"My Name is Tsuka and I am Not New to Attitude Anonymous"

[DallyTsuka]

Tsuka was giving me attitude--again tonight. Make him a new toy, then he lunges at me and starts giving me some of his jerk faces lol then threw a tantrum at his toy. it's one of them days for him....













lately he's been acting up worse. thinking its the hormones and time of year... yay lol nearly every day hes having bad mood days. he's a very moody bird and we've tried to figure out his deal to just summing it up to it being his personality.

some days he is super sweet but then the next day he is super aggressive and uncover the cage and he runs at the cage bars lunging. one minute he is asking for scritches and if you oblige he keeps his head down for one second then gives you a VERY hard chomp. then the next he is throwing a fit and biting at you, tail flaring, wings flapping, hissing and just being generally unpleasant. we've kept journals trying to figure out any triggers for the behaviours and have found no patterns, no triggers. he's just moody so we give him his space for the most part on his bad days. he's quite unpredictable with his moods but lately it seems its only bad days.

he will even fly at your face and try to bite if he lands. he got me once in the nose and once in the eyebrow and it flipping hurts and he drew blood. he draws blood when he bites, i also have a few scars on my hands from him. heaven forbid nail trimming, i'm still healing from a bite from 2 weeks ago to my pinky finger knuckle!


anyone else have such a grump of a bird?

i love him to pieces, but sometimes he is something else lol that's our tsuka boy. super sweet when he wants to be, but nasty aggressive when he likes to be as well. just sharing some photos and venting a little bit, nothing more.


but, would it be wise to work on more step up exercises since lately he's being a jerk about stepping up, this started up in the last few weeks, and its not just to me--he is flying away from my husband too and bites and runs other times as well?

 

[Nakiska]

My conure was this way with me for 3 months! Little stinker!

So I said...okay...road goes both ways buddy! I refused to engage in negative behavior. I'd let him out of course, he could play and all that...but if I went near him, he'd lunge for attack or run away from me and "hide" behind the cages and the wall! However, he'd run to my husband for "Loves" so I just let him handle Frankie and put him back in his cage when it was time for bed.

Then one day...I went to let him out, he came right to me like he'd never had a problem.

Go figure...we are all good now.

Sometimes, I think we humans "try to hard" to win them over...and inadvertently reward bad behavior by offering treats to lunging agitated birds. They get to be bad AND get their treat, while we coo and coddle them and beg them to "love" us again. LOLOL.

Sounds like it's probably hormones, could be he's testing you, seeing where his boundaries are, challenging you for who knows what reason.

But don't take it personally, he just has to do this right now to feel like a man! Hahahahaha!!!

Toni

 

[Nakiska]

If you do work on "step up" I'd use a stick for the time being until you are pretty sure he's over his bitey but t phase....other wise, you could be in for some pretty sore fingers.

If this were me and my bird was biting to draw blood nearly every time...I'd use a stick or perch to handle him if I HAD to handle him, otherwise I'd give him space, talk to him, sing, whistle...etc...handle him minimally for a few weeks and see if he calms down.

Good Luck, I know this behavior can be frustrating.

Toni

 

[Nakiska]

One other thing I thought of...with Franklin, he went through a phase when we were getting him out of his cage, he'd want out and was excited about getting out, but he'd bite and run to the top of his cage.

So I spent 3 days...every single time I walked to his cage, he'd come to the door, wait for me to open it and if he lunged to bite me...I'd just quick shut the door and walk off...I went to his cage and offered him the opportunity at least 10 times a day....finally on the third day...I opened the door, he stood there...I offered him my finger to step up on...he looked at it...I waited patiently...he thought hard...then he oh so tentatively place one foot on my finger, leaving one on the perch in front of his door...I continued to wait and of course tell him what a good boy he was...ready if he decided to change his mind and land baste my finger with a stout bite...to shut the door as quick as possible...then he nicely reached down...beaked my finger...and stepped up and from that day forward he's never bitten when coming out of his cage.

He KNEW how to come out of his cage nice before "testing" us...and I let him know that if he couldn't come out nicely...he wasn't coming out at all.

Don't get me wrong...I still talked to him and engaged with him...just wouldn't handle him when he was being a jerk.

Toni

 

[RavensGryf]

Sounds just like male bird hormones to me! Doesn't sound like he's just testing. If he's being downright crazy with his temper and biting as hard as he possibly could, and is unpredictable, I bet it's hormones! Might take a while, but hang in there! He's really cute though!

