BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds I have a new problem with my tiel; I need advice.

Hi all,

I posted a few months ago about a screaming issue with my female cockatiel, Sheik. I took all of your suggestions into consideration, and the screaming has since calmed a bit. So thank you guys for the advice on that issue. However, I have a much worse problem now.

Sheik seems to be getting less and less attached to me, and more aggressive. It's a change that's been happening very gradually. I started to notice it after I clipped her wings for the first time. That was about 5 or 6 months ago. (when I got Sheik, they told me she was 6 months, so she should be a year and a half old now.) Before I clipped her, she was getting a big attitude, screaming all the time, and flying everywhere around the room she wasn't supposed to go. None of the other birds I had were ever clipped because I like them to be able to fly to me and get back to their cage when they need to. I also have a cat, so I was concerned about them not being able to get away from her if, God forbid, the cat somehow got into their room unnoticed. But since she was getting so wild, I thought clipping her wings would make her calmer and a little more dependent on me. Instead, the opposite happened. She almost seems to be afraid of me now.

She used to be able to sit on my shoulder for long periods of time and preen, and I would be able to pet her on top of her head. She loved it. Now, if I try to pet her, she hisses and bites. She will step up, and I can take her out of her cage, but when I put her on my shoulder she will sit there for a minute or two and then fly to the nearest chair, or back to her cage. She will not sit with me anymore. She is very antsy on my shoulder. It makes me really sad.

Today, I noticed a new issue with her. She will not take food out of my hand anymore, not even food that she adores. This seems very strange to me. She's never been afraid of my hand before, not even in the past week.

I have not changed anything since I got her. I haven't rearranged the room, I haven't changed the food she's given, I still spend just as much time with her as I used to, so I don't understand what's wrong.

My boyfriend doesn't seem to have this problem with her. She is very comfortable with him and will fly to him if I open her cage. Has she perhaps become bonded with him since I clipped her wings and now sees me as a threat? How would I fix that, if this is the case? I love my bird and I don't want her to hate me.

I am very scared that she may be sick, and sad that I lost my best friend. I need help to get her back. Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thank you.

Is there a certain colour of clothing that you have been wearing lately that you hadn't worn before? Do you have a different colour nail polish? How about a perfume? Do you have shorter hair or longer hair? Did you get a new hand lotion?

If she is the same with your boyfriend, I suspect that something about you has changed and it doesn't have to be a big change.

Now that I think about, it, that's about the time when I got my new job. I have to wear a uniform for that job. Sometimes I don't take it off because I get home so late. Do you think it could be that? How do I get her more used to it?

To get her back to being your buddy (if that is what the problem is), I would take the time to change into something else before approaching her - at least for awhile. If she goes back to her old self after a few days, you'll know that is what the problem is. You can then maybe leave a uniform near her cage so that she can see it when you are not around (I assume you have more than one). Take it slow and easy and let us know how things go.

Okay. I'll give that a try and let you know what happens. Thanks.

Aerith: Are you sure you have a female tiel. You may have a screaming male looking for a mate. When I bought my first two tiels, the pet shop lady did not know their sex, and I read in a book that it is almost impossible to tell. They don't have a cere like the parakeets. When I brought them home it was a mystery as to who was who. Then one day my husband said they are mating, and I said hurry up and tell me who is on top. That is how I found out. The sweet gentle one was a girl, and the aggressive bully was a boy. I would not want another female because they have so much trouble egg binding. Finally my poor sweet little Sweetie died from an egg binding problem. As far as I know males can talk, and females don't. Sweetie never said a word, but Sylvester learned a lot of words. One winter I had a cough and I noticed every time I coughed he coughed too. He says hello, pretty bird, peek a boo, and whistles and jabbers a lot. Very verbal. My husband bought me another tiel after Sweetie died, and he is beautiful. I believe he is a lutino tiel. I hadn't had him very long until he started saying everything Sylvester was saying. I can't tell them apart when they are talking. I'm pretty sure the new one is a male too, because they never try to breed. I am like you I don't know why Sylvester quit being friendly either. He doesn't want to get on my hand and come out of the cage like he used to. He used to love to ride on my shoulder, and if he would find me sitting down he would come and climb up my leg to my shoulder, and sit there. He used to love that. When the first two were young they would fly around and land on my head. They thought it was a landing pad. The last time that Sweetie flew into the wall and made her beak bleed, I decided it was too dangerous and quit getting them out of the cage, and I think that is why Sylvester acts like he does. He likes me as long as I don't handle him, he yells for me to come and talk to him, and he lets me hand feed him in his cage. It is disappointing, I liked to carry him around on my shoulder. As to different clothing, my birds would go into a frenzy if my husband wore his red plaid flannel shirt. It seemed to scare them to death. Maybe your tiel needs a mate. I also have two canaries. The male justs sings and I really enjoy it, but they won't let me handle them. Mary Jo Mary Jo

Good thinking Mary Jo. Males are certainly louder than females are, although I have never had a male turn aggressive unless there was something else going on. We haven't heard from Aerith to see if the changes I suggested have helped or not, but I hope her bird is back to being her buddy.

Cockatiels do quite well as single birds as long as they have a lot of human companionship. If you are away at work or other places for a good portion of the day, it would be good to have another flock member to keep him or her company. With cockatiels, two males or two females are both great to have together, but again, it is hard to tell their sex until they are about 6 months of age.

Because Cockatiels do fly extremely fast, it can be dangerous to allow them full flight in a home and injuries do happen if a wall or window is crashed into. If you want to get back to having your bird on your shoulder, you might want to consider a partial wing clip. Clipping the 3 or 4 longest flight feathers on each wing will slow your bird down without affecting his ability to fly at all. This would be better than keeping them locked in a cage all the time.