# Grumpy cockatiel



## Attya (Apr 23, 2011)

One of my hand reared cockatiels is hand reared and I bought him two years ago. I'm severely allergic to feather dust so last year I made an aviary for the garden and he has been out there. I go inside the aviary and he sits on my head, but he no longer wants to come on my hand. He used to be really tame but he is now so aggressive to us, and to the other birds.

It's really odd, I have other tame ones in there that weren't even hand reared and they are more relaxed and will sit on my hand and eat. Even the aviary bred, not tame will eat off my hand! But he will always just sit on my head and as soon as I go to put my hand near him he bites (hard!)

He was sweet before, not like this at all. Now he just attacks everyone near him. If I put him in a cage with another he will bite them too.

He follows my other male around, he did fight with him at first but now seems attached to him (it's a one way relationship!)

He's such a beautiful looking bird, a whitefaced cinnamon pearl pied, but he's confused about his gender too.

DOES HE NEED THERAPY? WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

he sounds hormonal. do you have nest boxes up? unfortunately hes outside i dont think you could ask mother nature to fix his lighting schedule lol


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## Attya (Apr 23, 2011)

Well, he has been like this now for a few months. He gets very jealous of me, when I would stroke one of the others, or even just talk to them he would come over and have a go at them, but when I tried to stroke him he would have a go at me too!

I really don't know what's up with him. A while back we had a female in the aviary, calling to mate but he showed no interest at all. The day we put another male in there they had paired by the evening, but this fella just continues to be grumpy.

There is a nest box up now because I have a pair in there, but he is not with them today, he's in a cage because I'm keeping an eye on the pair (had a problem last night with an egg). So grumpy bum is in a cage with another young bird, next to another cage with another 2 (which are happy birds).

I almost want to put him in a cage on his own because whoever he is in with he has a go at


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

he may just be one of those birds

we had to rehome tsuka due to several reasons.

he was so bonded to dally that he got jealous if i talked to her or pet her he would bite her and me. but dally was bonded to me and wanted little to do with tsuka the way he wanted her. she just wanted to be friends, he didnt. one time he got too violent and chipped the side of her beak, we removed him from the cage. but he screamed for a week on end (he was separated before that day because SHE was kicking him out of the nestbox too much and getting stressed. and then he refused to eat. we rehomed him to my fiance's mom and hes ten million times happier being an only bird away from her. hes whistling again, talking, playing, letting everyone pet him...

i think theres something funny going on with your guy too. is it possible he sees YOU as his mate and gets jealous if you give attention to the others and then when you do give him attention hes angry with you and holding a grudge?


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## Flick (Apr 19, 2011)

Are you sure that is he is a he? It might be worth a dna test!

But like Dally said, he might just be one of those birds that's grumpy or just a bit off for no real reason. 

And if he is having a go at other birds, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to put him on his own. He might even be happier if he's not fighting with a cage mate all the time. 

When you had him indoors, was he alone? Perhaps while he was alone, he simply got use to being the only bird in a cage and now he becomes very territorial when he is in cages with other birds.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

Arnie is a grumpy little diva of a tiel. She's always telling us "I don't like it", "come here", "go away", "that's not what I asked for", "don't touch me" etc. She acts the same with Erin. She's just a little grumpy bum. She's spoiled rotten, and she's always been a little demanding, but I put it down to her not being an only bird anymore. Both our girls are a little competitive and Arnie sulks a lot if Erin is getting attention.

Perhaps your guy preferred being inside and misses your company, but because you haven't given him as much attention his frustration has turned into aggression. They are complicated little personalities and they do feel rejection and displacement and sometimes don't know how to express that. Have you tried one on one time with him? Perhaps he just need special attention as he doesn't seem to feel comfortable with the other birds around.


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## Attya (Apr 23, 2011)

I think I will look into a DNA test. I also agree with what you have all said, perhaps I will leave him in the cage alone, when I put the others back and just see if that calms him down a little. I just never thought a bird would actually prefer a little cage to a big aviary 

He was an only bird for about a year and probably did bond with me, I'll try to keep him separate from the others and see if he chills out a bit. I can't bring him indoors because of allergy, but I'll keep him in the shed, where he is now and if he seems to enjoy being alone I could always build him a small space in there.

The only other thing i was worried about was whether it was due to him maturing, it would be really sad if he stays this way


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

Have you tried an air purifier? That might help with the dust and your allergy, or even just spend some time with him and bring him inside for a little while everyday or so if your allergies aren't too bad.


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