Help greatly appreciated with hormonal cockatiel

[WilliamKenyon]

Hi everyone. Glad to see everyone after such a long time.

So lately with mango (formerly named cleo till i found he was a boy) has been showing hormonal behaviour which i am very concerned about. In australia it is winter at the moment but there have beem many warm days similar to spring weather. So my problem is he has been increadably aggressive around his cage and toys aswell as being quite unpredictable and erradic with his biting. For example when i go to get him to step up out of the cage he will bite and bite and bite before he steps up. However he does know how to step up perfectly and he demenstrates this out of the cage with training. But sometimes out of the cage he will bite anyway, often witbout warning as my fingers bare witness.

I have also seen him "getting jiggy with it" on a toy and perch both have since been removed. I also have another issue which I'm not sure is related but when i cover his cage each night he tends to get quite aggressive and threatning. I was wondering how i could train him to no be aggressive when i cover his cage each night. Also for reference mango is now about two and a half years old so my guess is that aswell as being seasonally hormonal he is going through his adolescent stage.

One more thing i have noticed is that the wild parrots in my area have been nesting and going through thier mating rituals which i believe could mean that it is breeding season. Also Ruby the eclectus is really well and getting walks nearly everyday in her harness.

Any help and guidence would be greatly appreciated on how to fix this behaviour . (Sorry for the long post but i really felt i had to get this worrying behaviour of my chest a little).

Regards will

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Bump

 

[Scott]

Hey Will, I'm not familiar with cockatiels nor covering birds at night, but will try to help!

You are probably correct noting the perfect storm of hormonal activity and a newly adolescent bird. Sometimes there is little you can do but give Mango her space and interact on her terms. Difficult for sure, but this period will pass and your lovable bird will return.

Do you try to cover the cage with the light on? Might try darkening the room first, then covering to make the transition less jarring? Do you routinely cover Mango or is this something new?

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Hey Will, I'm not familiar with cockatiels nor covering birds at night, but will try to help!

You are probably correct noting the perfect storm of hormonal activity and a newly adolescent bird. Sometimes there is little you can do but give Mango her space and interact on her terms. Difficult for sure, but this period will pass and your lovable bird will return.

Do you try to cover the cage with the light on? Might try darkening the room first, then covering to make the transition less jarring? Do you routinely cover Mango or is this something new?

Thanks heaps scott. I will certaintly try to cover him when its dark and see how he reacts. As to how long i have covered him i have always covered him every night since he was a baby so its definitely not something new for him. Anyway thanks heaps for your help its much appreciated.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Basics are good diet, lots of fresh foods/veggies, length of daylight, exercise. A tired bird is not interested in getting jiggy. Have you harness trained Mango?

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Cant help you on that either Will...as BB isn't two years old yet..Gawd I hope he doesn't go all Rambo on me! He is such a sweet boy..but I have noticed he is getting a little defiant lately.




Jim

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi everyone. Glad to see everyone after such a long time.

So lately with mango (formerly named cleo till i found he was a boy) has been showing hormonal behaviour which i am very concerned about. In australia it is winter at the moment but there have beem many warm days similar to spring weather. So my problem is he has been increadably aggressive around his cage and toys aswell as being quite unpredictable and erradic with his biting. For example when i go to get him to step up out of the cage he will bite and bite and bite before he steps up. However he does know how to step up perfectly and he demenstrates this out of the cage with training. But sometimes out of the cage he will bite anyway, often witbout warning as my fingers bare witness.

I have also seen him "getting jiggy with it" on a toy and perch both have since been removed. I also have another issue which I'm not sure is related but when i cover his cage each night he tends to get quite aggressive and threatning. I was wondering how i could train him to no be aggressive when i cover his cage each night. Also for reference mango is now about two and a half years old so my guess is that aswell as being seasonally hormonal he is going through his adolescent stage.

One more thing i have noticed is that the wild parrots in my area have been nesting and going through thier mating rituals which i believe could mean that it is breeding season. Also Ruby the eclectus is really well and getting walks nearly everyday in her harness.

Any help and guidence would be greatly appreciated on how to fix this behaviour . (Sorry for the long post but i really felt i had to get this worrying behaviour of my chest a little).

