how can i stop me cockatiel bird from biting me or being agressive?

if it's alone give it a spouse

When I first got my tiel, from 2 previous owner, glad to say I have had him now for 7 years, he was like that. I would put a finger out closer and closer as time went on and discovered that he wanted his head and neck scratched. Now he comes to me and bows his head to be scratched. He starts the biting thing again if I spend to many long hours at work for days. Good Luck and the key is a lot of attention for these social cuties.

A cockatiel is like a 2 yr old. That is a lot of intelligence, but contolled by emotions. Birds are not like dogs who are constantly seeking to win your approval and affection, a bird thinks of themselves as a partner or mate. He will bond with one human, he may tolerate another or others but he will choose just one as 'his' unless he has another bird to bond to.

This means that you can't take him for granted or dictate the relationship like we tend to do with dogs or cats. Birds are roommates and friends.

You need to establish a couple of ground rules with your cockatiel -

1. You are in charge

2. Biting is not acceptable

You may add to those as you go along but with our birds I find that those two pretty much cover what we all need.

How do you establish that you are in charge?

There are a couple of things... you say that your bird 'lands on you'? You need to get his wings clipped - primarily for his safety. There is always the possibility that he could dash for the open door, don't kid yourself no one is perfectly careful. Worse than that, I had waited too long to clip my bird's wings - she was out of her cage we were having a thunderstorm, lost power and the room went dark. She started flying around the room panicked slammed into a wall and broke her neck.

The other thing that clipping his wings does is allow you to control (pretty much) where he moves. You can use this to teach him to 'Step Up'. Say it as you place your finger gently on top of his feet, this will teach him to step on your finger so that you can transport him with you (you are in charge).

How do you teach him not to bite?

When your bird bites, or opens his beak and leans forward like he is going to bite (aggressive stance) - grab the top of his beak on both sides like you would hold your nose going under water. You want to grab his beak firmly and give a shake, a gentle shake but enough to say 'I AM THE BIG BIRD HERE'. While you do this you say sternly 'No Bite!!'.

In the wild when birds get into fights they will attempt to grap each other's beaks, the loser ends up beaklless. It's hard to survive in the wild without a beak.

You need to talk to your bird. They like the sound of voices and will imitate so don't talk baby talk. The more you interact with him, the closer you will become. Just remember, 2 yrs old. Bird or 2yr old person - no guilt, no pity, just completely self-centered, self-indulgent twit. Charming, delightful and endearing, certainly but you don't want the twit in charge do you?

Hope that helps!

Jen

i would talk to it and stand next to it fro a while spen time with it is is probaley sad :(

thump its beak one good time it should get the picture