# A LOT of beak grinding!



## Burgundy (Nov 23, 2017)

Hi everyone! I'm a new tiel owner, I've had Larry for 4 days now and he's super sweet! He's still very young he's 3 months old and I've noticed something in the past days I've had him. He grinds his beak a LOT!

I know this is supposed to be a good sign as it means he's happy and comfortable, but there's something weird about it. 

To put you in context, outside the cage he's a sweetheart. Let's me handle him, walk around the house with him and feed him treats, veggies and pellet straight from my hand. But inside the cage is a different story. Most of the time he hisses at my hand when I get it inside to grab his water or food bowl for example.

Now back to the grinding. A few minutes ago I changed his water cause he pooped in it. When I came back with the bowl and put it in the cage, his crest rose high and he hissed at me. After I had but the bowl back in, I got my hand out of the cage and barely even 2 seconds after that he started grinding his beak again. 

These moments happened a few times since I've had him. You can clearly see he's in a situation where he's nervous, either a sound or my hand or something that frightens him then he tries to fly away, I put him back on his stand and there you go he starts grinding his beak.

When he does grind his beak he seems pretty relaxed to me, it just seems a bit weird to me he does it so shortly after a stressing event. It seems a bit drastic... did any of you had a similar experience?


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## rivx (Mar 3, 2017)

My bird does this, too. I think its some self-soothing behavior, a sort of stim for birds -- like rocking in people. Also, a cage-aggressive or untame bird is usually pretty happy that your hands are gone. Its like a reward in itself.


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## Oztiel (Sep 5, 2014)

It is the nature of these birds to go from stress to relaxation very quickly. 
Quick movement especially in the cage is best avoided, as the crest shoots up and they are getting ready to flee. It is a hardwired reaction to a threat.
I need to change water a couple of times a day as the birds :dunk: their crumbles in the water and always spill some. Maybe they like mushy crumbles,who knows.

Each time my hands are in the cage I move slowly and talk to them."whose the naughty bird who made a mess" that sort of stuff.

Your bird can sometimes sound like a demented pepper grinder ,but that's okay, they are just chilling out. Matey likes to almost go to sleep on my shoulder but is grinding at the same time. It's completely normal,don't fret on it.


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## Burgundy (Nov 23, 2017)

Thanks guys! And don't worry I do move slowly around the cage and with my hand in it. I never actually frightened him to the point where he lunged at me or flapped his wing inside the cage. He's just wary of my hand when it's inside the cage and sometimes he's standing near the bowl I want to grab so when my hand gets close he hisses and slowly moves away from it. But I try to be careful not to frighten him.

And as for tameness, it's a handfed baby so he's pretty tame when he's outside the cage it's just a bit hard to get him out (I have to lure him with treats). The funny thing is, once he's outside, he only wants to be near/on me and when I try to get him back in his cage he doesn't want to. The irony lol.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Beak grinding is being content and relaxed so nothing to worry about there. He cage is now his territory Make sure to keep putting your hand in so it becomes both of yours and he will then be used to you putting your hand in. He’s also going to be quite wearing as his life has suddenly changed and he’s in a completely different house. He’s doing well from what you have said


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## Burgundy (Nov 23, 2017)

Thank you Fran. I also think he's doing pretty well! He's such a sweety, in the last two days he'd even step up on my finger inside the cage as long as there's some millet to lure him  He's already starting to get used to me. He's still a bit weary of his surroundings though he's always on high alert when he's not in/on his cage or his stand. He's so adorable though.


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