Question
boris
Hello , I have a male cockatiel called boris , had him for 1yr and a bit , he has had several owners and unknown bad treatment, we managed to get quite close however suddenly started attcking my partner and I , solved that by covering a display cabinet, he calmed down a bit but every so often would start really nasty attacks again , thinking it could be hormones or his sexual peak having asked vets and pet shops, we got him a partnet , she is only 4 months old and very gentle , he tried to attack her , so we tried to introduce gradually , keeping her in the bed room and him in the living room, we have always let boris run free perching on doors , coming and going to his cage freely as he pleased , but we seem to be getting nowhere with this bad behaviour , screaming dive bombing its terrible! I dont want to give up on boris , we cant cage him as he has had so much free reigh, we despeartely want to cure his nastiness , for his sake and so he doesnt pass on this bad attitude to max the baby, we only got her hoping that perhaps he may calm down , but hes got even worse , ive spent extra time talking to him gently , he totally ignores my partner wont do anything he is asked although he sometimes still obeys my requests ie bed etc what can you suggest , you cant punnish him , whats the best way to control this behaviour? many thanks nigel
AnswerFirst of all, thank you so much for taking in a pet in need with a troubled past. There are an unbelievable number of birds without homes simply because of owner neglect, ignorance, or impatience.
The problem is most likely behavioral, not hormonal, but if it was hormonal, getting him a mate (especially such a young one) is the worst thing you can do, that only increases hormone output and aggression. Boris sounds to me like he has dominance issues. Allowing him complete reign of your home not only increases his territorial tendencies, it is also very very very unsafe. All pet parrots should have their wings properly clipped, otherwise injuries or escapes are bound to happen. Trust me, I know, my first bird was a cockatiel that had escaped his previous owners home. As far as not wanting to cage him, all of my birds have clipped wings but are only inside their cage when they want to be and at night. A playgym for the top of the cage will help keep him occupied after clipping his wings. And make sure you do not leave the two birds alone together, at least until Boris improves, they should have separate cages. It may help if you keep them out of eachothers' sight since you say hes worse since you got the baby.
Parrots are the most difficult animal to train, especially if they have these behaviors already ingrained upon them. The most important thing when trying to rehab a bird is that you do not accidentally reinforce the bad behavior. You can not give him ANY response, verbal, or non-verbal, when he misbehaves. You have to completely ignore ALL bad behavior. For birds any reaction from you encourages them to continue the behavior. But, don't forget to praise and reward him when he is behaving. Even if he is simply playing with his toys, or being quiet. This will eventually help to lessen if not stop his aggression, if you are consistent. It doesn't happen overnight, and may take quite some time, but trust me it is worth it.
I don't want to nag you about basic cockatiel care, such as lots of toys that are changed weekly to prevent boredom and keep them too occupied to be aggressive. You may want to limit the mirrors for awhile though, they can stimulate hormones. When you have Boris and are handling him (which you should do at least 2 or more hours hands on daily), make sure that you do not allow him on your shoulder. This will cause dominance aggression because his eyes are higher than yours. Make sure you are using a experienced board certified avian vet, and I personally take advice from pet store associates with a grain of salt. The best resource for all the information you need is books. You can't rely on everything online, they don't have to have credentials. An excellent book that helped me rehabilitate my severe macaw is "The Second-Hand Parrot" by Mattie Sue Attan. I would also recommend getting a book specifically for cockatiel care. It's always important to have a reliable reference at your fingertips. If he does not improve after six months of you following the training regiment(the book will go into far better detail), I would recommend an avian behavior specialist to help you train him. Please don't give up on Boris! He will reward you for your love and patience!
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