# Major issue with male cocktiel



## autumnwraith (Mar 21, 2010)

I've owned cockatiels for several years now. I currently only have two, one male and one female, but we used to have several in our household.

I've been having problems with my male cockatiel for a while now. And I honestly do not know what to do about it. He has been aggressive towards me for a while now, going on a couple of years I think. He has made attempts to bite, nip, pinch before. Today, he has actually broken skin and this has made me incredibly upset. (I did not react to him, such as pull away or yell at him when he did it, but I had grabbed a towel to put him away in his cage a few minutes afterwards).

Some background on the pair I currently have....

My female, Angel, is a whiteface lutino. I got her back in April 2004 and she was about 9 months old at the time. She is incredibly sweet (still is), and still hand tame. She has been through a lot, including having been attacked by my new kitten almost 5 years ago. She's still healthy and relatively happy. She is also really timid.

My male, Nova, is a whiteface pied (lightly). He was born some time in 2006. He _was_ hand-fed and hand-tamed. Due to my inattentions and also probably due to having bonded strongly with Angel, hand-tamed is not really the case any more. He has been living in the same cage with Angel since late 2006/early 2007 (unfortunately I can't remember anymore). Since living with Angel, he has bonded strongly to her and has become aggressive towards myself and even towards her. He will sometimes chase her around making pecking motions at her because he is that dominant over her.

I used to have time to handle Angel and Nova all the time. The only one that it has been detrimental to has been Nova. But time home from work became sparse and stress due to work was increasing. And the time I spent with my tiels became less. At the time I had 2 cats (still do, even though one had passed on and we have a new one in the family) and a red-tail boa. I didn't even had the time or energy to handle my boa much either, so it wasn't just a lack of attention to the tiels. Since then we've moved across country and I had to give away my boa before the move. Our house now doesn't have much room and the tiels got put into the spare room and most of the attention they get is when I feed and water them.

I've recently been able to rearrange the room that they are in and now have a large open space in which to be able to do things and now have the ability to shut the door in order to keep the cats out. I had gotten Angel out first today because she's the easier of the two to deal with. Nova I had let come out on his own. Angel had insisted on running around on the floor, which I let her do. When Nova finally got off the cage, all he wanted to do was chase after her, sing and keep her cornered. When I wanted to pick Angel back up, he tightened how closely he was following and cornering her. I picked him up using a towel because he was also due to getting his wings clipped. No problems with clipping his wings.

But afterwards he still was chasing her and not letting me close to her. I had tried to get him on my finger by pressing it against his chest and he bit my thumb. I made no motion to react, cursed silently at myself and not at him and after a few minutes passed, grabbed him with a towel and put him away. I waited before putting Angel away and he was crying until I did put her in the cage. Then he resumed chasing her around the cage.

I have been thinking over the past couple of months about giving them to my mom. I'll be coming up on a time where I'm not going to be home often, due to being in the US Navy, and my mom has handled and raised cockatiels before. But now he's bitten me, I am torn at what to do. Should I try and separate the two (if so, I only have one cage that is relatively cat-safe and I've had it for years without problems from the cats)? Should I try and rehome him and recommend that he should only be used for breeding? Or should I still try and give both to my mom and just warn her that he bites and it's up to her whether or not she wants to try anything with him?

If I keep just Angel (provided my husband will take care of her) or give her to my mom, I know she'll be well cared for. She's easy to interact with, she always has been. But I'm now apprehensive on what to do with Nova and I'm looking for a viable solution that will still end up with a happy life for him.

I've tried looking at lots of links to help out this situation, but I'm coming to the end of my rope right now and just not sure what to do. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. =)


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## Ezzie (Jan 19, 2010)

I think the best option here, considering your going away; For Nova is to find him a new home with an experienced breeder and cockatiel handler, That way he can be doing what he WANTS to do, which is breed it sounds like and produce offspring to go to happy homes. I wouldnt give him away to an unexpereinced person due to his agression.

Angel sounds well tame, and could possibly be more tame with more attention. You could give her to your mother where she will get attention daily!


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's springtime if you're in the northern hemisphere, and that ramps up the birdie hormones. You may be able to reduce his hormone level and his aggression along with it with the long nights treatment - 12 to 14 hours of darkness every night. It takes about a week for it to start having an effect on the bird's behavior.

Also, use food bribery to change his attitude toward you. Frequently offer treats that you are holding in your hand. Millet spray is a good one to start out with because it's long and you can hold it so the bird can eat and stay out of biting range at the same time. Only offer the treats at moments when he's being nice.


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## autumnwraith (Mar 21, 2010)

I might try the finding an experienced breeder option. I'm in Norfolk, VA and unfortunately do not have a clue how to find one here nearby. I'd hate to have to ship him anywhere...it's not fair to him. He really is a good bird....I just wish there was something I could do for him.

I might try the treat option though. It'll be really hard to get him out of his cage though. I don't want to make him upset because I'm trying to get him out of there. I wish it was just a change of hormones but this has been an ongoing issue for more than I care to admit.


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## Jenny10 (Feb 27, 2010)

I think you problem with Nova is you have never bonded with him yourself when you first had him, now he only has eyes for Angel, if you do want to keep both of them, I would recommend a cage each and maybe at first keeping the birds apart so you can try and bond with Nova and also give Angel the attention she deserves, although I don’t think taming Nova down is something that will be achievable overnight, and if you feel time is going to be a issue you might be better of to rehome him, its up to you at the end of the day, I think it is possible to bring Nova back around but it might take time you are not really going to be able to give unless your Hubby is willing to take an interest.

Good Luck

Jenny


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