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A couple years ago when Florida was hit by Hurricane Charlie I found a cockatiel couple days after. He was obviously someones pet but he was starving, lethargic, covered in green paint and wandering around the court house. He came up to me and stood on my foot and started to nibble on my shoelace. I ran back to my office , grabbed a box and kept him under my desk the whole day.. My boss was not happy to say the least lol but I couldn't let the poor guy go. So I've had im ever since that day, about 3 years now and I cannot tame him. He bites and hisses and screetches at me every time I give him new food and water, or clean his cage.. Forget trying to hold him. I've tried having my hands in the cage everyday just to get him used to my hand around him, and I've tried swattling him in a soft towel and rubbing his head. I found that to be too tramatic for him so I stopped that. I just don't know what to do to get him to be semi nice.. Has anyone had any experience in this kind of thing and can anyone give pointers? Also would it be wise to get another bird to keep him company he spends most of his time cooing at the mirrors in his cage and I'm wondering if he's just lonely. We keep him in the living room so he's always around people ,so he's not secluded or anything. I duno I'm lost..
One last thing and I swear I'll shut up, he does this often to me I'm saying its a sign of aggression.. anyone elses bird do this?
A couple years ago when Florida was hit by Hurricane Charlie I found a cockatiel couple days after. He was obviously someones pet but he was starving, lethargic, covered in green paint and wandering around the court house. He came up to me and stood on my foot and started to nibble on my shoelace. I ran back to my office , grabbed a box and kept him under my desk the whole day.. My boss was not happy to say the least lol but I couldn't let the poor guy go. So I've had im ever since that day, about 3 years now and I cannot tame him. He bites and hisses and screetches at me every time I give him new food and water, or clean his cage.. Forget trying to hold him. I've tried having my hands in the cage everyday just to get him used to my hand around him, and I've tried swattling him in a soft towel and rubbing his head. I found that to be too tramatic for him so I stopped that. I just don't know what to do to get him to be semi nice.. Has anyone had any experience in this kind of thing and can anyone give pointers? Also would it be wise to get another bird to keep him company he spends most of his time cooing at the mirrors in his cage and I'm wondering if he's just lonely. We keep him in the living room so he's always around people ,so he's not secluded or anything. I duno I'm lost..
One last thing and I swear I'll shut up, he does this often to me I'm saying its a sign of aggression.. anyone elses bird do this?
why not talk to a bird vet, or the mspca for advice. the bird may be stressed
out. hope, there is always. getting another bird no. i had a loved Bichon who did go while I did hold her, my other dog, is upset. yes, to get a puppy, I said no. why she is 7, and I also, am not so sure about puppy dog training.
do you have a dog, birds, and dogs do bond. me, no to a bird, a dog, only if,
it helps! check out pets for adoption, many older dogs, bond, they have lost
their family, and soon become the best of friends. read bird fancy, they also have dog fancy magazine. if your bird was lost, had a family, it is missing them.i had a canary, sam, when I went to the cleaners they had a yellow bird, I went home, and, was told I could have a song bird. I was so happy, I went, and got the best gold cage, for sammy, I had my honda moon sports car, and went to get my bird! Sammy, was not yellow, only a brown, who sang his heart out. when sammy came home, the look, no, sammy is not yellow,
but has the golden cage. One day sammy was out, when I was do my clean the cage, and off he did go Yes, I did post this.
What did I do, I did forget to close the cage. Happy endings, Sammy came home, the next day to his big golden cage.I was also told, he went off to die?, and a small canary will never return home!
You do care about your bird, just read, and ask a vet. maybe get a bird recording cd or tape so the bird does listen. if it helps, since the Bichon, I do not have, Brina, is at age 7, just not happy. I leave, she barks, I do now crate her, and give her the the dog chew bone, she never did this to this extend. yes, she does miss angel!
Last edited by maggiekate; 09-20-2007 at 07:13 PM..
I've talked to a vet and they're the ones who told me to wrap him in a soft towel and pet his head and talk to him, but he didn't like it. I do have dog he's 1 , my other dog recently was killed while I was on vacation, the people watching her had a hole in their screen and she got away and was hit by a car. I had her for 16 years. The bird bonded to neither.
The vet is recommending a technique called "towelling" which is really intended for a different purpose with birds.
First I'd recommend finding an AVIAN vet if yours is not one. They are not plentiful, so it's possible you may not even have one in your town, but regular visits with an Avian vet is very important. You want to have one lined up before there's an emergency. They can also assist you with all the behavior issues and clear the bird for any health issues which may be the source of the behavior.
Assuming it's not a health issue, your cockatiel sounds like he's being cage agressive/possessive - not unusual at all. Here are some tips to help with that:
*When you place your hand to your bird for him to step up on it (and saying "step up"), lightly press your hand into his belly a bit, this will prompt him to move his foot up onto your hand. He may bite you the first few times - don't react at all - just repeat gently "step up" and press ever so lightly into his belly again. The biting WILL stop if you don't react.
*Take your bird to a quiet, unfamiliar room, close the door and sit with him for 5 minutes at first and build up to 15 minutes day-by-day. Being away from the cage (it is out of sight) and being in an unfamiliar place will force your bird to rely on you for safety and so the bird will bond with you and develop deeper trust .
