Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

I need help with my angry cockatiel.

New to the parrot forum? Introduce yourself and your flock to us.

I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Smokey_Birb » Fri Feb 28, 2020 4:01 am

Hey all, my cockateil is about a year and a half old, and he has been very aggressive towards me. He will bite me and this morning he flew at me and attacked me. I don't know why he just started to do this, but I think that he is mad at being left alone in his room, we moved him there after a part we had and my family still wants him in there apart from me telling them it wasn't a good idea. Or could it just be him getting hormonal, angry or something that we will need to wait for him to pass on. I really need help because we are thinking about giving him away to my friends aviary and I feel he will get hurt emotionally. I want whats best for smokey, my fingers and my face.
I live in Australia so the seasons are flipped

~Smokey and Zephyr
Smokey_Birb
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel
Flight: Yes

Re: I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Pajarita » Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:44 am

Hi and welcome to the forum - Smokey is your bird's name, right? Anyway, yes, he must be super angry because, in my personal experience, there is no species of parrot that is sweeter than cockatiels. They are so sweet that even when they are not handfed, they will not try to bite you when you have to towel them or hold them for whatever reason so, for yours to actually attack you, there is something VERY wrong with his life. I am not blaming you, mind you, I am just stating my opinion based on my personal experience (I don't have any tiels right now but had a flock of over 30 of them for years).

Now, I don't think that hormones are an issue UNLESS he is not kept at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk because, in the Southern Hemisphere, you are going into fall (I was born and raised in South America) but, if you free-feed protein food and little else and you have kept him at a human light schedule all his life because the long days and high protein added to the fact that he is now sexually mature and all alone all day long, would most definitely create a chronic anxiety and sexual frustration in him. Why was he put in a room by himself? Was it because he was vocalizing too much? They are not loud but, when they are alone and hormonal, they call for a mate almost incessantly and that can get on anybody's nerves.

What you need to do is get him a mate (do you know for a fact it is a male?) because cockatiels are what we call an 'aviary species' which means they need the company of other birds of their own species to be happy, and put them together in a LARGE flight cage, feed them the right diet (which means you cannot free-feed protein food) with lots of greens (they love greens) and keep them at a strict solar schedule with good quality full spectrum lights for during the day (but make sure you ONLY turn them on when the sun is already streaming into the room and to turn them off when the sun is halfway down to the horizon in the afternoon/evening). You are in luck because the process of adjusting his endocrine system is going to be short as they days are already getting shorter where you are and he is VERY young. Once he stops making sexual hormones and has 24/7/365 adequate company (and I say 'adequate' because, let's face it, a human cannot give them what they need from another bird) and the right diet, you will hardly hear a peep out of him and he will become very content and comfortable and will stop attacking you.

Let me know if there is something that needs further clarifying.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Smokey_Birb » Fri Feb 28, 2020 6:55 pm

Thanks, This really clarifies a lot, he experiences sunrise but not sun sets. He doesn't have a friend in his cage so will it help if I get a cage buddy for him? He enjoys being out of his cage but since he doesn't have a mate he has bonded to me in that way and I think it's very unhealthy for him to "like" human. What kind of bird would I need to get, and what gender (he is a male), will the age of the new bird need to be similar to Smokey's?
Another option which my parents want, is that we give him to a friend of ours, he has an aviary full of about 10 cockatiels. I think in the long run he will be happier there but I know that he will feel betrayed.
Smokey_Birb
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel
Flight: Yes

Re: I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Pajarita » Sat Feb 29, 2020 9:05 am

Yes, he needs to be exposed to the sunset (without any artificial lights during or after the sun the goes down) to set his 'internal clock' and an adult female cockatiel would make his life 1,000 times better. As to whether he will be happy in the aviary with the other tiels… well, cockatiels ARE intensely flock oriented and always do better in a little flock BUT it all depends on the kind of care this friend gives to his/her birds. Are they kept at a solar schedule? Is the aviary large enough for all these birds to be able to fly? Is the aviary located in a place where there are nice windows for natural light exposure? Are the genders more or less even -meaning, are there enough females for the males or is it like 8 males and only 2 females or 9 females and 1 male? Are they fed right -meaning, no free-feeding protein and plenty of greens and some chopped veggies for them to eat? Are they being bred and the babies sold to whoever has the money? What I am trying to say is that, although all parrots do better with other parrots of their own species, the kind of conditions they live under is as important as whether they have company or not.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Smokey_Birb » Sun Mar 01, 2020 1:03 am

Thank you for the help, he is calming down more now, I have been putting him to bed earlier (sunset) and he is being a lot better now, I think spending the weekend with his has helped him as well. He hasn't been screaming and is very calm now. If he gets worse we will question our friend. I know that his aviary is outside of his house and he has small amounts of lighting at his door the cage is about 5m long 3m wide, 3m tall. So it should be large. Thank you again for the help.
Smokey_Birb
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel
Flight: Yes

Re: I need help with my angry cockatiel.

Postby Pajarita » Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:57 am

Glad I could be of help. Do not hesitate to ask any other questions you might have and, if you have the time, we would really appreciate an update in the future. We all love birds - ALL birds, ours, yours and the ones that are in the wild so when we find out about a bird having a problem, we love to hear that it's doing better. Thank you for worrying about him and for looking for help. Many people would not have done that so kudos to you! :thumbsup:
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


Return to Introductions

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store