Cockatiel suddenly freaking out!!

[maryoten]

My cockatiel sometimes does this thing where he'll be chilling but then suddenly starts shrieking and flapping his wings half-way and then fully and then back again, calms down quickly though. He's broken a few blood feathers because of this which is unfortunate because he is still growing his flight feathers1 He hasnt been able to fly for the 3 months or so that I've had him for because though his clipped wings are growing back he keeps snapping his tail and wing feathers...what should I do?

I asked the vet and she reccomended I just do my best to not frighten him but theres nothing in particular. Btw he does live in a smaller cage with lowish bars because keeping him in his original big cage was too dangerous.

so..what does this freaking out mean?? is he just being a cockatiel?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Probably just being a cockatiel.

Focus on preventing breaks.
How does she break the wing feathers? Do they catch on something? Where is she when she breaks feathers? In the cage or outside it?
Day or nightime?

 

[texsize]

My cockatiel sometimes does this thing where he'll be chilling but then suddenly starts shrieking and flapping his wings half-way and then fully and then back again, calms down quickly though. He's broken a few blood feathers because of this which is unfortunate because he is still growing his flight feathers1 He hasnt been able to fly for the 3 months or so that I've had him for because though his clipped wings are growing back he keeps snapping his tail and wing feathers...what should I do?

I asked the vet and she reccomended I just do my best to not frighten him but theres nothing in particular. Btw he does live in a smaller cage with lowish bars because keeping him in his original big cage was too dangerous.

so..what does this freaking out mean?? is he just being a cockatiel?

I feel your pain.
I have 2 or 3 Cockatiels that do the same thing.

It’s typically called “night fright “ but it can happen anytime of day/night.

I have never found the root causes and two of my Tiels are permanently grounded due to damage to their wing feathers..

I wish you the best of luck.

 

[maryoten]

Probably just being a cockatiel.

Focus on preventing breaks.
How does she break the wing feathers? Do they catch on something? Where is she when she breaks feathers? In the cage or outside it?
Day or nightime?

Day time, and he usually does it outside of the cage when we are hanging out but on the rare chance he does it in his cage he falls down and catches his tail/wing feathers on the cage bars or branches...Im thinking of removing even more branches because i want to prevent more breaks...

 

[maryoten]

I feel your pain.
I have 2 or 3 Cockatiels that do the same thing.

It’s typically called “night fright “ but it can happen anytime of day/night.

I have never found the root causes and two of my Tiels are permanently grounded due to damage to their wing feathers..

I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you so much for your response!! and yeah, ill probably have to lower the perches even more now.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Yep. Night fright. Congratulations, you're a witness to Tiels freaking out over a fly fart! LOL! Some cockatiels are more prone to them, such as white faces and Lutinos. Best to talk softly to them when they freak out and maybe put a towel or extra few layers of paper on the bottom of the cage for them to (unceremoniously) land on .

 

[JjEjFjF]

I dont keep anything down low in my birds cages. No perches no toys etc. Nothing they can smack their wings on whether it be when they do their daytime flap thing or a true night fright.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That's what I thought. The fewer perches and other things in the cage the better. Since a cockatiels wings and tail are so long the tend to catch on things. I think the larger cage would be safer because there's more room to flap without catching. If you put ALL the perches lower if might be safer for your tiel if he falls.
Another suggestion is to trim the tips of the flight feathers about one inch from the tips. Shortening them will prevent them from getting caught when he flaps around and won't prevent flying. I hope they all grow in. The tail isn't as important for flight.