# Angry bird?!



## Anniem (Jan 8, 2014)

Hello! Hoping anyone may have some advice. :grey tiel: Mojo is about 8 years old. Was a partial handfed bird. First 2 years, I had him, he was sweet and loving. Then, he became very aggressive and focused on nesting. He searches for anywhere to nest and masturbates often. When he is in cage, he sits on the bottom for half the day as if he is guarding a nest. He attacks if he is not ready to come out of his cage. He does not appear to be sick. He sings and whistles daily- he knows about 8 songs. HE loves superhero themes and Star Wars. smart boy! He whistles and when he comes out, he is happy for a bit while he eats...then he is off to search for a nest or reflection. He has been like this for years. He no longer allows me to pet him and he bites often. HE also screams while in his cage if he wants to come out. When he is out, he often continues to scream. Neighbors are not pleased! I have tried numerous things, changed toys, changed cage location, taken him to vets. I try to avoid letting him nest but he finds somewhere. He gets in a spot and makes cute chirps- then guards it. The "avian specialist" here told me that this is just his mood and stated that getting him a mate would make things worse. 

Despite his anger, we take him out often, he eats all meals with us. Just want to be sure he is happy. One vet said, some birds just change when they become adults. Sigh. It is manageable but impossible to find bird sitters for when I need to go on trips. Also, my husband is having difficulty with it as we get hissed at and bit often. And the screaming can get difficult some days when nothing seems to calm him, even coming out of his cage.
Not sure if this is relevant info but- About 2 years ago, i got a rescue lovebird. They are in separate cages and tolerate one another. This didn't appear to alter mojo's mood at all. 

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. You guys are a wonderful group. I am thankful to have found you. Thank you again. I hope I can be helpful to others as well.


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

He does sound hormonal. Have you tried longer night treatments?

Hormone control, and dealing with unwanted/unexpected egg laying - http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330

Also, when my tiel went through a really hormonal period, I bought a product called Herb Salad. You can find it at different places but I got mine at mysafebirdstore.com. It's a bunch of different herbs. It says birds can "self-medicate" and pick out different herbs, etc. that they need. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but after 3 days of him picking at it, my tiel calmed down a lot.

Also, does he have a mirror or anything like that in his cage that can be causing issues?


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## eduardo (Jan 27, 2012)

I would also suggest long nights treatment. By that I mean about 14 hours of undisturbed sleep time. It usually helps my Tony when he gets into his hormonal moods. The change won't be immediate, it might take a week or two for him to start calming down if he responds to the long nights treatment.


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## Anniem (Jan 8, 2014)

So happy for the responses!!! Thank you for the good ideas! I will try and get him longer sleep time ASAP. Also will look into the herb mixture. I appreciate that. 
He has no mirrors in his cage but he finds reflective surfaces when he is out and about. Clever bird! 
I'll keep you posted on how this goes!


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## LaurulCat (Jan 4, 2014)

I disagree that getting him a mate would just worsen his behavior. In truth, a mate would refocus his attention and allow him to fulfill his instincts.

My BFF has a cock tiel named Noel. Noel became more and more aggressive with my friend and started with broody behavior like sitting on the bottom of the cage with his tail up the bars as if on a nest. As a way of controlling his aggression, I lent my friend one of my hens and Noel became a different bird; a devoted mate to Mindy. Yes, he still had some aggression, but it was much more manageable and was very predictable as it had to do with his defense of Mindy and her eggs. 

Noel is once again social with my BFF, no longer a bitey bird, and he is much, much happier. We manage the eggs by sterilizing them with refrigeration and replacing them in the bottom of the cage so we do not have babies. Mindy and Noel are very happy and mate often.

It is obvious your bird is obsessed with reproductive instincts. I feel it is better for for the mental and emotional health of the bird to allow him to realize his needs.


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## Anniem (Jan 8, 2014)

Unfortunately, I could not get another bird here. Though i wish I could get Mojo a mate. I believe he would be happier. 

The neighbors are complaining about his screaming recently. we have been warned that we may be fined.

