# Screaming/biting tiel



## sh.adz (Jul 7, 2012)

I've had my Young tiel Sariya for a while now, and think we have bonded quite well, but still have a few issues. one of the biggest right now is his screaming, he's fine whenever I'm in the room with him, he'll whistle happily and play with his toys, but whenever i leave the room, he starts screaming, getting louder over time, i can be just outside the room and he'll start. My housemates have told me when i go out, he screams loudly until i get home and give him snuggles. My housemates are starting to get annoyed with it and i really don't know how to stop it, any help would be appreciated. 

He also has an issue with being all snuggly, wanting kisses on his beak, head and back, but can get really nasty with hands, running across the desk just to have a bite, the issue is only when i put him down, if he's on my hand he's all cuddly and demanding scritches and kisses. 

When he bites, i've tried putting him back in his cage for a timeout, which hasn't made any difference, and i've tried telling him firmly 'no' i have noticed tapping on my keyboard works for a short period of time, he just starts whistling in beat with the tapping or making kissy noises, but a few minutes after i stop tapping he goes back to his normal aggressive behaviour. 

I also wonder, with Paulie, my other tiel, because he's a massive biter, still working on trust after a hiccup in his progress, could Sariya (the baby) have picked up his biting habits from watching Paulie? And he has past his first Molt, but still has a few of his pearls, so wondering if he's getting ready for another molt? i don't know lol any help is appreaciated. 

He is also on long nights treatment, has been for a while​


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Sometimes the long nights treatment doesn't always work to reduce hormonal aggression and that's what the biting sounds like.

As to the screaming, when you first leave the room, that's flock calling, respond back so he knows where you are. When you leave the house, it might be best to cover him so he doesn't scream for you. Does he play with toys or anything? Some tiels will scream from boredom. Maybe give him some millet or a treat stick before you go out and see if that helps.

If he had pearling as a baby, it takes more than one molt to lose ALL the pearls. My Fuzzy didn't lose all his pearl tail feathers til after his 2nd molt. And he still has the occasional pearl on his back.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It sounds like he's overly dependent on you and needs to learn how to entertain himself when you're not there. Here are some suggestions that might help.

Find a special treat that he really likes, for example sunflower seeds or millet spray. Give him this treat only when you're about to leave the room, but when you do give it provide enough to keep him busy for a couple of minutes. Put the treat in the cage, wait for him to take a bite or two, then leave. If he calls after you, answer back once or twice but then stop. Hopefully the treat will draw his attention away from looking for you.

Start teaching him to entertain himself when he's out of the cage but not sitting on your hand. You can put a treat on the tabletop not too far away from you for starters, or find a toy that he really enjoys and only give it to him when he's not sitting on you. It doesn't have to be an "official" toy, it can be some old newspaper for him to chew up. You can make some moves to get him involved, for example holding the toy up to attract his interest, but don't interact with him too much. The idea is to teach him that he can have fun without any help from you. Once he's learned this, some entertaining toys in the cage will help keep him occupied when you're not there.

The first rule for dealing with biting is to AVOID THE BITE. Don't give your birds the opportunity to bite you, and try to avoid doing things that make them want to bite you. This includes providing a pleasant distraction for the bird who bites when you put him down, so that he doesn't mind being put down. These sticky threads might help with the other bird:

http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=28661
http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=33824


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## sh.adz (Jul 7, 2012)

Thankyou for your replies 

As to the covering, he doesn't really take well to it. I've tried a thin sheet, but he picks at it and tries to eat it, if you know something i could use that's safe, i would have to gradually get him used to being covered. when fully covered he tends to kick up a fuss flapping all around his cage and knocking into the bars. 

For the boredom, he has toys in his cage, recently a new pet hospital/supply shop opened and they have a huge range of birdie toys, so i've been expanding on his toy collection so i can regularly give him different toys to play with. But i did recently accidently break his favourite toy, he doesn't play with the new ones as much. He plays alot on his swing, hanging upside down and such.

I will definitely try the newspaper, to give him something to do when out of the cage, i was also thinking of getting a 'clicker?' if i can find one and maybe start teaching him some little tricks so he has something to do, because he already waves with his foot just before stepping up. 

Avoiding the bite can get hard, especially when he decides to take control of the keyboard, but i will definitely try that. hopefully the newspaper will keep him busy. 

And thankyou for the links for other other bird, i have read through them before, and i have made a lot of progress with him since starting, i just think he's one of those birds that take longer to tame (he's been abused in the past) and i think he is also very cage aggressive. Burt can be a very sweet bird out of the cage, I'm just taking things slow with him, he's very sensitive, one wrong move can put him back a few steps. 

Thankyou for the advice, i will try whats suggested and hopefully will find something that works ​


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

> i was also thinking of getting a 'clicker?' if i can find one


Any large pet store should have them. They're usually hard to find because they're small, but if you ask a clerk where the dog clickers are they can lead you to them. Last time I checked they cost about $2.

You can do positive reinforcement training without a clicker of course, or use something else to make the click sound (like pressing the button on a retractable ball point pen). I prefer to make the click sound with my mouth. It's hard to juggle a clicker, the reward treat, and any props that you're using. Ditching the mechanical clicker makes life easier. Some people think mechanical clickers are better because the sound is more consistent than a mouth click, but I'm not convinced that it really makes a difference. 



> Avoiding the bite can get hard, especially when he decides to take control of the keyboard


There are at least two ways to do this: (1) lure him away from the keyboard with something more interesting, or (2) ask him to step up onto a perch that you're holding in your hand, instead of stepping up directly onto the hand. He can bite the perch as much as he wants to and no harm will be done. If he uses the perch as a direct route to your hand, you can come up with a way to shield your hand. There might be other ways to get him off the keyboard without getting bitten, you just have to get creative.


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## sh.adz (Jul 7, 2012)

Oh, they're dog clickers, i think that's where i've gone wrong, looking in the bird section, silly me lol. he enjoys millet, so i might try that to get him away from the keyboard. 

Thankyou for all your advice, I'll try it out this afternoon after he finishes his Birdie fruit salad snack


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