Advice for owners of grumpy or unfriendly cockatiels

Recently I gave some advice to a fellow Petstreet member about her grumpy and frightened cockatiel. Then yesterday I was thinking, "maybe some other cockatiel owners might be having the same problems..." so I decided to put my advice on this cockatiel specific club. That way, it is open for everyone to look at and hopefully it will help some people and their birds.
The advice is for birds who are aggressive, frightened or timid. Tip number 3 may also be of use to people who are worried about letting their cockatiels out of their cage for a fly around the room, or want to train their cockatiel to go back into their cage by themselves.
When Cameron first moved in, he was very scared and frightened of me - and everybody else in the house for that matter. He would hiss and snap at me. And that would make me cry, because of course I loved him (and still do). But eventually, with trial and error, I have learnt a lot, and he now seems much happier and content. The following tips are what I think helped Cameron to be happy, calm and brave:

1. I have moved him to the busiest room in the house (in my case the front room) during the day. Before that, he was in my bedroom all the time with only the radio on for company. Since then, he is much more social and hisses less.

2. He has 12 hours of sleep each night, during which time, I place his cage out in the hallway and turn off the hall light and the kitchen light. I also keep a thin sheet over his cage, and during the winter I put a thick coat over the top, ensuring that there is a large enough gap so that enough oxygen can circulate.

3. I also let him out for a fly about 2 times or more a week. At first, he wouldn´t go back in for a day or two (he would eat when we were out of the room, and then when we come back in he would quickly fly back out). If yours is the same, just wait until he goes back in the cage to eat or whatever, and then if you can, shut it. But if you can´t i.e. he is too quick and flies straight back out, don´t worry and don´t get stressed. He can sense this. And don´t try to catch him in a bird net or anything, because all of the trust he has in you will have to be built back up. You have to let him think that he is in charge to begin with. If he is not going back in at all, leave him. He will not starve. He will get his food when you are out of the room. Cockatiels are ingenious creatures and are not that dumb. And also, don´t ever give him food when he is out of the cage while you are training him in this way, as he won´t have a reason to go back in and he won´t learn anything. If you have to, leave him out over night. (But the best thing is if you let him out first thing. That way he will probably be back in the cage by bed time, and you won´t have the worry of leaving him unattended and the thought of "what will he get up to overnight?") When you get the chance to, shut the cage door and carry on as normal, being kind etc. I know it sounds stupid after all the fuss of trying to get him back in again, but to start with, DO THIS EVERY DAY, and he will soon learn that it´s ok to go for a fly and go in and out of his cage. For he will know that he can go back out and do it again another day, without fear that he will never be let out again. You see, if you only let him out a couple of times a month or year, he will think that he will never get the chance to come out again and will try to make the most of it by not going back in again. Do you see what I mean? Then once you see him being comfortable with hopping in and out of his cage throughout his flying session, you can stop doing it everyday and start getting him into a routine with just a couple of flies a week (or as many as you can do). Just keep it regular.
When letting your bird out, please remember to cover up any fish tanks or open water, remove delicate ornamemts or objects, hide trailing wires, remove plants (as they may be harmful), draw the curtains (and put the light on!) to ensure that he doesn´t fly into the window and cover furniture and precious household objects with newspaper (so they dont poo on it). If you do have to leave him overnight, follow the above steps, but bear in mind that it might best to keep a dim light on. This means not so dim that he can´t see where he is going, but not too bright that he will have trouble sleeping.

4. Only put your hand in his cage when absolutely neccessary e.g. cleaning. Their cage is their ´safe haven´ so to put your hand in it, or even sitting too close, is an invasion of their personal space. If you would like to be able to sit near his cage without him cowering in the back or hissing at you or trying to bite, my advice is to slowly crawl closer to him until he gets flustered or angry and then stop there. Sit and wait there until he calms down. As soon as he has calmed down - even for one moment - move away from him slightly. (This action of moving away from him slightly is the reward, as I am guessing he won´t eat from your hand.) Repeat this as many times as you can muster, every day. It will take a lot of time and patience, but gradually, he will let you get closer.

Cameron is more shy than aggressive. He does hiss at me, but is all mouth and no trousers because he doesn´t bite, which I should be grateful for. He used to run away to the back of the cage and hiss at me from afar when I went near him, but now he sits at the front and we whistle together. But if I move too sudenly or put my hand near the cage, he does hiss and gets all flustered and runs away. Although Cameron is much happier in himself, he is still shy and won´t sit on my hand. Although, as I said, he does let me get close to him and sit near his cage. I think it just takes time. It has taken me 3 years just to get this far.
I hope all this has helped. If you have any questions, don´t hesitate to ask me, or you can, of course, post a topic/discussion. PLEASE NOTE that I am not an expert or a vet; these are just my personal experiences of what has worked for me.