 

[MikeyTN]

I have a few like that!!! I've gotten in some new ones awhile back but they're not tame at all, very vicious....BUT some of my boys have gotten sweeter over time, they don't even mind me touching them what so ever. I didn't train them nor push them, they just act so interested and came out on their own. They were super mean to me at one point but I guess after so long being here they gotten over it. So I hope the newer recruits would do the same thing over time.

 

[DallyTsuka]

the thing is, he's almost 4 years old, and he's been this way for YEARS. at all times of the year he gets really nasty, but sometimes he gets worse like he is right now. he's a tame bird, we've had him since he was 5 months old and we tamed him ourselves and he is really sweet when he wants to be, but hes being tricky lately. i mean, asking for a snuggle only to chomp us? he attacks our female tiel as well so thats why they live separated.


im guessing its worse now because of hormones, but he is still like this even when he isnt hormonal. if hes testing us for something, he's been testing us for years since he turned 8 months old LOL determined bird! we love him anyways, but sometimes he is difficult to deal with.


some videos showing some of his aggressive displays


this one shows his angry flapping

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QMqhEQhDbE]Tsuka Being Aggressive - YouTube[/ame]


he even flies at my face at the end of this video showing the angry flaps and tail flaring

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S78jYNDwEVk]Tsuka's aggressive display - YouTube[/ame]


then also diving at me when i hold dally

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3lG4zAKBE]Can't even hold Dally - YouTube[/ame]



oh, and to show how much of a jerk he can be to dally, here's a video

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1-Hq_aQtIs]Kicking Cockatiel--(Old) Tsuka Kicks Dally - YouTube[/ame]





who wants this flying at their faces?

 

[TessieB]

He's hit his midlife crisis and wants a girlfriend! Like NOW!

 

[DallyTsuka]

lol he attacks his "girlfriend"! though midlife crisis... hmmm lol

 

[Allee]

I feel for you, I really do. Those photos and videos are great. Thanks for posting them. I have a female quaker that has a similar attitude. She launches air attacks with her beak wide open and picks on our male quaker if she can get away with it. When I see signs of aggression I walk her to her cage top and tell her to step away. She stays on her cage until I invite her back. Her behavior is so much better than it was. She hasn't been with us all her life though, so I'm not sure how Tsuka would react to those methods. I think a lot of Harry's aggression is due to hormones but the rest is attitude and personality, she's a bossy girl.

 

[jenphilly]

That first picture is awesome.... he looks more like a bad a$$ gargoyle then a pretty little cockatiel. That could be a poster child pic for bad attitude birds anon All your pics are always great, but that one was just so perfect for the subject!

 

[DallyTsuka]

well tsuka is flighted, so putting him on top of his cage when hes being bad wouldnt help much, since he'd just fly off. and his cage top is a playgym... but perhaps being put back in the cage might be a solution. though he is also nasty inside the cage too lol

and clipping is NOT an option in his particular case. trust me, clipping him would make MY life easier, but its not healthy for him. hes a heavy bird and even a light clip grounds him (i think more he just chooses NOT to fly when he knows hes been clipped, even 2 feathers...) and he porks up and gets REALLY fat, which makes the problem worse so he drops like a rock, breaks tail feathers, breaks wing feathers, which make it worse, and then he grows in wonky feathers after falling and breaking them so many times. he unfortunately has to be flighted for his own health, and my inconvenience.


and let me tell you, he aint no little cockatiel. he weighs 126 grams and hes a fast and powerful flier. when he dives at you and makes contact, its like getting hit with a brick LOL

ive spoken to a few experts about him, they suspect he might actually legitly be a bipolar bird based on his up and down types of mood swings.

the way i describe him: he's the best bird ever on his good days, but on his bad days he is the worst!

 

[crimson]

I think I can relate to Tsuka.....well, almost.
DEXTER is like that!...my male.

god forbid I should look at him the wrong way, if he's out of the cage, I'll get attacked.
SUPER protective of his mate, he'll bite and bite hard!
then on other days, when he lets me --he'll let me hold him and be with him.
all I want to do is love him....stupid bird, why can't he get that thru his little bird brain??
I'm not here to hurt him at all!!....if he only knew I would spend hours, giving him scritches, while my laundry is piling up, dishes are mounting, and the carpets need vacuuming....oh no....he just doesn't get it, but I understand more than anything that he is worse than any female - ever!.....so much for males....so yes, I get it Dally, maybe not to the extent of yours, but mine is temperamental.....maybe they are brothers?? ha ha

 

[Terry57]

Wow, I couldn't believe how he kicked Dally! Did he get you when he flew at your face?