We have always covered him for about 10-12 hours, i recently darkened the cover to see if that will help. He screams to get out and as soon as he is out of his cage, he wants no interaction from us. He attacks and tries to bite so he can get to the floor or couch to try and nest. We do all we can to prevent it. In return, we have a very aggressive bird. I bring him out anyway...many bite marks and screaming. He still occasionally sings or will hop on my hand but in about 3 minutes he bites. 
The herb salad is on the way. I ordered it immediately- hope that helps. I also change his toys daily and often change the location of his cage to give him a change of scenery. I have been researching this and seeking help for years and trying new things. I am getting very down about it. My husband has been napping in the car after work to avoid Mojo and the screaming!
I have attempted to find him someone who would breed him with no luck. Most people say he is too aggressive. A bird sitter refused to watch him as well. 
Needing any support. Thank you all, you are awesome!


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

LaurulCat said:


> I disagree that getting him a mate would just worsen his behavior. In truth, a mate would refocus his attention and allow him to fulfill his instincts.
> 
> My BFF has a cock tiel named Noel. Noel became more and more aggressive with my friend and started with broody behavior like sitting on the bottom of the cage with his tail up the bars as if on a nest. As a way of controlling his aggression, I lent my friend one of my hens and Noel became a different bird; a devoted mate to Mindy. Yes, he still had some aggression, but it was much more manageable and was very predictable as it had to do with his defense of Mindy and her eggs.
> 
> ...


Like everyone says... every bird is different. Sometimes I don't think it's healthy for an overly hormonal bird to have a mate because you have to keep the second bird's needs in mind as well -- and if you get a second bird, she may want NOTHING to do with the first one.

When Elvis was hormonal, he started forcing our more passive female tiel Pineapple to mate with him. He would pin her down so she couldn't move, and she would make this terrible crying noise, and then they had a few eggs that hatched and she refused to take care of the babies, I guess because she didn't want them, and the babies died. (This was when the tiels were my BF's only, and he insists he tried boiling eggs but I guess he had a real knack for boiling the wrong eggs.)

The whole thing made us so angry because we hated seeing one bird treat another bird that way that we used to stick a hand in the cage, grab Elvis off of Pineapple, scream at him, and put him in a dark closet for "solitary confinement," which as we then-novice tiel owners have since learned was absolutely THE WRONG thing to do!!! (We still kind of think he's awful.)

Anyway long story short you have to keep in mind that if you get a second tiel to deal with hormonal/nesting behavior, it may not want anything to do with the first one and they may really hate each other. If you're lucky you may live in a place where smart breeders will let you return a bird who still does not get along with yours after a few weeks' trial time, but many people don't have that advantage.


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## caterpillar (Oct 14, 2013)

Anniem said:


> The neighbors are complaining about his screaming recently. we have been warned that we may be fined.
> 
> We have always covered him for about 10-12 hours, i recently darkened the cover to see if that will help. He screams to get out and as soon as he is out of his cage, he wants no interaction from us. He attacks and tries to bite so he can get to the floor or couch to try and nest. We do all we can to prevent it. In return, we have a very aggressive bird. I bring him out anyway...many bite marks and screaming. He still occasionally sings or will hop on my hand but in about 3 minutes he bites.
> The herb salad is on the way. I ordered it immediately- hope that helps. I also change his toys daily and often change the location of his cage to give him a change of scenery. I have been researching this and seeking help for years and trying new things. I am getting very down about it. My husband has been napping in the car after work to avoid Mojo and the screaming!
> ...


Your Mojo sounds a lot like our Elvis. He bites so hard he breaks the skin (we don't let him around children!!) and his screaming caused our neighbors to complain too, he once attacked the cat and we were concerned he might try to gouge her eyes out (yes, you heard that right, we are concerned our bird might kill our cat) and he also is so aggressive that he's impossible to rehome even though we have tried.

HOWEVER...we have gotten him to shut up. So that's a small victory.

Give Mojo 14 hours of darkness, not 10. Also, I'd recommend at least 3 hours out of the cage per day. We give Elvis 3 hours, and he does NOT like us, so we don't even try to play with him. I think it just helps him expend energy, even though all he really does is sit around and then fall asleep. 

I posted in a prior comment that getting him a mate may not be a good idea, which it sounds like you can't do anyway, so I guess that's settled.


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