Cockatiel treat tantrum?

[striipey]

Hi guys, I have a lovely new cockatiel named Powder. She's 18 weeks old and been with us for 2 weeks now. Generally she's a lovely bird; confident, talkative, hand tame - she steps up onto hands and goes back in her cage just fine. She also flies between me and my other family members.

Recently I started giving her small sprigs of millet as treats when she's outside the cage and she loves them... a bit too much. When she's ate all the provided millet she starts crying/hissing and if you ignore it or firmly tell her 'no' she continues and eventually tries to bite at my hand/arm. She has plenty of food (seed mix, fruit, etc..) in her cage and she eats that before coming out the cage, so it's not a hunger issue - the millet spray is genuinely just a treat for her.

I'm not sure how to stop her throwing a tantrum over finishing her treats, if that IS what she's doing. Any advice or ideas are welcome! Thanks.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Ignore it and reward her when she doesn't do it by giving her a treat. Give her millet when she's full and has just eaten. Don't ever punish her by yelling, squirting her with water, etc.

 

[striipey]

Ignore it and reward her when she doesn't do it by giving her a treat. Give her millet when she's full and has just eaten. Don't ever punish her by yelling, squirting her with water, etc.

Thanks for the reply I'll try be more persistent with ignoring her tantrum!

I've never 'punished' or shouted at my birds. I did however put her back in the cage after she tried to bite me, I'm not sure if I should ignore that too? This is the first time I've had to correct this kind of behaviour

 

[Birdgirl24]

On the biting issue you don't necessarily want to put her back in the cage. Because that can also kind of act as a reward because its like she can get away from you so i would just kind of leave her be and let her chill out for a bit outside her cage.

 

[Emeral]

Clever little girl....she is testing you Allright. And yes, you are right it is definitely a tantrum.

When Emerald did her tantrum. I made sure she is not rewarded by ignoring her. No eye contact for a few minutes, then talk to her about other things as if nothing happens. This allows her to understand that tantrum does not pay off. And that we love her still.

With her love for Millet, I guess you will be able to teach her many tricks. You might want to introduced as much food variety as you can...

Thread 'How to get my cockatiel to eat fruit' https://www.parrotforums.com/threads/how-to-get-my-cockatiel-to-eat-fruit.91574/