My cockatiel is supposed to be a girl. Why does she hump my toe like a pet dog would?

Question

My bird usually sits on my feet. recently, she got into a bad habbit of humping my toes. Is this normal behavior? Anyone ever have this happen to them and how do I get her to stop?

Answer 1

Are you certain she's a girl?

Females in animals are known to sometimes show male behaviour. My female dog use to hump legs and pee with her leg up. Some female cockatiels will actually sing like a male. So it is not completely impossible that your girl tiel is having fun with your toes. :P

It might be time to stop letting her near your feet. If she does start doing it then firmly say, "Don't" to her and move her away from you for a few minutes. Do that everytime she tries. Be careful though, she may get aggressive if you try to move her so watch for body language. It is best to encourage her to stop the behaviour otherwise there is the possibility it could lead to behaviour problems down the road.

Good luck. :3

Answer 2

Just carefully remove your foot from her reach and give her something else to do. Also pay attention to what's going on in her environment--if she is taking lots of baths, if you pet her back or wings, or if her schedule's off (if she's kept awake for too long the increase in light may tell her internal clock it's spring and time to mate), this could be triggering mating instincts. Try to discourage bathing by only giving her water in her cup (or water bottle if that's what you use), only scratching the top of her head, and putting a dark cover over her cage in the morning so that she sleeps in.

Answer 3

lol. Well actually it is pretty normal. Its a dominance thing. My male cockatiel would actually rub his butt on the top of our chairs. Weird yes. Will she stop, yes! You just have to find the humor in it until shes done. lol.