# VERY mean tiel,have to do something!



## PitbullChick (Dec 24, 2012)

I bought my Tiel about 2 months ago and posted on it.He was the tamest one of the bunch,well I would hate to be near the others.Elvis,my tiel,is VERY mean.It has got to the point where I cant even put my hand in to feed him.I have tried treats,just talking to him,nothing works. I havent had my hand near him since the day I got him.


WHAT DO I DO? 

Other than that I love him.He sings so much,hence the name Elvis and he can say "hello" and whistle at you.He is such a dork though,he plays with homemade toys more than his $6 store bought one 

Someone PLEASE help!


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

How old is he? He could be hormonal and thus sees his cage as his nest and you as an intruder. Try implementing the hormone reduction techniques http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=32330

Also check out our mutual agreement sticky here and see if it can help http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?p=314774#post314774


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

A little food bribery might help too, see http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=28661

I have a couple of articles on my website about biting and problem behavior in general:
http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/taming-biting.html
http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/taming-problems.html


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## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

PitbullChick said:


> I bought my Tiel about 2 months ago and posted on it.He was the tamest one of the bunch,well I would hate to be near the others.Elvis,my tiel,is VERY mean.It has got to the point where I cant even put my hand in to feed him.I have tried treats,just talking to him,nothing works. I havent had my hand near him since the day I got him.
> 
> 
> WHAT DO I DO?
> ...



Hi. Some of the usual causes are, a hormonal in-balance, or a no 
longer liking to be cuddled or tickled. Perhaps one or more of the 
moves you make may sets them off, ie picking them up. Could be 
they just enjoy your reaction when they get bored watching TV.
With nervous birds, cover half the cage to make them feel 
safe, talk softly to them but don't stand over them like a predator. 
Use pieces of millet spray or other favourite food during the no 
biting process. 
When working inside the cage use a hanky pegged to the door bar 
to act as a safety curtain to prevent escapes.

Feed the treat held in your fingers through the bars. Watch their 
body language & any attempt to bite, remove your hand & treat 
for 10 seconds. Do this as often as necessary. 
Give the treats little & often, so your visits mean nice things to eat. 
After a day or two of successful no bite feeding, your ready to try
hand feeding inside the cage. 

Hold the treat close to the perch so they can eat, again watch the 
body language & the remove treat for any sign of aggression. 
After a day or so of successful no bite feeding your bird should be 
happy to step-up on your hand to eat. When this is accomplished
you can take your bird from the cage for a fly round, knowing you 
can return them with a treat in the cage & a small treat in hand to 
get them to step-up...B.J. 
There are some who advise you to ignore any biting. The theory 
is that the bird will eventually get fed-up & stop. I have not been 
able to find out how long eventually is but I do know ignoring hurts!


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Hi BJ -- there are a couple of things I wanted to address in this post.

First:


> a hormonal in-balance


I think you mean a hormonal _im_balance, since hormones that are _in_ balance would be normal and therefore by definition not problematic.

Second: Please stop posting in all-bold. It is against the updated forum rules to change the font of your entire post from the forum default. You may, of course, use bold face very selectively for emphasis, but it should not be your entire post. You might be interested in reviewing the full current forum rules here: http://www.talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?p=346042#post346042


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Also, since it is in violation of the new rule, I will go ahead and unbold it.


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