Bratty Cockatiel?

Question

my cockatiel gets tons of attention all day, multiple hours of it, but he always wants more, he shrieks really loud if i leave him alone for 5 minutes, he never wants to go in his cage and sleep, and he is really stubborn and bites if he does not get what he wants

Answer 1

This is going to be the rough part. Your bird is actually in its bratty stage -- think of a child in their "terrible twos." So, what you do from here on it is going to effect how your bird acts for the rest of its life.

What I would recommend doing is getting your bird on a schedule. It's going to be rough at first because the screeching can get very annoying very fast but if you give it everything it wants all the time, it will try to take advantage of you.

Make sure you have a cover for the cage. Since your bird is still young and you have time to condition it to get used to when it comes out, you should cover the cage when it is time to go back inside. Now this is only a temporary, when it learns the rules you won't have to do this anymore. Decide certain times of day when you will take him out, this is kind of like crate training a puppy. So let's say you decide to take him out about once every 3-4 hours. Take him out for about a half hour each time and then put him back in and cover the cage. The first three days are the hardest until it gets used to what you are doing.

I'd say do this for about a month and you will have your cockatiel trained to know that cage time is his time to behave and it only comes out when you want it to come out -- you are the boss, not him.

Another thing you should watch out for -- letting him climb up on top of his cage, especially if it is higher up than your face. When birds climb up on top of their cage it is so they can see over you, and they do this so that they can be in charge, almost as if they are expressing dominance. Try putting the cage in a lower area, or simply removing him from the top of the cage when he tries to go up there. This is a good thing to do in the beginning because then they recognize that you are in control.

Answer 2

i have the same problems! i think your bird thinks it is your mate, which means it does not want to leave you. Do you pet his back, or under his wings? This is what might be causing this. Plus it is breeding seasons. To stop this let your bird have limited amount of light, (cover his cage at 8pm and take it off and around 8-10 am) Plus are you giving him a large amount of food? In spring time food is plentiful which tells them it is breeding season. Plus if he trys to mate with you pick him up and put him in his cage for a little and ignore him. However this does NOT mean to get a second bird to let him mate.