Bird owners - Cockatiels

[brainwascht]

I'm watching a friend of mine's house while they're on vacation, and i'm taking care of the two cockatiels they have. Usually what they will do is close the cage and cover it up at night, and uncover it in the morning and open the cage back up because they like to climb on it and they usually just hang out there. Yesterday was my first day, and late in the afternoon they started flying around the room. when i would try to get them to step up to my finger, one of them wouldnt get on, they would hiss and try to bite me, and fly away again. i had to get a friend come over and help me try to get him and put him back in his cage.

so today, i really want to just not open the cage and let them just hang out inside the cage for a few days until they get used to me being here. i'm really bad with birds, and i get scared trying to catch them with them flying around and hissing. i'm sure its fine, but i know nothing about birds, so i don't know if that's okay. is it okay if i don't open the cage up and let them walk around it? i just want them to get used to my friend's family not being here, you can tell they're nervous because they're usually really calm and will always step up when you put your finger out.

can i leave them in there? or do they need to have that freedom to have the cage open during the day? i don't want to try to chase them around again but i don't want to change their routine. does anyone know? i'm hoping somebody here owns cockatiels!

[brainwascht]

I think the best thing for you to do is leave them in their cage until they are comfortable with you. Because having to chase them around the house is super stressful for them. Is their cage pretty big(big enough for them both to spread their wings out fully and not be restricted)

How long do you have them for? I have tons of advice on this but if you're only gonna have them a couple days then I don't want to type it all out--especially since it's not your birds so training isn't really your thing.

Okay, that's what i'll do. They seem a little bit more comfortable today than yesterday, and i've been trying to talk to them a bit so hopefully that will help. Yeah, i think it's big enough for them to spread their wings out.
I have them for two weeks!

[Last.Summer]

when i lived with my dad we had a cockatiel, and i was TERRIFIED of that thing for the first little bit. The hissing, biting (although very gentle) and flying around scared me. I did notice though that the more i freaked out, the more he freaked out. After a couple of days of him just hanging out on his cage and me not bothering him, he got used to me being around and eventually became my friend. birds take time and patience.