The Taming of Peppy aka Snapper

I made a new friend not long ago. She's an older lady who lives alone. She has bought some of my candle products from me and she called to see if I had any of a certain scent. I didn't but we found one she liked. I surprised her by dropping off her order at her door on my way home and she invited me in. I instantly heard her bird babies and asked her about them. She took me back to her bird room where she had 2 Jenday conures, a pied cockatiel and a parakeet. I asked her if the cockatiel was a male and she said, "Yes, do you want him?" I was surprised and said, "YES!" before thinking about it. I have a pretty cinnamon white-faced pearl hen at home and I was fantasizing about the pretty babies they'd make together.

My friend surprised me by giving me a cage and a stand also. I still am looking for a nice way to thank her. She has been emphatic that she doesn't want monetary compensation, so I may call and invite her over to see the new Peppy, which was the name she had given him. I'm certain she'll be amazed at what we've accomplished this week with him. He was biting so hard when we first brought him home that I would have to pry him off whatever he latched onto whether it be my hand, towel, glove, or pencil that I was trying to pick him up with.

I asked her when she did come over to visit last time for some more of his history and she said that she'd gotten different stories. The lady that gave my friend the bird said she was glad that my friend took Peppy because she would have killed him. My friend also heard that at one of his other homes he was terrorized by kids sticking things in the cage, and that's when I figured out that he had learned to bite that hard and it would take some patience to teach him some new social skills.

I found a video online about how to get your pet bird to stop biting and got some good clicker training tips. I tried it over and over, and really didn't get anywhere except that he started calming down a bit when we were around the cage. I realized that he probably never has been tame at all, and doesn't know how nice we humans can be. I doubted he had ever been pet and groomed, which cockatiels absolutely live for, because he wouldn't even let our sweet hen near him.

I left him alone for a week or two and then by accident, found a bridge to help get us past the fear. I was herding him around the living room with a blanket and noticed he wasn't scared of me anymore when I would encourage him to huddle up against my legs when I was sitting. Putting the blanket on him also didn't make him panic, so I gently scooped him up in the blanket and made a sort of pouch out of the blanket so I could keep him in and still open it up to look at him and coo at him. I tucked him in the cradle of my arm. I got brave enough to touch the top of my head and he didn't react so I pet him a little without ruffling his feathers then put him back in the cage.

Today, I got him out of the cage again (this is also tricky) and herded him around with the blanket again. I was anxious to try to pet him again so I scooped him up in a makeshift blanket pouch again. He got a little anxious because I was moving too fast so I let him get adjusted. I started stroking his head, then started preening his feathers a little. He was tense, but obviously enjoying it. I groomed him a little longer then put him on top of the cage (I use the blanket which keeps him calm). When my kids came home I was excited to show them the new Peppy. I showed my son how to herd him with the blanket and this time I sat on my legs to give him a little cave to hide in. He really liked it and made no hissing or biting gestures. My son wanted to give it a try, so I let him. I left the room and let them bond. My son yelled at me to come look so I did and he was petting Peppy's head.

So, mystery solved. Poor Peppy had never had positive human interaction before. I think he'll come around quickly now as long as we keep holding and petting him. Before he saw hands as dangerous threats. Now he's experienced good human interactions and he obviously liked it.