Regards will

Hey, just a thought about this, Plum could be taken as being aggressive for this same reason. It isnt it is playing, he wants us to tug it back and forth with him. So my point is are you sure?

Tried playing with it/him, see how it goes, watch those fingers though!

 

[smbrds]

Sounds like a stage at this time around 2, combined with molting/hormones. Sometimes they just want their space for a bit. Distractions may help and positive reinforcement....games like peekaboo, Step Up. Tiels age like fine wine (provided with good diet and care) and only more loving and sweet as they age, as I've dealt with harsh hormones with Baby as well as having rough molts and fly attacking (seen mostly with their bigger cousins). No doubt we have a much better bond now and you will too after wading through storms so to speak.

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Thank you so much everyone. I have been noticing that since i have been trying to keep him up a bit later with more "daylight" as its winter and gets dark really early. I have also noticed that his biting behaviour is completely ererratic and comes out of nowhere(typical hormones) one minute he's stepping up and happy for head scratches and then suddenly he will start lunging and biting. Anyway once again i would like to thank everyone for the amazing support and i will continue to work with him to keep him on track.

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Hi everyone. Glad to see everyone after such a long time.

So lately with mango (formerly named cleo till i found he was a boy) has been showing hormonal behaviour which i am very concerned about. In australia it is winter at the moment but there have beem many warm days similar to spring weather. So my problem is he has been increadably aggressive around his cage and toys aswell as being quite unpredictable and erradic with his biting. For example when i go to get him to step up out of the cage he will bite and bite and bite before he steps up. However he does know how to step up perfectly and he demenstrates this out of the cage with training. But sometimes out of the cage he will bite anyway, often witbout warning as my fingers bare witness.

I have also seen him "getting jiggy with it" on a toy and perch both have since been removed. I also have another issue which I'm not sure is related but when i cover his cage each night he tends to get quite aggressive and threatning. I was wondering how i could train him to no be aggressive when i cover his cage each night. Also for reference mango is now about two and a half years old so my guess is that aswell as being seasonally hormonal he is going through his adolescent stage.

One more thing i have noticed is that the wild parrots in my area have been nesting and going through thier mating rituals which i believe could mean that it is breeding season. Also Ruby the eclectus is really well and getting walks nearly everyday in her harness.

Any help and guidence would be greatly appreciated on how to fix this behaviour . (Sorry for the long post but i really felt i had to get this worrying behaviour of my chest a little).

Regards will

Hey, just a thought about this, Plum could be taken as being aggressive for this same reason. It isnt it is playing, he wants us to tug it back and forth with him. So my point is are you sure?

Tried playing with it/him, see how it goes, watch those fingers though!

Yes i would agree with that in many cases but mango is definately not playing around . The lunging and biting i am receiving has all the marks of aggression. But thanks for the help anyway.

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Hey everybody . I thought that i should give an update into mango's behaviour. So for a few days after posting this thread mangos behaviour seemed better (he was still erratically biting but less) but today he has begun lunging again. I have been giving him more daylight hours (around 14+) lately in an attempt to make his circadian rythums think it is summer. This has had a noticable positive affect on his behaviour. Another problem i have been having is that he is being very posessive of his toys/cage/playstand. Thsi problem seems to stem from him getting obsessed with toys and trying to mate with them. At the moment he is spending large amounts of time sitting on/with a toy.. even when i take the toy away from him in an attempt to try and halt the posessive behaviour he just finds another one. I have now given up taking the toys away from him as i don't want him getting bored without any toys in his cage. Today he has been particually aggressive and i havent really taken him out as he has been just been way too agressive, this is breaking my heart as its the first time ever since getting him that i havent been able to take him out for at least two hours. The reason i say that this is not fear induced biting and is actually hormonal is because he can change in an instant from perfectly happy and stepping up perfectly/doing his tricks to biting frantically. Anyway sorry for the long post but i thought a detailed update was necessary. All In all i feel sorry for the poor little guy and can't wait to have my lovely little bird back, but I'm committed and working diligently to fix this behaviour.

 

[Scott]

This too shall pass. You cannot reason any better with a hormonal bird than a 3-year old human baby in a tantrum.