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I think I have created a big problem with my cockatiel George. I've had George for almost 4 years now, he is hand fed and very tame. I was his number one companion for the first 2 years of his life and then I met my husband Trevor.

Trevor and I have gone on a few vacations together and have left George with either my parents or friends who have experience with birds. We've noticed that every time he comes back from my parents place he tends to be more aggressive. At the moment he favours Trevor (completely adores him) and seems to be scared of me. He was with my parents for about a month and a bit this last time and we've had him home now for about 3 weeks. Now that he is home he has been very aggressive. He often lunges and bites very hard and often comes after us to bite us. He mostly does this to me, but has in the last week bitten my husband on the lip - hard enough to draw blood.

I was uncertain how to deal with George's new found aggression and didn't know what to do. I found the only way to snap him out of his aggressive state (running at us) was to brush him aside with the backside of my hand (not hard). But I've come to realize after reading some articles that this is likely just escalating the problem. I think we are in a bit of a cycle now and I'm not sure how to break it.

I've stopped brushing him aside and have now just let him bite me. I don't know quite how to turn this around - I want our nice tame George back! I think he's unhappy and I want to rectify that. Help!

I suspect George is angry with both of you for leaving him. Cockatiels do show their emotions very bluntly, and he probably is showing his separation anxiety by biting. One thing however, is it possible the folks you have left him with would harrass him? Perhaps he was making too much noise and trying to gain attention from his surrogate parents, or even the people would do something like cover his cage or do something else to get him to stop whatever they are annoyed at. Please, never shove a bird away from you as it could, depending on what type of surface he's on could damage his legs or toes by bending them. I would suggest spending a lot of time with him when he's not in a biting mood, and allow him to ride your shoulder or any other type of activity that would show him you are still part of his flock. I notice whenever I am away from the house and that has been quite frequently as of late, Gizmo, my little buddy, will let me know in no uncertain terms he's mad at me. He's never aggressive to the point of biting, but he will completely ignore me for some period of time and refuse to get on my hand or anywhere else. This type behavior is consistant too.. Every time I leave him for a full day, that evening, I get the cold shoulder till he warms back up or gets over his mad. Again, try to provide him with a time period where there is nothing distracting and he can understand you are not going away because you don't like him. Think of George as a small child.

HTH

Sam

I also think he is having hormonal problems they are often aggressive in spring and summer, sometimes mine get aggressive when I am gone or certain seasons!! Chibi Tori is right about alot, he's a good help!! Melissa

I agree with Chibi on the being upset that you left him. I know that Rosie will get upset with me if I bring a friend home. If I get here with a friend she will be snappy towards me and she won't be her cuddly lovey self. Also SOMETHIMES if I am gone for a long period of time she will get really excited when she hears my car drive into the driveway I can hear her calling me as soon as I drive up. But once I walk in the house she will like ignore me for a while.

hormones and jealousy.

I agree completely BB. My oldest tiel will "punish" me for the same amount of time that I leave him. If I leave for a week (he is obviously in the care of someone else,) then I get a week's worth of punishment.

The only time that this changed is when I went on my honeymoon and he was with my mom for a month. I was punished for almost 6!! After a "sufficient" amount of time went by, then he was my sweet birdie again. Who knows what goes on in their minds!!!

I'm sure hormones also are playing into it. From my observation, all birds seem to get a bit more aggressive when breeding season comes around, even my little finches!!

You might try using a small T stand to take him out of the cage, (stick training), since this is a good habit if he has landed somewhere that you cannot reach. This will also save your fingers. Then, every 3 weeks or so, completely rearrange his cage. This will hopefully calm him down some as it won't seem like a stable "nesty" environment. Make sure his access to small dark places is limited as he will see it as a nesting site and become overly aggressive.

While he is in his agressive/punnishment mode, I would make sure he doesn't have access to your shoulders. This invites him to bite your face when you aren't paying attention. Watch his body language, what is going on right before he bites? Is there a visual cue? Is it when he has been out for a while and is possibly tired? Is there something that he is defending like a box, toy or paper bag?

There are many ways to deal with the biting, and since punishing a bird doesn't work, there are a few trains of thought on it. What I do is tell them "No!" loud enough to startle them out of the bite once it has started since mine are grinders. Even though everyone says they don't understand, I tell them "no bite," and remove my body from theirs by about two feet. That way there is a "cooling off" period and they have to decide if they are going to come back to me. If they are continually charging me and trying to bite (I try to avoid it if possible) then I look to see what has upset them. Usually there is some outside factor. If I can't find something, then I move them to the top of their cage to self entertain for a while. Then, when they are calm, I come back and talk to them and give treats for good behavior. You could even make sure there is a play area near you so that when he gets bored, he has things to shred, chew, snack on and play with. This helps them by engaging their mind while they are near you.

I don't see any use in locking them in their cage for "bad" behavior, because they don't understand that it is bad. I find that redirection works well. I make sure that the cage area has plenty of toys, outside branches, shredding toys, bells and foraging opportunities. Sometimes, they are just angry from an overload of hormones and need to blow off some steam.

