# Pip, the shoulder addicted 'Tiel.



## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi all,

So Pip and I have bonded pretty strongly. And it was a very slooow and very painful process (I've the bite marks to show for it....) He will gladly step up onto my hand/wrist (hates fingers though, still attacks them) and scurries up to my shoulder. He loves to be with us when we eat meals as a family, watch TV with me and hang out while Im on the computer.

We used to have a really good routine. I'd open his cage for an hour or two every morning and again for another hour or two every evening, and he'd hang about on his cage, climbing around, shredding shreddables, or just watching the goings on. I'd occasionally go to him and invite him on my hand and he'd scurry up to my shoulder where'd we hang out for awhile, then I'd return him to his cage.

Things are different now. Now when he is in his cage, he just sits on his food bowl at squawks or screams at me. When I open his cage he rushes right up and immediately flies to my shoulder. It seems he wants to be no where else; not in his cage, not on his cage, but on my shoulder. He is very grumpy when he is not there. It has come to the point where I am not offering him as much "open cage time" because I know he's going to fly to my shoulder and fight to stay there.

I really can't have (and do not want) a cockatiel on my shoulder all day long. Doesn't work for me. At all. I'm not sure why Pip is suddenly and habitually miserable anywhere but my shoulder, but I'd appreciate any tips as to why this is happening and how I can balance his out of cage time with shoulder time.

Pip is one year old.

Thanks in advance!


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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

I have some ideas I would like to share on this matter, but as with all of my advice please take it with a grain of salt.

It may help to establish a flock call with him so that when you leave you can reassure him that he hasn't been abandoned. I use a wolf whistle with Tweets so that any time he calls for me, I do it two or three times so that he knows I'm still near, but I don't encourage screaming by going to comfort him or reward him. I know it may sound harsh, but I'm trying to make reasonable boundaries.

Also, I would stick with a reasonable schedule and try to stay with it as much as you can. Maybe increasing his out of cage time in response to unwanted behavior is not a good idea as he may keep pushing for more and more time. A couple of hours in the am and then a couple more in the PM sounds okay to me.

It sounds like he has a lot, but increasing interactive toys/experiences inside the cage may help distract him. Foraging toys, or even a bath (if they like that and get it already) can help as they spend time preening and such afterward.

If you use a little tough love by not rewarding his screaming, just be sure to keep an eye on him that he is not plucking or anything. Not trying to alarm you, but it's a good thing to keep in mind. I'm not sure that cockatiel's are big on plucking anyway. I hope this helps. I know this must be very frustrating, but keep your chin up!


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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

I just want to say that I know someone else that this has happened to. It must be hard.


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Thanks for the tips!



tweetsandsarah said:


> It may help to establish a flock call with him so that when you leave you can reassure him that he hasn't been abandoned.


Yeah, I've done this with him, imitating his own flock call that he tought us. 

It works for a bit, but usually leads to more screaming, as in "I KNOW YOU ARE IN THE OTHER ROOM, WHY WON'T YOU COME AND GET ME, LIKE NOOOOOOOOOW!"



tweetsandsarah said:


> It sounds like he has a lot, but increasing interactive toys/experiences inside the cage may help distract him. Foraging toys, or even a bath (if they like that and get it already) can help as they spend time preening and such afterward.


He hasn't shown any real interest in his toys of late. I recently totally rearranged his cage with new natural wood ones and new toys and shredder strips to increase his curiosity in his cage...but he still just sits on his food bowl and naps or squawks until his cage gets opened. He bonded pretty fiercely (and aggressively) to a mirror toy awhile back, but we had to remove to because it turned him into a nasty bird.


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## Runnergirl (Mar 20, 2014)

I had a similar issue with Scurvy. It takes time and patience. It sounds like Pip may be confused as to whether you are her actual mate or just flock buddy. Both my guys at a year old or so got very hormonal...it's almost like the birdy terrible twos. Anyway I tried everything to get Scurvy to calm down. In the end I had to cover him every time he screamed until he stopped. If he started agin he got covered again. Now if he does, which is seldom, he stops almost immediately after he is covered. 
I know not everyone agrees with this technique, but I tried every other piece of advice I could find to no avail. As for the shoulder issue, if Pip is hormonal, you could try some of the hormone reducing techniques found on this forum. It may help to try doing some training as well. If you teach pip a reward comes for hopping off your shoulder, it may help. I was able to teach Scurvy to come when called, and to "go" back to his play top cage, and what "stay" means. Now he understands he gets plenty of attention but he does not get to demand it.
Hope this helps.


