# Now he is attacking me..



## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

I told y'all about how amazing my birds are for months...so loving and kind. Then recently I posted about how they "mated" and now they both hate me. Well it's gotten worse. Now my sweet angel Artie is attacking me and everyone else. He drew blood on my mom...she started to cry. Needless to say I have cried my eyes out lately!

How does everyone else handle this stuff! I pour my love into these birds everyday! You all know how much I love them! What am I going to do?


----------



## TamaMoo (Jan 12, 2014)

No advice, but lots of hugs to you! It can't be easy having your beloved little ones not responding to your love the way they used to.


----------



## tweetsandsarah (Mar 27, 2014)

It may not last. I'm sorry to hear that sweet Artie is being a pain, but it's difficult when biology takes over. Hopefully it won't be a forever deal.


----------



## Callie2013 (Nov 4, 2013)

I'm so sorry this is going on for you. I understand your pain. I can't even handle my two and so now I just make sure they have clean food, water, and cage and leave them alone. If I try to interact with them they scream, they bite, they hiss. I'm in the same situation, I've been crying and trying to figure out what to do with them. Hopefully it'll pass soon.


----------



## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

Oh my gosh Callie!! I cannot believe how much our two stories have paralleled from the beginning! To think we both started this journey just wanting to give our girls the best lives possible and now we are enemy number one. I think that's what hurts more! It's knowing how much I love them and so missing the bond we had. I really wish some others who have multiple birds would chime in and off us some advice or at least some hope. :-((


----------



## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm sorry you're going through this. 
I wish I could offer advice, but I have never had my birds show aggression toward me, even when I had Moon and Freya (a bonded/mating pair). Maybe try hormone reduction?


----------



## goose'smom (Jan 1, 2014)

I'm doing all the hormone reduction stuff. Not sure what else to do. So odd to have the sweetest birds turn so wild and aggressive. They eat a very healthy diet and spend a lot of time with my husband and I. Even when they are in their cage they always have attention and interaction from us. It was like something just snapped. I don't know if I can always be in this type of pain. It's too much for me....


----------



## Tequilagirl (Mar 4, 2013)

I don't think birds act out of spite, and I believe hormones control their behaviours at all times.

What hormone reduction stuff are you doing? Are you being consistent? Are you really doing them all? Does their healthy diet include lots of soft foods? If they are upping their game you gotta up yours!


----------



## shannoncrangasi (Mar 12, 2013)

Hi there, I am so sorry for your situation, I can imagine how you feel (a bit) ! 
I swear by hormone reduction for my two. They are covered in their separate but next to each other night cages in a quiet space from 4pm til 8am, in summer from about 5.30pm til 7 am ... 

When they get just even an hour extra awake time, it begins; the male becomes bitey, the female tarts hunting for dark spaces to nest. ...

In addition I limit soft food of course, and don't let them into dark places like drawers or cupboards, which they LOVE (not for more than a look anyway, which always entertains them). and of course no petting on the body ....

It has so far, knock on wood, kept them sweet. 

When a friend bird sat them last summer, she let them stay up until 8pm for jut 2 nights and then all **** broke loose. pigeon laid a whole clutch rapidly and pasha was off the wall with not knowing who he hated and what he wanted.


----------



## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

Nothing has worked better for me than covering their cage and putting a UVB light bulb behind it attached to a plug-in timer. It won't fix the hormone problem overnight but it allows you to have complete dominance over their day and night cycle. That eventually should get the problem under control; keep lowering their day cycle until they are normal again.

Its natural for males to be very aggressive during breeding. I handle them slowly and avoid giving them anything to bite like the ends of your fingers. If you want to herd them, do so with an open hand gently using the palm or a closed fist if biting is a serious hazard (to avoid giving him a small enough surface to bite on). I know some people are going to read that and think I'm suggesting you punch the bird lol but no actually cockatiel beaks are very small and if you don't leave your fingers exposed its pretty unlikely you will get bit.


----------



## Callie2013 (Nov 4, 2013)

I know I have mine on long nights (8 pm to 11 am) with being covered with a thick blanket to allow no light in, I also watch what they are eating, I move toys around every other day, also I don't use any type of bedding or newspaper I just clean the bottom of their tray with water every day; and still no improvement. And from a different post I know Goose's mom said she was doing the same. I didn't realize that Callie could become so hormonal that she would act out like this. It is really upsetting and I have been having trouble coping with it I do have Lilianna to play with and she isn't allowed around my tiels. I'm hoping they settle down soon and go back to being the sweethearts they were.


----------



## Tisena (Sep 28, 2013)

Maybe they have eggs somewhere? That's my suggestion at the min, mine were getting hormonal but we made their nights longer and when we couldn't watch them separated Sam from the boys


----------



## bobobubu (Dec 12, 2011)

What is their behaviour if you separate them? 
Darcy is my super-hormonal bird and attacks me when I'm around Bubu, who he perceives as his boyfriend. He was ok until a couple of days ago and now hormones kicked in again and he's back to being his usual little monster. If I remove Bubu from his sight, he goes back to normal.

Did you try to keep them in two separate rooms for a few hours and see what they do? They will probably call eachother for a while but if you can stand the noise and you're lucky, they will stop at some point, and you can see how they act on their own. You might try keep them separated for a while until you get the hormone situation back to normal.

As Darkel says, never point at them, always a closed fist! I personally keep a towel on hand when I am around him because no way I am gonna let him bite me lol. If he flies at me I towel him. But, again, without the other one around he is a good boy.


