# Biting/Lunging



## sports0705 (Jan 24, 2009)

Hey everyone. I will start off with a little background. My cockatiel is about 10 years old. He is extremely attached to me, but loves being held by anyone and everyone that comes into my house. He sings to almost every female he sees and wishes he was out of his cage every second of the day. Up until a few years ago, he would rarely bite, and it would never be too hard when he did. The past couple years, he will attack anyone that tries to take him from me and will attack anyone (including me) that tries to put him back in his cage. Even more recently, he will sometimes be sitting on people's shoulders and without any warning start lunging at, hissing at and attacking their ears and neck. I just recently found out that this happens more often when I am at the house (my bird is at my parent's house and I have lived away at school). Does anyone know what is causing this, and maybe anything I can try to fix it? All I can find is tricks for young, untrained birds. I appreciate any help. Thanks!

P.S. I apologize if this has been covered a lot on here. I did a search and with a quick overview did not see much that was too similar.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

It sounds as if your bird is doing what is known as "Control Biting". At some point when this started someone must have pulled away when your bird either bit them or even just attempted to sturdy himself when he was getting ready to step up. He has learned that biting gets a response. It may well be the desired response. Judging from his age it is reasonable to believe that he is attached to you and has grown territorial about you. I imagine that at some point he learned that biting had the effect of having people leave him alone. So That could explain he's biting when people try to take him off you. It could be that he is trying to tell you that he doesn't want to go back home when he bites when you try to put him back in his cage. I would save a special reward that he only gets when he goes back into his cage. As far as biting when he is sitting on someone shoulder goes, there must be something going on that he doesn't like. Maybe he's getting tired, maybe he's hungry, maybe he's hormonal! At this point he knows that biting gets a response. If you respond by pulling away or even by saying ouch it reinforces the behavior.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

A little food bribery might help you adjust his attitude. I'm going to assume that he loves millet spray - most tiels do. When someone wants to take him from you, they should be holding up a bit of millet spray. They can let him take a couple of bites while he's on you to get him interested, then hold it so he can see it but can't get it unless he steps onto them. Same thing with putting him in the cage - get him interested in a treat then arrange it so he has to go in the cage to get more of it.


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## sports0705 (Jan 24, 2009)

We tried that a couple years back, and once he gets in that mood, he attacks anything (including the millet). We would think he has finally calmed down, and then once we go near him, he lunges again. His favorite food is noodles, and even that doesn't seem to work. Once I actually move back in and have more time with him, I will attempt it again.


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