Extremely Aggressive cockatiel

[RayT]

Okay so ill start by saying, this cockatiel was in one of those crowded cages where around 50 birds were held in a small cage and no where to run or go, afraid of all humans and their behavior to come to cages and spook them to get a reaction, i did not intend to get this bird but when i saw someone spooking it and it ran away and hissed at them, i had to save it.


So here's my problem, the bird has been with me for almost a year, i bought a big cage for it, change its food and water, i even got him a partner but sadly she passed away during the corona period and i couldn't really go back to the animal market again.

The bird is extremely aggressive, as in just touching his cage he would back up, start hissing loudly and trying to come close to bite the cage or my finger just to tell me to back off, I understand that hes trying to show me that this is his territory and i thought after i couple of months he would warm up to me putting my hand on his cage but a year later, no progress.

I've noticed he likes the coloured seeds in his diet so i tried to hold them against the cage with my hand, instead he ran away and started hissing..
Then i tried to maybe put my hand inside the cage and just let it sit there, and see what his reaction is, he started freaking out and flying around the cage as if am chasing him, i thought 5 mins later it would stop and he would calm down and realize im not chasing him and its just my hand on the bottom of the cage but he never calmed down and started breathing heavly so i left him.

Its been 2 months, i haven't tried anything else, i dont think he likes me at all even though i try not to show any hostility,
Any tips on how to show him that im a friend and not an enemy?

 

[noodles123]

Well now that you know what scares him, stop doing it because each time you push your luck you are setting trust back to where it was before. So lets say trust was at a 10 points out of a possible 100 point maximum, but then you put your hand in the cage, you may have lost 10 more trust points, putting your balance at 0/100--do it again before you have built back the 10 you lost, and you could be in debt (e.g., -10/100). See what I mean?
Trust is like a bank and if you make a withdrawal, you set yourself back and have to rebuild those "savings" (which takes time--the more you withdraw, the slower and harder it is to get back to where you were
).
Having 2 birds will make bonding with a human more difficult most of the time--especially in an aviary bird (fyi).

Do you know why his partner died? Has he been checked for disease at the vet?

If he has any cave-like or shadowy spaces in his cage (huts, tents, boxes etc) remove those- they can create hormonal behavior which looks like aggression in some cases.

Does he ever leave his cage? Cage-bound birds pose unique challenges and it is important to know whether he is cage-bound or not because that will also shape your response.

I think knowing more details about his history and time out of the cage etc might be helpful. There are many tricks for building trust, but if this bird also is cage-bound, there are other rules on top of building trust that you will need to follow.

The biggest thing for re-building trust is being patient and not pushing your relationship/will on the bird...but again, details would help me or others be more specific.

 

[RayT]

Yeah i understand, which is why i stopped doing anything until i can understand why hes behaving this way, so far i've been googling and watchings lots of youtube videos but none have this problem where the trust is under 0.

He has no cave like or showdwy spaces in his cage, his cage is held up next to the window where i can open it for some sunlight, he does occasionaly remind me to open the window in the afternoon where he squeeks at me for me to come check on him and open the window, but usualy i do it on my own and he enjoys it.

I tried once letting him out of the cage, he wouldn't leave it even if i kept the gate open, so i tried to take him out by removing the roof off his cage but endded up where he freaked out and flew around the house, hit his beak on the wall and broke a part of it, this was 6 months ago, i took him to the vet and his beak has grown back and is fine now. Probably main reason why he hates me so much, i can understand it now since i took away the roof of his home and forced him out of his comfort area. after doing so much research i can finally understand somewhat why hes behaving this way but i just want to make ammends and fix it.

After that i haven't let him out of the cage other than the vet checkups where they take him out forcefully with a cloth and make sure hes safe.

I would say i've been pretty patient for a year but i feel like this will be a huge challenge.

 

[noodles123]

He does sound possibly cage bound, and you did likely really scare him by forcing him out.
That having been said, there have been worse situations in which birds have come around. You have to understand that a year could be a long time if you hadn't set yourself back so many times.