I have found that when my oldest tiel feels like this, he goes for the "Olympic rings" toy and he shakes it so hard that he almost falls off the perch. It is a great way for him to blow off the steam and after he feels better, you can see it in his stance.

It will take a while for your George to feel better, and I hope that some of these ideas can give you some relief.

This is great information, thanks everyone. I've decided to rearrange George's cage and get him some new toys. Trevor and I are also working with George, letting him bite us, being consistent, and making a point of spending some extra time with him. I think it will take awhile for him to get back into the groove of things. Its funny because I considered myself pretty knowledgeable about birds. I had a budgie for 10 years and had a subscription to Birdtalk for years. But I am finding cockatiels to be completely different and I'm realizing I was doing a lot of things wrong. I think it will take some time to turn things around. So I really appreciate the feedback.

When we had some new windows put in, I was afraid it would be noisy and distracting to my bird. I asked her former owners to watch her overnight, and part of the next morning. When I brought her home, she was very angry with me, and all our bonding went down the drain, just like that. I was surprised that it had even bothered her, but now that I know her better, I realize she must have been devastated, and felt that we had abandoned her. It has taken the better part of a month for JulieB to trust me again, and it has been difficult at times. Now I know better, and would never take her anywhere else for any reason. She is too precious to us to ever do it again. It is lovely to have my darling, cheeky, cheerful little companion back again. She has enriched our lives a great deal, and every day we learn something new from her. I must admit that my husband warned me that she would be angry and upset, and I thought he was being silly. Saying she would be upset, is like calling a tsunami light rain! She needs reassurance that she is loved, and we will make sure she always knows it. I never dreamed that she would react so strongly, and in fact, didn't realize that her feelings and opinions were so strong.

rrcool wrote:... working with George, letting him bite us...

What??? Is this a typo? I hope you're not letting him bite you. That would be teaching him to bite, not at all what you want. You meant to type "NOT letting him bite us" -- right??

Ditto on the previous note. Do not let him bite you. If he's out of cage and starts biting, don't say a word, but just quickly put him back in his cage. Biting is a learned thing. In the wild, a bird will fly off before he'll bite. If he's clipped, then even more so, put him back in his cage if he starts biting. A moderately loud NO will sometimes work, but not for biting. He's upset about something, and I'm not sure rearranging his cage is the thing to do. Cockatiels like stability, and that extends to their "nest". I've never seen any results with my flock by changing stuff in their cages, but let me rearrange something in their room, and they get scared and tend to panic at the drop of a hat. Every birdie is different, so YMMV with what's been suggested here, but you have to try something, and I'd first make sure everything is stable.

HTH

Sam

That's interesting about the bitting. I've heard different recommendations from different site/people. I've actually found that letting him bite us has worked. It's kind of like calling his bluff. He now kind of pecks at us and when we don't pull our hand away or react, he either flies away or just stops and comes onto our finger.

I'm happy to say George is doing a lot better. Trevor and I have made an effort to spend more time with him and have regulated his bedtime. We've been using the 'up' command when he steps onto our finger and do not let him have the run of the room anymore. I also bought him a new cage which suites his needs better (it's longer rather than tall like his old one) and got him some new toys. I've varied his diet a bit more and given him more grains and greens and he seems to be a lot happier. I think all these changes have made a difference.

Unfortunately Trevor and I are going to have to leave him alone for a few days again this weekend since we are going to visit our new twin nephews and I'm hoping not all of this progress will be undone! I will keep you posted!

Wear a welding glove on your hand while you are holding him. Yes he will screech. Yes he will bite at it. Just continue to force yourself on him with nice pets and such. Eventually he will see that retaliation is useless because it's not hurting you, and that you are not trying to hurt him. You will need to do this as often as possible and make sure each session is lengthy in duration. At least an hour. Talk to him while you are doing this in a sweet voice. Tell him he's a pretty bird. It will probably take a couple weeks at the most depending on how much time you have to devote to taming him. Good luck!

youbetcha1018 wrote:Wear a welding glove on your hand while you are holding him. Yes he will screech. Yes he will bite at it. Just continue to force yourself on him with nice pets and such. Eventually he will see that retaliation is useless because it's not hurting you, and that you are not trying to hurt him. You will need to do this as often as possible and make sure each session is lengthy in duration. At least an hour. Talk to him while you are doing this in a sweet voice. Tell him he's a pretty bird. It will probably take a couple weeks at the most depending on how much time you have to devote to taming him. Good luck!

This cruel and ineffective technique is commonly known as "flooding." It should never be used with parrots. Here is information for those wanting to know more: http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org/pdf ... eaking.pdf

I don't know why you even dug this old thread up youbetcha. If you read our reccomendations and the results, you would see that proper training methods had been introduced and were working.

Please, before you give more misinformation, read up on current training methods. What you are reccomending is inhumane and cruel.

Just thought I'd give a little update. George is doing really well. He had re-bonded with both my husband and I. He was quick to 'love' me again, but slower with Trevor. Trevor got really frustrated with his biting and had a hard time working through it with George. Its hard not to take those bites personally (those really painful ones). Since we have both been home more, it has made a big difference. Thanks for all the great advice.