# Addicted to kisses?



## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

Arnie wants kisses ALL the time. I don't know if it's because he's still a 'baby' and because he can pretend my boyfriend and I are mum and dad and he is a chick. He doesn't open his beak like he's trying to eat food but he bobs his head and crows like a chick... in fact he sounds like a crow. It's so loud and sometimes he won't stop for aaaages. It doesn't matter if we stop or keep scritching/kissing him... If I ignore him he will climb up into my neck and poke his head up or get in front of my face and beg me. I know he's well fed, he eats a variety of foods.. he can't be hungry - in fact he's a little 100g fatty boomba... Is this "normal"? I like that he/she's so cuddly but seriously the crying gets ridiculous!! Will he grow out of it and are we encouraging this behaviour?


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## xSam (Feb 28, 2010)

Try only giving him cuddles when he is quiet. He won't grow out of it if you keep encouraging the idea that "The more i make a scene the more cuddles i will get"

Or have a little time out area for when he/she misbehaves??

What's causing it may be the fact that he/she figured out that to get attention is to make lots of noise.

kiwi figured out that when she was in pain i would give her overload of love and cuddles so with the tiniest pain she'll just randomly scream and run straight for my face to get cuddles.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

dally used to do this, its normal. they WILL grow out of it. they do it for attention if theyre eating good. i got dally when she was 8 weeks old. she stopped this after she was 12 weeks. every tiel is different though


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

Sounds like the baby wasn't fully weaned when you got it..
The breeder should have waited at least a week of it eating on its own before giving it away. How old was it when you got it? It usually takes between 8-10 weeks to fully wean, although sometimes longer.

What the baby is doing is called "static cry", the crying and bobbing of the head is because it is expecting you to feed it.

He will grow out of it..but poor bird is probably going through unneeded stress. That is the fault of the breeder though.
He probably isn't misbehaving or looking for kisses.


*EDIT:
I did find that this actually CAN be for attention. I posted more info before.*


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

What do you mean by unneeded stress? I don't want to do this to my newborns, so could you explain that more?


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

mpayjr said:


> What do you mean by unneeded stress? I don't want to do this to my newborns, so could you explain that more?


Ahhh let me correct myself. This begging behavior actually CAN be done by wanting attention or out of habit. I never heard it this way. I'm starting to do more reading on it.

Just watch his weight. 

Here is what I found:

"Making a judgement as to when to put away the handfeeding equipment - with a big sigh of satisfaction - involves a bit of close observation. Is a sufficient amount of the food offered being eaten and not just scattered about on the bottom of the cage? When the bird begs so piteously is his crop round and full? This would indicate that the begging is either out of habit or an attention getting ploy. With access to a gram scale weight can be closely monitored. For the pet owner, feeling a sharp breast bone through those fluffy feathers is an indication of too little food intake.".


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

Will this happen if I allow the parents to feed and care for the babies the first two weeks and then I start bonding with them?


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

mpayjr said:


> Will this happen if I allow the parents to feed and care for the babies the first two weeks and then I start bonding with them?


How do you plan on doing this? Are you pulling the chicks or are you co-parenting?

Honestly, I don't know if it will happen. I never really had a problem with my birds when I have handfed. Then again, the last time I handfed chicks before this clutch was 5 years ago. 
I know if you help make the weaning process easier and fun, it will make it less stressful for the chicks. 
I;ve heard that the chicks do that when they weren't fully weaned or weaned properly (usually were re-homed too early) and now i'm seeing this can be done out of just plain habit.
So when you do wean, just keep track of the birds weight daily to see if it is decreasing.


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

I want to co-parent. In other words, I want to allow the parents to do the parental job of taking care of the babies and making sure they are fed. All I really want to do is help them become accustomed to human companionship.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

I got Arnie at 8 weeks and he's now 12/13 weeks. Sometimes he is quiet but then as soon as I start scritching he starts up... We have our daily routine which includes a morning feed of cooked grains/sprouts/birdie bread or vegies whilst I eat my breakfast. If I am home we also sit down together for lunch. For afternoon when I get home he gets a pellet mash with vegies. He is also left with corn/vegies on a kabob during the day and pellets. He also gets treats occasionally. He has no problem eating! He has a special bowl he recognizes as his mealtime bowl and when I get it out of the cupboard he starts climbing from my shoulder to it.

It really does seem to be an attention demand but I was wondering if it were something else, will prob grow out of it like Dally 

Mpayjr, I think I would want to co-parent too, it seems more natural and perhaps the babies will be healthier...

Thanks guys


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

Belinda- your right it does feel more natural. In my opinion I feel it would also be better for their parenting skills too when they get older. I dont know its my opinion...


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## shelagh (Nov 2, 2010)

*Screechy Cockatiels*



Belinda said:


> Arnie wants kisses ALL the time. I don't know if it's because he's still a 'baby' and because he can pretend my boyfriend and I are mum and dad and he is a chick. He doesn't open his beak like he's trying to eat food but he bobs his head and crows like a chick... in fact he sounds like a crow. It's so loud and sometimes he won't stop for aaaages. It doesn't matter if we stop or keep scritching/kissing him... If I ignore him he will climb up into my neck and poke his head up or get in front of my face and beg me. I know he's well fed, he eats a variety of foods.. he can't be hungry - in fact he's a little 100g fatty boomba... Is this "normal"? I like that he/she's so cuddly but seriously the crying gets ridiculous!! Will he grow out of it and are we encouraging this behaviour?


Our family just adopted a 6-month hand-fed 'tiel, Machi Maru on Oct 11; I grew up with a pair of cockatiels whom I spent my adolescence and teen years with, so I felt I could successfully take in a new baby. Machi started out occasionally making the same screechy "crow" sound you describe when being petted. We thought it was cute at first, because she didn't do it all the time. She would sit silently on our shoulders for long periods, and is towel-potty trained. She would climb up our chests or arms to get at the mouth, mimicking feeding time, so we'd set her down to eat. The problem developed as we coddled our new pet over the first week or so. I now realize that I reinforced the bad behavior by allowing her to remain out of the cage demanding attention for longer periods of time than necessary; from what I've read it was a bad idea to allow her to be on the shoulder so much. I was also allowing her to boss me around with her diet; by offering her far too much, she was able to pick out her favorite things (imagine a kid at a buffet plowing away on the mac & cheese). Now it seems that she has associated the beg with feeding and cuddles, and incessantly screeches whenever you're around to feed or hold her. She was staying in a central location of the home when the problem developed, so I have removed her to a room just off of the generally trafficked area where people aren't constantly providing temptation to scream and screech for attention. I make sure to enter the room and praise her for being such a quiet bird (not silent, but not beg-squawking) after periods, and try to come in to provide new treats for foraging and, of course for mealtimes and bathtimes and cleanings. She obviously wants to cuddle (as do I), but you can't come into the room without excessive screeching, so I feel that I can't play with her much (lest I make her feel that screeching is OK). I'm afraid that she's bored or lonely. This could, however, be a result of the diet regulation I am beginning to enforce as compared to her previously sporadic diet. Has anyone ever experienced a similar problem with the screeches? Any advice would be much appreciated.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

yours is still young. dally did the same thing. she grew out of it. its a normal juvenile behaviour. dally did favour sunflower seeds but she eats everything now. i would guess that arnie and machi maru will grow out of it just the same way. i would personally just give her attention but not ALL the time. its normal behaviour. dally did it for scritches but she soon just grew out of it and suddenly stopped.


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