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

Thanks for the replies, all. 

Things have taken a turn for the weirder...and the worse. 

Yesterday morning, when I opened his cage for out of cage time, he climbed frantically to the top of his cage and immediately bolted to my shoulder (as he's been doing these past few weeks.) The only difference is this time he straight away attacked my neck, face and ears...hissing and flapping his wing the whole time. I was distressed and upset and confused. A few hours later I got over it and when time came for his evening out of cage time, the exact same thing happened. Needless to say, I'm a bit frustrated and at a loss.

I started 14 hour night time treatments last night. This morning Pips energy is frenetic and weird. No singing, only screeching and cage pacing, but I am not going to let him out of his cage this morning, or this evening unless he calms down. If two weeks of extended night time treatments don't help, we might have to reconsider our situation.

I'm pretty heartbroken about Pip. He's been a very challenging bird, and seems like no matter what I do for him it isn't enough.

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## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

Oh, I'm sorry :-(.


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

UPDATE: Until today, nighttime treatments seemed to be helping with Pip's behavior. Today, though, he started acting weird again. He did not sing when I uncovered him (he usually does) and after I opened his cage, he went up to a ring/bell toy and just started beating the crap out of it (he does this with toys, plays "tough guy" with them if he plays with them at all. He also hasn't payed much attention to his veggies this morning except to attack the bowl like a tough guy. When I went to his cage to talk to him, he bolted to my shoulder like he always does and started beating up on my neck and ear with his needle beak and claws. Like a tough guy.

It took some time to get him off my ear/neck shoulder and back to the top of his cage. My neck and ear are a bit red and sore, but no real damage was done except to my heart. 

Since then he's been pacing about his cage with his crest somewhat raised, looking for something to beat up.

I don't know if he's being overly playful or aggressive. But either way, I'm still at a loss as to what is prompting the behavior and how to work through it.

The past few days he's been sweet as can be. Today, he's back to being agitated and mean.




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## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

It's a tricky thing to examine, but there's got to be some sort of trigger whether it be hormones or something new or something he sees/hears. If you're looking for some corrective training, when he attacks you I would put him straight back in the cage and leave him in there for 15-30 minutes and then let him out again. Do this every time he attacks and then the first time he doesn't then he can stay out. I think it is a firm, but not harmful way to communicate that this behavior is unacceptable. Does that sound like it would work? I'm a little unsure I guess.
Overall, perhaps there is some music or sounds that you could play that would help calm him down. I believe someone posted a video with some sounds/music that is supposed to calm birds. I have not tried it since Tweets is never a wild child, but it could help along with the longer nights.
The only other suggestion I could make is trying to train him not to fly straight to your shoulder when he comes out. This could be a very difficult habit to break, but redirecting him with some treats and utilizing a strict schedule could help. It may even come down to not letting him be on your shoulder at all for awhile until he learns some new behaviors. I know the loudness must be very frustrating, but I think if you are persistent things will work out. The covering him thing could be a useful method. I know it's kind of harsh, but the attacking thing seems pretty drastic to me. I am sending you lots of supportive thoughts.

Oh! One last note... can vets treat birds for extreme hormonal...Ness? if it's the hormones then maybe they could give him something and you might both feel better. I dunno about that one though.


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## mareeder (Jul 31, 2013)

He's a weird dude. He bonds strongly to things; including toys and my shoulder. If he decides he like a toy (which isn't very often) he ends up playing with it pretty fiercely, and will just go and camp out by it. This is usually when he gets aggressive; kind of like "stay away, this is MINE MINE!" If the toy is on top of his cage, he'll go straight there after the cage is opened and pretty much stay there.

He also seeks out and bonds with (and protects) any shiny thing that he can find his reflection in. He has found one of the shiny nuts that holds his perch in place, and he'll go outside of his cage and jut sit there on the side of his cage and stare at it, or sing to it.





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