Hyperactive/misbehaving tiel- any tips?

[Eric&Rebecca]

Hi everyone,

Our little Eddie seems to be changing to what I can only describe as a teenager.

He sings for hours and hours on end which is fine and quite pleasant as he is a nice little singer but recently he has started getting very protective over me and he will sometimes hiss at my partner if he sits next to me. He also taps my head with his beak and does an eagle impression while sitting on top of it. He's also started playing with my pony tail and serenading it with his wings in a heart shape and doing little dances with chirps. He's also started doing this screaming thing every now and then and also being deliberately louder than usual, mostly when playing with his toys. We know that some of this is normal tiel' behaviour and we try to control his noise levels when it gets too much by gently hushing or making the rest of the room very calm and quiet. If this doesn't work we cover his cage partially for ten minutes till he quietens, this is something recommended in a cockatiel behavioural book we read.

He eats well and has plenty of out of cage time, the cage door is open as soon as we are home and also in the morning while we are getting ready. We also take the time to do exercises with him and entertain him with contact time my partner is home most days so he has plenty of human contact even when he is in the cage.

We have noticed his face is getting more yellow feathers where he didn't have them before and his feathers are getting darker on his back. He hasn't lost a huge amount of feathers or any tail feathers but has had a lot of pin feathers and his crest has got much thicker and bigger. Could he be starting the first molt/reaching sexual maturity? We have noticed him shaking his tail feathers while rubbing his vent on his perch or toys and chirping. He's also started bobbing his head and tapping loads.

It probably is good to mention he's hand reared and trained by us from very young (11 weeks).

Any theories or tips on how to deal with this/ make him more comfortable during this transition?

[charlieandkiwi]

It definitely sounds like your has reached sexual maturity and has decided that you're going to be his mate and together the two of you will raise a wonderful family of humantiels. I personally think it's really funny when birds do this, but I have a pretty immature sense of humor.

On the mature side of things, I recommend calmly placing him in his cage when he starts displaying any of these mate behaviors. You don't want to lead him on If he regurgitates, starts trying to put on a mating display, or seems like he's getting excited enough to act aggressively, just calmly put him back. Take him back out when he's calmed down/forgotten about it.

As for the boyfriend issue, wait until he's calm and then have him step up on your boyfriend. Give him lots of praise (you and your boyfriend should be giving him attention for this, especially you. One huge mistake that a lot of people make that contributes to the one-person-bird is ignoring their bird while he's being held by someone else). Until your bird stops being aggressive, make him step up on your boyfriend and praise him for it in order to get to be held by you. A lot of people don't believe in punishing birds, but I have found that it's very effective to put them on the ground and tell them no if they bite. Then make them step up calmly on your hand to get back to their cage after a second of feeling insignificant on the floor. This doesn't physically hurt them at all (you shouldn't squeeze them or yell at them while doing this) it just puts you in a huge position vertically over them. In order to be effective, this needs to be consistent (every time the bird nips too hard), should be preceded with a warning "Kiwi- no!" and when the bird is doing everything right, he should be praised, so it's very obvious what gets him put on the ground, when he is heading in the direction of being put there, and when he is going everything right.

In my experience, just excitedly praising the right behaviors is 75% of the battle.

[GreenWing]

Agreed with charlieandkiwi, congratulations, it sounds like Eddie has chosen you as his mate! As charlieandkiwi suggests, when Eddie starts getting frisky, place him in his cage and distract him with toys and food.

I should share that I am experiencing this with Tiki right now, although she isn't "quite" at sexual maturity. She is practicing her dance moves and courtship behaviors, so when she acts up I have to discourage it. She gets ticked about it, too. Believe me she has ignored me for days as she feels rejected. These feathered beasts are so smart.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Hey guys thanks so much or your help. It's really helped. He's just started losing his tail feathers and has really kicked off with his molting. Since then his 'happy time' has diminished and if he does do it he now does it to his favourite toy!

[charlieandkiwi]

Hey guys thanks so much or your help. It's really helped. He's just started losing his tail feathers and has really kicked off with his molting. Since then his 'happy time' has diminished and if he does do it he now does it to his favourite toy!

lol! You're welcome. That's what my Kiwi did after figuring out that I don't like it when he tries to mate with my pony tail. At least he picked something that looked vaguely tail feather like. He now only masturbates with his hide-a-hut and only when the cage cover is over him. It's like he suddenly developed a sense of shame. It's kind of funny.

[GreenWing]

Hey guys thanks so much or your help. It's really helped. He's just started losing his tail feathers and has really kicked off with his molting. Since then his 'happy time' has diminished and if he does do it he now does it to his favourite toy!

Lolz

Oh, he'll be acting up again with you, trust! When I visited the avian vet, she was saying how "sexual" birds are... well, it's true! They are lusty beasts. Tiki cools off and then the next day she's doing a Pussycat Dolls dance routine on my shoulder.

Anyway, I'm always here for support! lol

It's like he suddenly developed a sense of shame. It's kind of funny.

That's hilarious