TRAINING COCKATIELS

Question
I HAVE 2 5 MONTH OLD COCKATIELS, SUPPOSEDLY A MALE ( CHEERIO) AND A FEMALE(ROSIE). ROSIE IS VERY VOCAL AND ALREADY TALKING SO IS IT MOST LIKELY A MALE? ALSO BOTH OF THEM WILL COME TO ME, BUT CHEERIO WILL ONLY LAND ON MY HEAD WHEREAS ROSIE WILL WALK ALL OVER ME BUT NEITHER WILL LET ME TOUCH THEM. HOW CAN I GET THEM TO LET ME PET THEM? THANK YOU, CHRIS

Answer
Hi, Chris,

I picked your question up from the question pool.

Tiels are best sexed by coloration after they have molted at least once (at about 6 months of age), better when they have gone through their second molt (at about 12 months of age).  Rosie could be a male.  A lot of birds do not like to be petted...this depends on the individual bird involved.  It's a matter of trust, your birds have to trust you and even then, some birds just don't like to be petted.  The best pet bird is a single bird in the home.  Birds prefer other birds to humans.  Therefore, you need to work with these birds on a daily basis in order to tame them and keep them tame.

Chrys