# Male has become EXTREMELY aggressive



## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

Hi everyone! I have some questions and I hope someone here might be able to help me figure this out.
My cockatiels have laid eggs, they have 3 (so cute!). At first the male was protective of the nest box and so was the female, I would consider their protection normal and their small aggression toward me also normal, after all they are supposed to protect their home. Recently though, the male has become VERY aggressive, he bit my husband and myself and he actually managed to draw a bit of blood from my finger. No big deal, but regardless it hurt LOL! 
His aggression isn't only towards us he is also very aggressive towards the female. At first they would take turns sitting on the eggs, and if she wanted to go inside the box he wouldn't mind. Now though, she can't go anywhere near the box, if she does he jumps out and starts biting her really hard. The time he bit me it was because I had to step in and get him off her. At night he will not let go in the box, my husband and I have to take him out of the cage so that she can sit on the eggs. We cover the cage and turn off all the lights, once he is relaxed we put him back in and he leaves her alone. If he hasn't relaxed completely and we put him in the cage he just goes into the box, hisses and makes her get out. I can see that she is a bit frustrated about this, she gets anxious and I see that she now fears him a bit.
My question is if this is normal behavior? Should I separate them? If he can't be with her anymore, would she be able to care for the chicks on her own? Could he be the same way with the chicks?
Both my birds are hand raised, I've had her since she was two weeks old and she very docile, and hug her and she doesn't mind. Now she tries to bite, but I understand it's her "momma tiger" instinct and I don't mind. He was hand raised but not completely by me, when he arrived he was almost weaned and I didn't hand feed him much. He hasn't always been the kindest of birds, but he was normal.
Sorry for the long story, and if you've read this far I thank you! I hope someone can give me some advice.
Thanks again!

Mimi


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Have you candled the eggs to find out if they're fertile?

It sounds like you might have a "bondage pair" where the male mates with the female because she's the only one available, but doesn't really like her. And now he has decided that the nest and eggs are his property alone and he is treating her as an intruder. 

Three eggs is not a lot so the hen should be able to take care of the babies by herself if her instincts are good and she immediately understands what she needs to do. But normally the male does more of the baby care than the female does, so it might be better to let them work in shifts, taking the "off duty" bird out of the cage to prevent fighting. Or even to remove the female from the cage and let the father raise the chicks as a single parent.

There are other people here who are more experienced with these problems than I am, so you might get better advice later.


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

Thanks! I learned something today  Whether or not what you suggested might be the issue, I will definitely follow your suggestions, I don't want either bird getting hurt, especially my female she's my baby  (Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but there is a little something about her).
After I read the "bondage pair" suggestion it actually made some sense, I've noticed that he wasn't really "into" her in the past, he just recently began to 
"scratch" her head, he never really wanted to do it before. The other male I had, which sadly passed away , I always felt was more "into" her. He always seemed like a weak bird though, and the male I have now is more secure of himself, so he became the alpha.
I would hate to have to separate them, or have to take the female out, she seems to be in love with her eggs. But if the male is more capable of raising the chicks on his own, then I might have to do that.
I have not candled the eggs yet, I really want to, but I'm scared to touch them. If the eggs are not fertile, what should I do? If they are, what should I do?
I'm sorry for all the questions, I just want to get as much information as possible, I want to do what's best for my birdies.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

If the eggs aren't fertile you can let the pair (or one bird from the pair) continue to sit on them until they give up, if you want to. It won't matter whether the pair or single bird takes good care of the eggs or not. You can also just simply take down the nestbox if it's causing problems

If the eggs are fertile then presumably you want them to hatch and taking down the nestbox isn't an option. If the arguments are all "bark" and no bite you could leave both parents together and keep an eye on the situation. If you're worried that the male will hurt the female, you will have to either let them tend the nest in shifts with the off-duty bird in a different cage, or choose one bird to be a single parent. Personally I would go with the shifts so that if one parent does an inadequate job when the babies hatch, the other parent will be there to take up the slack. But you know your birds and I don't, and if choosing a single parent seems like a better idea then that's the way to go.


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## Mimi0212 (Feb 6, 2012)

I just candled the eggs, I'm no expert on the matter, but from what I saw at least two of the three seem to be fertie (YAY! ). I am concerned about the female, but I'm going to follow the shift suggestion. It makes sense to have both of them take turns, it will be less exhausting. '
Thanks again for your help!


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