &exotic birds
Toronto Humane Society :: Common Poisonous Plants
Click here: Find your local Avian Veterinarian
Click here: Avian Veterinarians Recommended by Bird Breeders and Owners http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/abvpvets.htm
Click here: Avian Vet List
Click here: BirdsnWays - Avian Veterinarians - Vets - Vet Services for Pet Parrots & Exotic Birds
This one looks like an advertisement for Harrison pellets but they are only sold by vets so it's another good list to check. Click here: Harrison's Bird Foods is a family of certified organic pet bird diets that were formulated to make your bird as he
Click here: Teaching a Pet Parrot to Step Up
Parrot C&onsultant
Published author, free lance bird behaviorist, adviser to the parrots at Sarasota Jungle Gardens.