----------



## dianne (Nov 27, 2013)

Reading this, I feel so sad for you.
I would say to keep trying longer and longer nights and separate them.
If that doesn't work maybe rehome one of them. This may sound harsh. But, you got the birds for your pleasure and enjoyment. If the pair is not adding to your life it may be better to rehome one. They will be sad, but they will adjust. It really depends on how unhappy the situation is making you.
I recently rehomed one of my budgies, and the chemistry among the remaining three birds is much better.
My male tiel is 5 months old. He is just starting heart wings. I am worried about what I will have to deal with as he gets more adolescent. Right now, he is as sweet as can be. I am reminding myself to enjoy them as much as I can while things are good with them, and prepare myself for difficult times that may come.


----------



## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I think separating them into different rooms (so that they can hear, but not see each other) is cruel, honestly. Imagine if someone wanted to do that to you and your other half?

It would be more humane to rehome one, if separation must happen.


----------



## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

moonchild said:


> I think separating them into different rooms (so that they can hear, but not see each other) is cruel, honestly. Imagine if someone wanted to do that to you and your other half?
> 
> It would be more humane to rehome one, if separation must happen.


Me neither, I'm not sure why everybody is saying they need to be separated. I would try more aggressive hormone control first.


----------



## Peaches&Me (Oct 30, 2013)

Awww......
I have been around parrots for many years & I would say this is pretty normal male hormonal parrot behaviour. Even loan parrots behave this way at times. I know many people who have resorted to hormone implants to make their feathers easier to live with. 
Personally I would't subject my birds to implants.
Jas my male cockatoo is the only cockatoo in my home BUT his hormones still rage, I've had to rush to the hospital for stitches several times in the past because he's attacked me. And my male sun conure attacks everyone when his hormones kick in, again he's the only conure in my home. I've learnt the hard way, now I give them their own space at these times, work on hormone reductions & wait for it to pass, and honestly it does pass & then they are back to their usual happy playful selves 
I'm pretty new to cockatiels though, I haven't had Peaches a year yet, and Skye has only been with me for a couple of months and they are both female, so I can't say for sure that cockatiels hormones make them act the same way as the larger parrot species but I would have thought they did.


----------



## Tisena (Sep 28, 2013)

When my lots hormones kicked in the longer nights and "seperation" kicked in. I've only put them in cages next to each other, but to be perfectly honest when Sam is a bit older I won't mind the hormones as much but because she isn't even a year old yet I'm not going to let any eggy behaviour happen


----------



## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I know people have mixed feelings on herb salad- some say it works, some say it doesn't. This is just my experience with it. When Sunny went through a super hormonal stage, it was suggested to me to try herb salad. You can buy it at various places but I got mine at My Safe Bird Store. It's a mixture of different dried herbs. The bag says that birds were naturally pick through it and eat whatever herbs they need- like self-medicating. Three days of picking through it and Sunny returned to normal. It may have just been a coincidence but now I keep a small dish of it always in his cage.


----------



## bobobubu (Dec 12, 2011)

moonchild said:


> I think separating them into different rooms (so that they can hear, but not see each other) is cruel, honestly. Imagine if someone wanted to do that to you and your other half?
> 
> It would be more humane to rehome one, if separation must happen.


Moonchild I think you are making something that can give a chance to these birds to calm down and restore a bit of peace in a piece from romeo and juliet. 
I am not proposing to divide them forever. But observing their behaviour when they are on their own can help to give an insight. 
As soon as you had a hormonal couple you rehomed them. Maybe other people prefer to try other alternatives. 
We are not complete strangers, in this forum. Saying that I am cruel to my birds knowing how much I love them and how much I work with them, I find hurtful and insulting. 

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk


----------



## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

bobobubu said:


> Moonchild I think you are making something that can give a chance to these birds to calm down and restore a bit of peace in a piece from romeo and juliet.


What I meant was, in most cases I think separating a bonded pair will result in stress on the birds. (Not to mention stress on the humans who have to listen to the resulting racket!) Pair bonds can be very strong, as I have witnessed myself. No way I could have done that to Moon and Freya. Even when she left his sight for a few minutes, he would scream very loudly and constantly. Maybe not all pairs are the same, who knows. I can only speak for the birds I have known personally.



> I am not proposing to divide them forever. But observing their behaviour when they are on their own can help to give an insight.
> As soon as you had a hormonal couple you rehomed them. Maybe other people prefer to try other alternatives.
> We are not complete strangers, in this forum. Saying that I am cruel to my birds knowing how much I love them and how much I work with them, I find hurtful and insulting.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk


I didn't mean anything personal, and I honestly apologize if it came off that way to you. Like I said, if you tried it and your birds were okay with it, then that's good; I honestly don't think my bonded pair would have been.

But no, I don't think you are cruel. I should have worded it differently.


----------



## Callie2013 (Nov 4, 2013)

I can't separate mine. They start screaming if they are out of each others sight. I live in an apartment and don't need neighbors complaining. I'm just learning to deal with it and let them do what they want and still doing what I can with the hormone control. I find it is a little easier to cope because I do have a 3rd bird that is not with them that wants my attention. I figure sooner or later Callie and Azazel will be back to themselves and not so hormonal and til then they have a nice room and fresh foods and water.


----------



## Elishiva (Aug 23, 2013)

I seperate my birds once a day.
I take one into another room and spend time with them, scritching and treating with soft words. I sing to them and for a few moments they will chatter back and forth to each other but then they start settling down.

The seperation anxiety lessens each time. They are after all like kids and do need to be taught you are in control. I do not think it is mean to seperate them, I think it is important to teach them they can be apart and survive the duration.


----------

