Angry biting...I need to get this right!

Nov 12, 2019
240
7
New England
Parrots
4 budgies, 1 cockatiel, 1 canary winged parakeet
I think Precious is very angry with me. I normally get about 4 hours of time with him daily. Yesterday I was only able to spend about 20 minutes with him. Twice a summer my cousins and I charter a boat for a family shark or tuna trip. We leave at 5AM and don’t get home until about 7PM. Obviously this was a huge change in routine for Precious. He was still able to have his normal time out of the cage, but I wasn’t home.

This morning...was bad. I expected Precious to be unhappy about yesterday, but boy is he angry with me. He was super sweet for about 3 minutes, then sprouted horns and would not stop biting me. He didn’t break the skin, but the bites were intentional and not a “I was preening and you startled me when you moved to fast” little warning. Those are very few and far between, but today was nothing like that. It started with my hands and arm. Then my neck, my ear and ended with my cheek. When he bit my neck I knew he needed to get back in his cage to calm down, but I could not get him off of me. I tried everything. Everything we have trained him to do, he refused. And normally he will do what’s asked with no problem at all. I ended up having my husband get him off of me, and Precious bit him so hard he drew blood. My husband got him into his cage, and Precious proceeded to scream, and throw his food all over the place. There have been no changes to his daily routine other than me not being home yesterday. His droppings are normal for him, and he’s eating so I don’t think this is a coincidence. I gave him enough time to settle down before going to sit quietly in the room with him for 45 minutes. I hate to leave him in his cage, and I don’t want to disrupt his routine today but I also don’t want to get bitten all day either.

This is the first time he’s ever been this mean. I’m sure he doesn’t see himself as being mean, but he definitely has a bit of a nasty attitude today. He’s had moments here and there since we brought him home in February, but they never last long and he’s never been this aggressive towards me. He used to bite if someone tried to take him off of me, but not like this morning. This was a whole new level of angry cockatiel that I have not seen before, and hope to never see again. He was in attack mode for a few minutes.

What is my next step? Do I take him out, business as usual and hope he doesn’t lose his temper again? Do I leave him in his cage and spend time with him that way? Should I offer him a tasty treat just because as a peace offering? I knew he was going to be upset, but this reaction seems a bit extreme. I expected some type of misbehavior, or attention seeking behavior, but not this level of anger directed at me. I also wasn’t prepared for his response to being put back in his cage. The screaming yes, the tantrum of throwing his food...I wasn’t expecting that.

Sooo...what does everyone think? How should I proceed?


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I'd still let him out if you think u can. If he is upset about yesterday, the sooner he forgets about it, the better lol. If you can keep it as close to normal, that is what I would do..barring anything extreme
 
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I will let him out as soon as my husband gets home from the store.


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I hope it goes well. They have such strong opinions.


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Out of the rather large flock of tiels I have, I would say it's pretty rare for one to have a melt down like that. I have a male normal grey that's three years old and has always considered himself to be the dominant male of the flock! HE can get downright nasty when he wants too even being aggressive to his OWN offspring! Now in his defense, he will give a warning before biting....open beak and crest flat on his head. About the only time we have issues with him is when it's bedtime and he's not ready. LOL!
 
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I think Precious is slowly forgiving me. He’s still nippy, but he’s also calmed enough that I can have him perch on a chair so he’s not able to bite me.

He’s also being very possessive now, which is probably why he bit my husband so hard early this morning. He gives the warning stance when someone walks by and I don’t think he’s bluffing today.

This is us sitting together. He’s normally very snuggly and will preen my hair, but he’s not getting that close to my ear again for that right now.


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Give it time lol-- my cockatoo has done this when I have left her with my parents for 2 days..She also jerks her head at me and acts all mad (sometimes holding onto me with her claw) if I have to leave for work and she doesn't want me to lol! The biting thing is only if I have been gone more than 2 nights, but they can definitely get super moody..and early on, Noodles may have gotten this way too (I honestly may have blocked it out if she did lol!)
 
REMEMBER...like a 4 or 5 year old kid that is also spoiled. Maybe you could study up on the different biting and not biting methods, here and on youtube.com to prevent or stop this sort of biting. A daily training routine needs to be followed as well. jh
 
I think Precious is slowly forgiving me. He’s still nippy, but he’s also calmed enough that I can have him perch on a chair so he’s not able to bite me.

He’s also being very possessive now, which is probably why he bit my husband so hard early this morning. He gives the warning stance when someone walks by and I don’t think he’s bluffing today.

This is us sitting together. He’s normally very snuggly and will preen my hair, but he’s not getting that close to my ear again for that right now.


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Oh my. That determinedly possessive look! I think you need to put this into the POTM thread, with a caption along the lines "You are Mine. Don't even Think of Going Anywhere! You Are Mine."
 
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If only we could see his face, I imagine there would be a resemblance lol!
 
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He was definitely putting on a show yesterday, that’s for sure. After dinner we were sitting on the couch and my daughter sat next me. He decided that my knee was a good place to bang his beak within seconds. That was a first. I wish I could figure out how to link a video without putting it on YouTube, She was able to get it on video.


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He was definitely putting on a show yesterday, that’s for sure. After dinner we were sitting on the couch and my daughter sat next me. He decided that my knee was a good place to bang his beak within seconds. That was a first. I wish I could figure out how to link a video without putting it on YouTube, She was able to get it on video.


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I know JUST what you mean about the video thing! I have A LOT of stuff I wish I could share but don't want to fool with You Tube either.:17:
 
Give it time lol-- my cockatoo has done this when I have left her with my parents for 2 days..She also jerks her head at me and acts all mad (sometimes holding onto me with her claw) if I have to leave for work and she doesn't want me to lol! The biting thing is only if I have been gone more than 2 nights, but they can definitely get super moody..and early on, Noodles may have gotten this way too (I honestly may have blocked it out if she did lol!)

lol, i got pikachu in quarantine and online school and let him be in my meetings so we can all see how cute he is because we don't really learn anything in the meetings lol... perks of elementary school! I don't think he's ready for me going to school- hopefully he doesn't act like this. my dad is at work for most of the day and when he comes back even is pikachu won't want to do anything with me he's like "omg ur back" to my dad so i guess its all about the bird. Good luck , i suggest taking him/her out of his/her cage as usual.
 

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