# Help with biting PLEASE! :cry:



## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

I acquired a cockatiel baby. I was told that he/she is approx 6 weeks old. It flutters around but doesn’t fly properly, the crest feathers are just starting to come out. It is nibbling on food and drinking water. I do not have a bird cage, so we have converted an old fish tank (with high sides) into a playpen.

I looked at the wing sexing pictures and my one, the spots does not go all the way down the underside of the wing. So I think it is a male.

He was not hand raised, and was in a Avery up until 3 days ago. He wants to climb out of the playpen and run around the house. He’ll come up to you climb up your trousers and eventually settle on your neck, he also nibbles/feels/chews on your ears (very soft and ticklish). If he’s on the floor and you pick him up he growls but climbs up. He will happily sit like that for a bit on your hand or arm and then just turns growls, screams, bites (grabs & holds on) he has drawn blood quite a few times on both my husband and myself. We can’t figure out what triggers these attacks. 

I had a look at the bonding YouTube clips and will go get some of millet today.

How can I stop him from biting? What do I do when he bites?


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## chloe92us (Jul 12, 2011)

I'm sorry I don't have any tips except it will take time to build trust, and hopefully he will stop. Just wanted to say he's so cute! Are you having to hand feed him?


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## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

Thank you, I'm trying but he is not really taking from the spoon. I will keep trying and hopefully he'll settle soon.


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## CharmedWolf (Oct 10, 2011)

Aww! Hes so cute! I think hes a male as well, but Im not sure. If he bites hard, and or holds, give a little 'quake...' But.shaking your hand or wherever he is. I know hes a baby, but try not to let him nibble. It might lead to more powerful bites in the future. A sharp 'No' will usually distract them to. If the following dosent work, give him a time out in his cage, and pay him no attention for a smount of time. (Like you would with a child.) Birds are flock animals, and solitary punishment will teach him that its not ok to bite. The trust excersize sounds like a very good idea. Im sure he will stop his bad behaviours onve you bond and train with him. Hes just so adorable! Good luck with your little cutie!


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## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

OK, he is not interested in the millet and took a chunk out of my hand tonight!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

What about sunflower seeds? Does he like those?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If he's really just six weeks old he probably isn't fully weaned. Are you sure he's getting enough to eat? He could slowly starve to death if he isn't fully capable of feeding himself. The food issue is the most important thing here. If he isn't fully weaned yet and isn't handfeeding, it's a slow-motion medical emergency. It would be safest if he could be given back to his parents for a while. 

It would be difficult to teach a baby this old to accept handfeeding if he has no previous experience with it. Holding millet spray in your hand for him to nibble on will help with bonding as well as encouraging him to eat. He might have to be taught first that millet spray is food, by putting a piece in the cage for him to experiment with. Once he has a little experience eating from your hand, it might be easier to get him to accept handfeeding formula from you.

It's unusual for a handfed baby to bite hard. They're normally very gentle and will only bite hard if they're seriously frightened. I don't have any experience with parent-raised chicks so I don't know how prone they are to biting. But whenever a bite occurs, stop and think about what just happened and try to figure out what triggered the bite. Then try to avoid setting off that trigger in the future. The baby is biting for a reason and we don't know yet what that reason is.

His crest feathers look like they've been clipped off, probably by one of his parents. Shodu likes to play barber with her babies so I know the look. 

A six week old baby should be able to fly properly. Does he have all his wing feathers or has he been clipped? If you're not sure, you can post a picture and we'll tell you. It's hard to tell from the picture, but from what I can see it looks like he's clipped.

He's adorable BTW!


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

That is such a cute baby cockatiel!


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## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

If I look at his crest it is mostly new hard feathers coming up, he only has a few ‘proper’ feathers that are complete. His wings are not cut and he is in an open top playpen and cannot fly out, so I take that as he can’t fly. 

He eats the Premium Cockatiel Food from Pets at Home and he is starting to eat some fresh fruit. He drinks water but will not take any formula, millet or anything out of your hand.

He seems to be very scared, he growls at everyone and everything. If I lie flat on the floor and he walks onto my hand, he would stop and stand still for a few seconds and then just start to bite my hand (and draw blood). He did the same thing with my sons’ toy train today, surely the train can’t do anything to him?!


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

You can try and give him longer sleeping hours and covered
im giving mine 14 hours to reduce their hormones


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## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

Thank you, I will give it a try.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It sounds like he might be fully weaned since drinking water from a bowl is one of the last self-feeding behaviors to appear - chicks that are being fed by a parent or human get their liquids from the baby food. So it's very possible that he's older than six weeks. But unless he's several months old, he is too young to be hormonal and the long nights treatment won't help bring his hormone levels down. Although it might help if he isn't getting enough sleep and is cranky as a result.



> He seems to be very scared, he growls at everyone and everything. If I lie flat on the floor and he walks onto my hand, he would stop and stand still for a few seconds and then just start to bite my hand (and draw blood).


I think the fear is the real problem. He's afraid of you and is bold enough to walk onto your hand and rudely tell you that he wants you to leave. It might be helpful if you back off and give him more time to get used to you before you put yourself in a situation where he has an opportunity to bite you. Act as trustworthy as you can, and try to arrange things so he starts to welcome your presence. For example, if he likes sunflower seeds don't put them in his food cup to eat whenever he wants. Keep them as a treat instead, and drop one in the cage every time you approach and make sure he sees you doing it. As he becomes more relaxed and interactive, you can gradually work up to having him take seeds from your fingers with the bars between you, and then directly from your hand with no bars in between. Don't use punishment-type techniques, those will interfere with the trust-building process.

A lot of pinfeathers in his crest indicates that some of his crest feathers were plucked out, probably by the same parent who clipped the feathers that are already there. Pinfeathers can be itchy and/or painful, which wouldn't help his mood any. A nice mist bath can help him feel better, but don't do it if it frightens him. The job of trying to build trust is big enough already, and you can teach him to bathe after he's learned that your intentions are basically good.


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## smokeyj (Oct 16, 2011)

Thank you, I'll make sure he gets some more sleep. 
How old do you think he is?


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I don't know. There isn't an easy way to tell, and it's possible that he really is six weeks old and just weaned earlier than average.


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