I would hold off on towelling until you can resolve the cage aggression issue. Towelling is primarily used to desensitize the bird to the restraint used whil at the vet's office......it doesn't serve much other purpose beyond making the vet visits easier on the bird and the vet.
Also, Bird Talk magazine is an excellent reference if you haven't checked it out already .
wonderful thank you for the advise, I honestly didn't think about the cage aggression, he even attacks the chain that his cage hangs by and any toys in his cage.. I'll bring him to another room though and see how he does with that!
We had a very mean one years back. We tried everything from the towel to therapists. We found out that the breeder that sold us this fellow, sold us one of her old worn out breeders. You might have someone's aviary bird and he will just about die before he warms up to you. We kept ours for 10 more years, let him live his miserable little life. We bought a baby the next go around. Have you considered buying the bird a mate and feeding some babies? It is fun. Best of luck, it is a beautiful bird.
wonderful thank you for the advise, I honestly didn't think about the cage aggression, he even attacks the chain that his cage hangs by and any toys in his cage.. I'll bring him to another room though and see how he does with that!
Attacking the chain and toys I would not worry about - that's an appropriate form of aggression.
One of my birds, a Conure, beats his toys to death, he screams at them, and he has even yelled at them in English (he knows a few words) ! I burst out laughing hearing him tell his toys "Don't Bite!" and "Up, Up!" - it was hysterical !
We have to remember birds go through hormonal periods throughout the year. Male birds can be especially aggressive during peak hormonal times. There are times where for a few weeks I'll get some heavy 'attitude' from my little guy, and then he'll cool off and be his sweet self again. Unlike dogs and cats, we can't spay/neuter birds, so we have to put up with their hormone fluctuations.
Another thing that parrots do - and I'm not sure of cockatiels do this too - is that when they are feeling aggressive, instead of biting you, they might do something else with their beaks. They might rub them on your arm/shirt or they might chew on your t-shirt a bit. They are trying to control their aggression this way, so it's acceptable to do a little t-shirt chewing .
You can turn this biting problem around, I'm sure of it .
We had a very mean one years back. We tried everything from the towel to therapists. We found out that the breeder that sold us this fellow, sold us one of her old worn out breeders. You might have someone's aviary bird and he will just about die before he warms up to you. We kept ours for 10 more years, let him live his miserable little life. We bought a baby the next go around. Have you considered buying the bird a mate and feeding some babies? It is fun. Best of luck, it is a beautiful bird.
Aw, that's sad .
Cockatiels are very smart birds, I really feel just about any bird can be worked with, some just take a very long time.
My husband and I have been patiently working with a rescued African Grey for the last few years and she is worlds away from where she was when we adopted her. We still have a long way to go, but since Greys live 50 or so years, we have nothin' but time !
I have experience with exotic birds. I owned a blue and gold macaw, double yellow headed amazon , red lord amazon and yellow nape amazon. Along with a jenday conure and 2 cockatiels. Cage aggression is very common, and as stated above it may have been a breeder, if that is the case it will be very difficult to bond with this animal. Are his wings clipped ? if not get them clipped, if has full flight it may enhance aggression. When interacting are you trying to pet it at his cage ? If so make a perch with a few small wooden dowels. Take him to a neutral place that is not his territory and put him on the floor. Sit on the floor and let him run around , you may be able to interact at this point. Approach with the back of your hand, slowly , never just stick a finger at a bird, you will get a bite! Always keep your eye level higher than the birds, do not put it on your shoulder. If the birds vantage point is higher than you line of sight , it will trigger aggression. Dominance will come from the bird being higher than you. To have this bird bond with you, you are going to need to take one for the team. Meaning you are going to take many bites, in time the bird will turn around if you are consistant with your methods on the floor and the time you spend with it. I worked at a zoological park in SW Florida for 3 years in the avian department, I am by no means an expert on avian behavior but my experience dealing with many large species ( and yes being bit more times than I care to remember ) tell me that this can easily be fixed but you will need to interact every day. When you watch t.v. let the bird sit on the couch with you and run around, sing along with the radio for the bird, when you shower put him on the towel rack in the shower and sing to him while gently letting him get wet, etc. All of these things will make him more likely to want to be around you. Good luck
Last edited by Old Man Winter; 09-23-2007 at 08:29 AM..
Reason: typo
Cockatiels are very smart birds, I really feel just about any bird can be worked with, some just take a very long time.
My husband and I have been patiently working with a rescued African Grey for the last few years and she is worlds away from where she was when we adopted her. We still have a long way to go, but since Greys live 50 or so years, we have nothin' but time !
My aunt used to give him a stern little thump,,,,I'm serious, not enough to rattle his little pea-brain, but like a mama cockateil would do to scold or correct him. Enough of this p.correctness, like a 'time out' animals dont understand that. The mama gives him a nip, shove or a smack to let him know that "no" means NO, dont do that, "I'm the alpha here", and you stop that! bad bird~
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! I burst out laughing hearing him tell his toys "Don't Bite!" and "Up, Up!" - it was hysterical 
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