# Behaviour changes with age?



## Ezzie (Jan 19, 2010)

(warning: alot of text, please read carefully)

Hi all, Long time since i have posted here, But i'm at my wits end with Penny and i truly need some advice.

Penny is just over a year old (we assume, he was only a few months old when we bought him in June last year) and at first things were great. 
He was so soft in personality, so cuddly and best of all QUIET! 
He really was what i call my personal magnet and was the perfect companion, we really bonded right away 
He had the most outgoing personality and nothing would worry him, i hardly saw a skinny bird moment 

After a few months, i moved house and took Penny with me (while leaving my two other birds in care of my mother, 3 loud birds in a shared house would be too much and the others might not have liked it  ) and he became an only bird.

He steadily grew more and more attached to me BUT also developed a screaming problem when i left him in his cage while attending to other things in the house, This drew me insane but i just sucked it up and dealt with it, i tried my hardest to ignore the squealing and most of the time he would quiet down into songs and whistles. 

But there were other days it was just such a long time of this one high pitched flock call, i mean it would be on for 2-3 HOURS of this squeal, I would take him out then of the cage because when he is with me, he stops. I KNOW this is influencing the behaviour but sharing a house with others who are proberly not the best with birds, the last thing i needed was them asking for me to more, or get rid of Penny.

However right now the squealing (although annoying) is not the problem i have right now.

A little over a month ago, i moved house again. This time into my own apartment sharing with just my partner. I was able again to have all 3 of the boys together under one "roof". In the beginning Penny was his normal, clingy self and was still a soft little muffin, the only difference is he is now over a year old and i believe changing his personality due to this.

Latley he has been such a terror to take out, I mean, i want to take him out but his annoyance is getting beyond what i can tolerate and its really frustrating me. 
I would have him with me on the computer and all he wants to do it run around on the keyboard, bite the mouse cord, try to attack my fingers as i am typing and he just WONT SIT STILL. Its like im dealing with a bird who now has ADD. 
If i'm on the couch he is on a mission to pull the threads of the couch, run all over me, bite the remote buttons and again he wont sit still! Its as if he is always looking to get in the way or do something naughty.
He has never done this before we moved, WHY NOW??

The other issue is he seems less attached to me. Wether its because he now lives with two other cockatiels (who were his cage mates before moving twice) and bonded with them or because hes becomming an adult bird i don't know. 

I have tried to keep my routein as normal as possible and i try to take him out for "one on one time" as much as i can but his behaviour is just annoying me too much, i dont know where this frantic, won't sit still for 5 seconds thing came from.
he still gets cuddles, kisses and we whistle together which he enjoys.

Do you think he will settle down as he ages? 
Is he just going through an adolescant crazy stage?
Any suggestions of what i can do to calm him down again and make him less escentric?


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Hmm, sounds like he's right at that teenage stage that a lot (but not all) male tiels go through. Fuzzy went through it and he was just plain nasty, biting fingers, hissing, getting mad about every little thing. Hormone reduction techniques (long nights, less soft food, rearranging the cage) may help to calm him down some. And of course, he'll calm down with age as well. Hopefully he gets over this phase soon!

I know you said the screaming wasn't a big issue but have you tried covering him when he's screaming? And then once he stops the screaming uncover him and give him a treat? This will encourage the quiet behavior so he knows the screaming isn't appropriate (as tiels don't understand punishment but they do understand positive reinforcement.)


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## elliot (Jun 25, 2012)

Your tiel sounds exactly like my boy Sweep, Sweep was hand raised and so when I got him he was super tame, but that only lasted a couple of weeks, when he was about 3 months old he decided to be hyper active!  He is still super tame, but just likes to do his own thing a bit more now...

He does all the things you say about, he's pretty noisy and will chew and fiddle with everything in site... He is super confident and very cocky, when I hoover he chases the hoover round and tries to bite it 

He does come to me every now and then to have a bit of a tickle and preens himself for a few minutes then he is off again 

Sweep is currently just over one and although I did think this was his teenager stage I'm beginning to think this is just his personality... but I still love him for it anyway!  He makes me laugh so often with all his antics, though I do have to be sure that there isn't anything around he can damage, as for pulling the laptop apart I managed to stop him doing that by just pushing him off it and saying 'Oi' as well as making something else more exciting available for him to play with  
-Perhaps this could be an idea for your Penny, get him some really interesting stuff to play with on your desk or wherever, so although he might still be a bit hyper you at least know where he is...

Also as they age I think it is natural for some birds to become a bit less attached to you, at the end of the day when they are babies they need a role model and someone to feed them and watch out for predators and stuff, so they stay very near you, when they are a bit older they become a bit more confident and so don't need quite the same level of support 

I don't know if any of that helps, its just my experiences  Don't worry you're not the only one with an ADD bird!


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## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

*Hello. Can I start by saying I'm not having a go at you OK.
I'm writing this from the birds point of view 

Birds should not be let out unless they can have your complete
attention. Being flock birds they have no understanding of you 
being too busy to play. 

His behaviour out of the cage.
A flock bird does what others are doing.
Just as a for instance. The computer. You sit tapping away. 
This to a flock bird, is an invitation to join in. You push or shoo 
him away. 
How should he react to your mixed signals. Confused, upset??? 
He doesn't know that the trappings of your flat are not to be 
torn to bits while looking for interesting things to eat. 
It's your job to always be his favourite toy/playmate & not one 
who plays nice only sometimes. Letting him get into mischief
like a young child is asking to get the place remodelled 

In his cage.
Give him things he can destroy, like a Phone book. With treats
hidden between the pages etc. When your busy. 

His screaming. Only a bird used to being alone to amuse itself,
with his toys in his cage can be trusted to be relatively quirt.

Yours with good intentions....B.J.

*


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

The bird is probably being hormonal so once he gets to about 15 or 18 months he will likely revert back to the nice birdie you once knew.  I personally LOVE to have my birdies out on my shoulder or lap when I'm playing on the computer, reading, or doing homework. I recommend hormone reduction techniques to help out until he gets past his "birdie puberty."


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Grey did this to me too. The best way I found to distract him is to give him stuff to do during out of cage time. lol. Right now, they have the bottom of their playgym (pretty much a huge plastic shallow dish) and i filled it with millet, honey treat stick broken up in pieces, and nutriberries and covered it with all their favorite toys. they all go straight to it and move toys around to get to the good stuff. When i let them out and they take turns visiting me while the rest play. 

And Grey still loves me.. He just doesn't direct all his attention to me anymore. He's just rambunctious and is going in a thousand different directions. 

Hopefully, it's just hormonal and your birdie will calm down. Grey never did, but it's okay. I've accepted him for being a mean crazy nut.


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## marty10f (Aug 2, 2012)

Ha! While doing research for my new teil, I did hear about that bratty teenage stage.  
It's something you have to wait out until they turn back into their normal self.


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