My re-home (who knew how to step up etc) wouldn't let me touch her for many months-pushing that sets the bonding clock back a lot, so if you had been more patient and moved at the bird's pace, it wouldn't likely have taken as long, or maybe you would be rounding the bend right about now.

I know, hindsight is 20/20, and it seems like it takes them FOREVER when you know your intentions are good, but they don't know that.


You may have to take another 6 months or more of working at his pace. If you open the cage and he doesn't come out, so what? The whole point is for him to do things at his pace, not yours. It is not hopeless though--- I totally know how you feel--so I am not trying to sound judgmental---one year for a human sharing a home with an animal that is terrified is a long time, but the bird has to make the call, and you can do things to build up that trust, but you cannot cross that trust/safety boundary in the meantime or you will continually set yourself back and make the time last even longer.

 

[RayT]

So how do i start building the trust? do i put my hand on the cage and get bit anyway? im not sure where to start because everything that i can do scares him

 

[noodles123]

So how do i start building the trust? do i put my hand on the cage and get bit anyway? im not sure where to start because everything that i can do scares him

no- absolutely not. You do not want to scare the bird- biting is a sign that you are not listening to the bird's signals. I will write more later. You need to be less invasive. RE-read my initial post- you want as much money in the "trust bank" as possible..in 90% of cases, it is ill-advised to push your bird to do anything until they show willingness. The root of the issue is likely that your bird wasn't ready and you pushed anyway--- if he just lost his mate during COVID, that means that you are talking about a time-frame of under 3 months and you had another (within the past 3 months) which harms the human-bird bond because they are programmed to pick one mate...so let's say you had your bird for 3 months, got another bird because you didn't think things were moving fast enough (then, he bonded to her, then she passed) and then you threw yourself at him again (again)....that's why it's failing. You are being too impatient and doing things that harm the process. Like I said, I will write more later. You want to be as LOW-STRESS as possible while being as positive as possible-- if something scares him, it doesn't matter if you think it's positive-- it isn't. Try to think of your bird as you would a child dealing with a traumatic past, and less like you would a dog or cat...
Do not push ANYTHING---let him see you put treats in his bowl if he hesitates to take them from you. Forcing the issue will NOT help.
You want to get him used to you being non-threatening on his terms...
If you can safely leave the door open, SAFELY being the key, then try that (and DO NOT force him in or out--just let him get used to it--and if that scares him, close it and re-think the situation). This is a matter of patience and sensitivity to his needs. You do not want to make him feel nervous or insecure in ANY way during this re-building of trust, so try talking to him quietly, reading from a book, associating yourself with very low-pressure/low-stress stuff (nothing that makes him even remotely nervous)...If this means standing further away, so be it (for now).

You have a cage-bound bird whose trust you have damaged, so it is going to take time and you have to be more patient. You might consider making a post about cage-bound suggestions, as this is a bit more specific than just having a behavioral issue. With a cage-bound bird, it is imperative that you move slowly and not terrify them further. Also, make sure his cage is not exposed on all sides..and if you move it, you may as well do it earlier rather than later (because that too, will upset him )

 

[MonicaMc]

First and foremost... your bird is NOT aggressive. Your bird is afraid. It's as simple as that!

If your bird was out of the cage and flew to attack you, then I might say your bird is aggressive! BUT.... that could still be done out of fear.

I would recommend figuring out what seed your cockatiel loves best and use these as training treats. Millet is USUALLY preferred by most tiels! (I've seen some who don't even know what millet is if it's on a sprig until they see other birds eating it!) After that, maybe sunflower seeds? Or slivers of nuts?


Either way, you can set up a treat cup at the front of the cage and any time you walk by, drop your birds favorite treat into the cup.

If you feed daily, with just enough food to last one day, then you can offer millet (on the sprig/spray) *through* the cage bars and make it your bird's choice whether or not to come over to try some. You can be as least threatening as possible by sitting near the cage, offering the millet but not looking at your bird directly.

If he's comfortable with your presence near the cage and looks forward to it, then you can start some training, such as target training! This is, once again, done through the cage bars. You *DO NOT* need to remove him from the cage to start training!