# Cockatiels Fighting



## Mackironi (Dec 9, 2016)

Hi everyone!
Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to explain everything well! 

I was looking for some advice for my situation. I have two _parent reared _ cockatiels called Gus and Gizmo. These two are not completely tame (I have taught them to step up onto a stick and they will take treats from me). 

Gus and Gizmo live in a cage together and are great with each other, the only squabbles they ever have are over a new toy or where they're getting to sleep at night - otherwise they are great buddies. 

I got a new cockatiel a little while ago who was _hand reared_ and recently I have introduced him to the other two birds. Both of them have been very interested in him, Gizmo especially who put on a full show whistling with heart wings while walking around the front of his cage. Gus seems interested but not to the same extent as Gizmo. 

This is when Gizmo started to get annoyed at Gus, if he came a bit too close Gizmo would case him away. This wasn't too bad though and I figured once the new bird (Binx) was out with them Gizmo would be okay with it. However I let them out together yesterday and if Gus is anywhere near them Gizmo has been attacking him from the air, pushing him off the cage and chasing him while attacking him. I currently only have 2 birds out at a time right now, Binx and one of the others but I really want to have all 3 out at once. Gus is not too bothered with Binx outside the cage but Gizmo follows him around and whistles to him. 

Inside the cage Gus and Gizmo are completely fine but outside of the cage Gizmo attacks Gus really badly. How can I prevent this?

:lutino:ied::tiel3:


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## SilverSage (Oct 19, 2014)

Amy chance your new bird is female?


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## Mackironi (Dec 9, 2016)

SilverSage said:


> Amy chance your new bird is female?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Im fairly certain he is male, the breeder was also pretty sure but there is a chance. He is only a baby still so hasn't molted or shown any sort of "male" signs like heartwings, loud whistling, beak rapping etc.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Regardless of gender, Gizmo apparently wants the new bird as a mate and is keeping the competition away. Hormone control techniques might help reduce the aggression: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330


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## Mackironi (Dec 9, 2016)

tielfan said:


> Regardless of gender, Gizmo apparently wants the new bird as a mate and is keeping the competition away. Hormone control techniques might help reduce the aggression: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330


Thank you! I will start with the longer nights and food reduction techniques 

I just have a question about the night time routine, I live in a small flat and I cant really put the cage in another room as they get too cold at night. I have a thick blanket that I put on their cage at night anyway but usually I am talking to my friends online earlier in the evening, will this be quiet enough for them to stimulate night time?


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## EllenD (Oct 9, 2016)

Yes, if you cover them and block out the light they should be fine. My larger birds sleep in my bedroom in their own sleeping cages, so I take them upstairs and put them to bed, then I come back downstairs and watch TV, play guitar, am on my laptop, etc. in my living room. This is where my 7 budgies stay in a very large flight cage. I come downstairs and put them to bed then, I cover them up with a dark colored sheet, either dark gray or black to block out the light but they can still hear everything, and they immediately go to sleep as soon as I cover them. You'd think they would wake up but they're literally dead weight, lol. I never hear a peep from them until I uncover them in the morning.

I read your post and immediately thought exactly what SilverSage asked you, that either Binx is a female, or if you've never had Gizmo or Gus DNA sexed either then it's possible that they are females, or any combination of the 3, lol. I would get Binx DNA sexed, either at your avian vet's office or you can order a DNA Sexing kit online, clip a toenail and put a drop of blood on the little card they send you, or some of them have you pluck a few feathers and send them. Either way it only costs between $20-$30 per test and only takes a week or two to get the results back. I would actually do all 3 birds if you don't know for sure, that way you won't have any surprise mating; Actually it's very, very important that you know if you do have any females due to the possibility of egg-binding. Female cockatiels are notorious egg-layers, even when they aren't mating they still have a strong tendency to lay numerous infertile eggs. So it's very important to know if you have any females because they should get a higher than average intake of calcium during hormonal/egg-laying times to help prevent becoming egg-bound. And if you know which birds are females you can watch them for signs and symptoms of getting ready to lay, not being able to lay, being in distress, etc. I have only ever lost one bird to egg-binding in 21 years of breeding, it was a female English budgie that was just a sweetheart and I took the same emergency measures I had taken with any other egg-bound bird I had in the past, it had probably occured around 4-5 times before, and every bird was fine and layer the egg after a little olive oil around their vent and laying in a pan of very warm water while in a steamy bathroom. But this last time she just couldn't pass it, I did massage techniques my avian vet had shown me, I even gave an emergency dose of hormones and muscle relaxers to induce he had given me to keep on hand just in case. Nothing helped, so I rushed her to the emergency animal hospital and waited for the avian vet on call to get there. They wouldn't let me put her in warm water with oil rubs while waiting for the avian vet and she started having horrible pain, so I chose to euthanize her before the pain became worse. So it's good to be aware of what you're dealing with, plus you'll know if any eggs she does lay suddenly may be fertile if Gizmo has a chance to interfere! 😁

If you follow a strict solar schedule as already mentioned it should calm Gizmo down a bit, it usually takes a week or two to start knocking them out of breeding mode. My only other advice is to make sure that you never let them out together (any combination of them) without them being fully supervised the entire time. Hormones can cause them to go crazy and do crazy things, I've unfortunately seen the results of hormonal aggression in jealous birds, and you just never know what they are going to do.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."


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## Mackironi (Dec 9, 2016)

Thanks Ellen, thats great advice, I think I will get them all DNA sexed ASAP. 
I'm only letting two out at a time at the moment and they are always supervised too. I'm so sorry about your budgie that sounds like a horrible situation. I'll try my best to prevent anything happening


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

When it comes to hormone control, the only thing that really matters is that it's dark enough where they are to seem like night. It doesn't matter if it's noisy or whether they're actually asleep, because it's the physical process of light hitting their eyes that signals the pineal gland and tells them it's the right season for making babies. 

It's a good idea to drape that thick blanket over your own head once and then look toward a bright light source to see how much light is actually coming through. A cover that seems very thick and heavy can let a lot more light through than you'd expect! If you think it's not doing a good enough job of blocking out the light, then putting another cover on top of it might help. It doesn't have to be pitch black inside the cage, just dark enough to seem like night.


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## Mackironi (Dec 9, 2016)

tielfan said:


> When it comes to hormone control, the only thing that really matters is that it's dark enough where they are to seem like night. It doesn't matter if it's noisy or whether they're actually asleep, because it's the physical process of light hitting their eyes that signals the pineal gland and tells them it's the right season for making babies.
> 
> It's a good idea to drape that thick blanket over your own head once and then look toward a bright light source to see how much light is actually coming through. A cover that seems very thick and heavy can let a lot more light through than you'd expect! If you think it's not doing a good enough job of blocking out the light, then putting another cover on top of it might help. It doesn't have to be pitch black inside the cage, just dark enough to seem like night.


Thank you! I also have another question, its very clear now that Gizmo does want to mate with Binx as he was trying to step onto him earlier today, however Binx is having none of it and doesnt even like it when Gizmo gets close and wards him off. I'm wondering if in the future (if Binx does turn out to be a female) will they only mate if they are bonded and Binx likes Gizmo, or will Gizmo force it anyway as I was hoping to cage them all together when Binx is older?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Usually, then hen picks who her mate is. Three is a crowd with tiels, which can cause issues in the flock. While they may not bond, they might end up mating anyway if Binx feels there is no other choice. http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=36810 this sticky has good info on bondage vs bonded pairs.


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