Cockatiel behaviour advice needed

[DazzyJay]

I have recently taken in my childhood family cockatiel. I was away from home for 4 years for school and unable to take him with me before due to living restrictions. My mom was taking care of him in the meanwhile, but was unable to give him much attention. He has many bad habits now, and I don't even know how to begin with getting him retrained and settled in.

To begin with, he is very hormonal right now. He has been humping his swing multiple times a day and gets upset at any movement near his cage and reacts by either screaming or hissing. When I let him out he won't leave his cage area and will try to charge/attack me if I go near him. Giving him free time has become a challenge now because he refuses to go back in nicely. He knows the step up command but will try to get a few bites in before willingly getting on my hand. I'm also scared if the only time I handle him is to put him back, that he'll start to associate my hand with even more negativity. I've been giving him a 12 hour sleeping schedule to try to reduce this, which he's slowly getting adjusted to but has made no difference in behavior so far.

He does still like being spoken to and will whistle and such when I speak to him. He isn't very food oriented for a cockatiel, but will be more than willing to accept millet from my hand through or near his cage. (Only time I've found he doesn't get mad at stuff near him). For the very few times he's been away from his cage, he's been a complete sweet heart.

He has a very bad habit for screaming whenever he wants something which I have been trying to work on by giving him attention when quiet/ignoring when loud. Unfortunately he can scream seemingly endlessly, and I have no idea how long it will take to see results by doing this.

I have 2 weeks off where I can devote most of the day to working with him, then will be working full time after. He will still be getting passive attention from others while I'm at work most days, but he won't be worked with.

Can anybody experienced with troubled birdies please give me advice on what I can do? I'm at a loss.

 

[itzjbean]

Firstly, I'd like to thank you for not giving up on your family cockatiel and for reaching out here to try to find a way to re-train and tame him. For that you are awesome.

Next, let's address his issues -- he seems to have 1.) cage aggression, 2.) issues with attention screaming, 3.) biting when asked to step up, and 4.) hormonal and humping his toys.

Okay, now take a deep breath. Now that you know his issues, it is time to being your work on re-training and taming him. You'll have to work with him on a daily basis to be able to curb these bad behaviors and work towards getting him turned around to be a more happy bird. Know that this will not be solved in 2 weeks - it will likely take months of work, but if you are dedicated, will be worth it in the long run as you begin to re-earn the trust back from this cockatiel.

1.) cage aggression. There are many ways to go about this and some will have differing opinions about this. Basically you can either take an abrupt approach and take him out of his cage and force him to hang out on a play stand with no cage in sight, or you can take a more gradual approach and work with him while in the cage to help him overcome these cage fear/aggression issues. Since he bites and generally is not tame, I would recommend working with him while in his cage. I would start by basically treating him like he's a new bird -- speaking softly to him as you've done and offering treats through the cage bars. Eventually working your way so you can place your hand into the cage and feed him treats without hissing or aggression. With the hormones flowing right now know that this process may take a while.

2.) Screaming for attention. many birds develop screaming issues when left unhandled or interacted with .They crave attention and often times the endless screaming results in cage covered, locked into a room to be ignored even more. So, we need to stop this cycle. Understand that when he screams, you should not react with yelling, screaming back or trying to rise above him. That won't work, ever. It is important to determine what he is screaming about -- does he want attention, is he alerting you to something, is her upset about something, or is he hungry? When the screaming happens, try not to react and talk to him softly to try to get him to calm down and listen to you. Whistle at him to get him to snap out of the scream and instead try to get him to whistle instead of scream. If he continues to scream merely for attention, let him scream. If it still persists, you can cover the cage for a few minutes until he settles down, but don't leave him covered up for extended periods of time. This works like a time-out for a tantrum-throwing toddler.

3.) Biting when asked to step up. Birds bite for a number of reasons and its important to try to figure out why. He may be trying to tell you, I'll step up but I'm not exactly happy about it. Consider trying to distract him with a treat to get him to step up or whistle at him. You can also certainly leave his cage door open and let him out as he pleases. If he refuses to step up and go back in, calmly get a washcloth or small towel, wrap him up in it securely and place him back into his cage. That way you don't get bit and it is less handsy and frightening.

4.) Hormones and his toys. many bird owners go through a period of time every year where their birds are more aggressive, nippy, hormonal and yes humpy. It is important that we read these signs and try to either distract them from humping with things to do - foraging toys, shredding toys, chewing toys - and we don't force them to be handled if they don't want to be. Hissing and lunging are the indicators to back off!! So listen. It will ebb and he will fall back to normal hormone levels and should be less humpy as fall approaches.

Here's a great thread you should read -- Tips for Bonding and Building Trust

Always remember -- try to make every single interaction with your cockatiel a positive one. It's important he feels safe and is getting cared for properly. He should have a large cage (that he can spread his wings out in easily), be on a healthy diet of fresh fruits and veggies, pellets, seeds on occasion as they can be like McDonalds for birds and can lead to liver issues. Consider growing sprouts (so easy, article here) and continue to make him feel safe by providing a quiet and calm environment for him to live in.

Good luck!!!

 

[DazzyJay]

Thank you very much for the reply! I will try the gradual approach for dealing with his cage aggression. The next time I have to put him back into his cage I'll see if I can bribe him to go onto my hand with millet (Admittedly I hadn't thought of that) - otherwise I guess we'll be sticking with a small towel until he's more comfortable stepping up again.

Now, if he has suitable toys he enjoys playing with, is it okay to just leave him be to hump his swing as he wishes? Or is this a sign that he needs other things to keep him entertained?

Also, once I start working I will most likely only be able to spend an hour or two a day directly for training him, and the rest of the time he will be getting passive attention from myself and others. Will this still be enough to work with him in the long run?

-Aftermath Edit. Tried holding millet near his cage while he was out and he reacted by charging immediately at my hand to bite it. He takes millet from my hand nicely with seemingly no aggression when his cage is closed - At what point can I start to transition to giving him treats with his cage open?

 

[MonicaMc]

You just may need to work on giving millet through the cage bars and eventually build up to away from the cage. Does he have any other favorite foods?

It may help to change around his diet, his cage, the amount of time he sleeps, etc. This in turn may help his behavior.