# Female aggressive with male



## sdriedger (Jun 14, 2010)

My daughter has two cockatiels, a male who is 12 years old and a female that is between 2.5 and 3 years of age. The female, Bell, was adopted from a no kill shelter when she was between 6 months to a year of age a few months after the male, Blaze, lost his first mate.

Blaze is a laid back, talkative bird who loves cuddles and head scritches. He is also older and slowing down. Bell is much younger and while she loves to sit on your shoulder, groom you, and chat up a storm, she does not really care to be cuddled or have head scritches. My daughter had her tested to see if she was a male or female because she vocalizes so extensively.

The problem is that Bell is very aggressive towards Blaze in certain situations. They have separate cages that sit side by side usually. When the cages are open and they are either in the same cage or on top of the cages, she will go after him constantly, biting at his feet unless she wants him to groom her. She will seldom groom him back. This behavior until recently was mainly limited to the cage area. When on the floor, moving about a room, she was seldom aggressive.

Bell also calls ceaselessly if Blaze is out of the cage and she is not. Blaze does not seem to mind at all if he is the one in the cage. Blaze is simply not the aggressive type, preferring to retreat rather than fight back.

Bell's aggression has escalated in the last few weeks to the point where my daughter is very concerned for Blaze's well being and as a result, Bell has come to stay with Grandma for a few days.

Some recent events which have most likely added to the problem are:
1) New baby - now 5 months and crawling, which means
2) My daughter is now home days on maternity leave.
3) A move to a new house about a month ago.

Bell and Blaze have stayed with me several weeks a year without issues. However, they have always come together and it was evident that Bell was very disorientated without him when she arrived today. She called ceaselessly the whole trip over and for several hours after arrival. After a while I was able to calm her down using low whistles and talking quietly. Once calm she sat quietly on my shoulder. Definitely not her usual chatty self.

Any suggestions on what might be done to help deal with Bell's aggression or to help me help Bell through this trial period would be greatly appreciated. Although, Blaze is my daughter's first love, she does not want to have to give Bell up unless it is absolutely necessary.

Adding a picture of Bell. A big change from the tail-less little spitfire she was when she was first brought home.


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## sdriedger (Jun 14, 2010)

Bell came through the night well with no night frights. She was pacing immediately in the morning so we had some one on one time before I left for work. I wish I could have had her on Friday instead of Sunday to help her adjust more. Fortunately, she wasn't calling when I came home, that is until she heard the key in the lock. We had an hour or so of time before it was her bedtime. She is not happy unless she is shoulder perching and appears a bit panicked otherwise. Once on my shoulder she is immediately content, chatting to herself and re-arranging her feathers. I would not say she is being affectionate as she is really not attempting to interact with me, but she is settled and calm. I hope I am doing what is right for her.


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## sdriedger (Jun 14, 2010)

A reply from the parrot society suggests that the problem with Blaze and Bell is two-fold, although due to the same reason. The age difference is the biggest problem. Bell is young and just coming into her peek breeding time. Blaze is not interested, so she in turn is driving him away from what she sees as her territory. After talking with my daughter, it was apparent that she never actually hurt him, just made it obvious he was to move on.

The suggestions given were to place them in separate rooms so they could not see one another and to allow them out at separate times. These were very close to what I'd come up with as well by reading, although I didn't clue into the behavior being due to his rejection of her in that manner. I just thought she may be hormonal.

I believe one of the issues was due to the fact that the cages were side by side. In essence, there was no clear break between them and it is easy to see how Bell might consider this expanse as one territory and lay claim to it. It would also explain why she was aggressive around the cages, particularly on top of them, but not while they were out running around away from the cages.

It was nice to have my suspicions somewhat confirmed. Now I feel it is time for Bell to return home, as being at my house will not give them the ability to try out different cage locations to see if peace can be achieved.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Keeping fingers crossed all goes well!!!


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