 

[MikeyTN]

Peaches was one of my babies that I raised, he was a total sweetheart when he left me at 2 months of age going to a friend of mine who had him for a year. He totally changed just like Tsuka. I had to watch him once for them while they were out of town. She warned me about him being mean, my god was he ever mean. I had to retrain him while he was here with me in that one week. It was somewhat better before he went home. He tried to run me over that's what he was trying to do. Then they couldn't take it anymore with him just attacks out of no where so he came back to live with me. This second time he came back he changed, he behaved better! I give him a bigger cage to live in, he begs to come out and sit on our shoulders, he does prefer my partner better but I would do when he wants attention. But he was just like Tsuka at their home and the first time when I watched him. I was kinda hesitant when he came back the second time around and was gonna set him up as a breeder only because of his attitude. He took on a female none of my boys liked (she was mutilated to the point her crowns won't ever grow back) and now they have beautiful babies. But Peaches is still being sweet towards us and comes out to say hi. BUT he does NOT like me touching his babies as he come charging at me and bites me hard. Other then that he's been a delight to have.

 

[DallyTsuka]

i wonder if these mood swings are really a male tiel thing. he hadnt gotten me in those videos, but he has made contact when hes dove at me before and they hurt when he bites.

my mother in law took him to her house for a month when he was around 2 years old. he was still nasty and aggressive there too so im not sure if its an environment thing....


sometimes i think about letting him sit on some fake eggs and see if that gets it out of his system. i know ive tested this theory out with some of munch's eggs. he's soooo gentle with them and tries to sit on them. he'll try even to sit on chicken eggs.... he'd be an amazing daddy bird. ive wondered if maybe he just really needs to get it out of his system, but we're just not equipped for baby tiels at the moment lol we're moving in a few months, we have our own kid due in October... so dont think baby tiels are the best idea atm. but, fake eggs dont hatch and he can sit on them to his heart's content if they help him lol


what do the breeders here think of this? if it is a hormonal aggression, perhaps letting him sit on a batch of fakes would be a solution? he treats eggs nicely, and if you have them in your hand, he'll be very gentle with your hand and will gently nibble you to try to get the egg from you LOL

 

[MikeyTN]

It is a male thing and that's why I prefer females. I recently adopt out a baby girl to a couple as he used to raise them too but lost them all due to a house fire many years ago. He felt he's been settle enough to get another one as it was very heart breaking for them to lose them. But he specifically asked for a female as well as he say the same thing like I do, females are sweeter.

 

[DallyTsuka]

i have to say the same, my female and every female tiel ive met have all been super super sweet. though, in the boys' defense, ive met an elderly old tiel man and he is the sweetest ever. maybe its his age, he's 20 years old lol but he's so mellow and sweet and calm, more timid than anything. but most people do say the females are nicer and ive seen it myself. but ive never met a male as bad as tsuka.


must be a cockatoo thing, people say male toos tend to be more troublesome lol but we all love them for a reason, right?

 

[DallyTsuka]

I think I can relate to Tsuka.....well, almost.
DEXTER is like that!...my male.

god forbid I should look at him the wrong way, if he's out of the cage, I'll get attacked.
SUPER protective of his mate, he'll bite and bite hard!
then on other days, when he lets me --he'll let me hold him and be with him.
all I want to do is love him....stupid bird, why can't he get that thru his little bird brain??
I'm not here to hurt him at all!!....if he only knew I would spend hours, giving him scritches, while my laundry is piling up, dishes are mounting, and the carpets need vacuuming....oh no....he just doesn't get it, but I understand more than anything that he is worse than any female - ever!.....so much for males....so yes, I get it Dally, maybe not to the extent of yours, but mine is temperamental.....maybe they are brothers?? ha ha

hmmm perhaps they are related!!! haha

though tsuka loves flying to our heads and preening our hair. but dont try to get him off for any reason--he'll bite

 

[MikeyTN]

RIGHT!

But I've raised sweet males that stayed sweet. But most of them turned ruthless and aggressive. I stick to my girls!!!