Thanks for reaching out to Ask Lafeber. This is a little tricky to effectively do. Birds will understand a correction if it’s done immediately. If you are in one room and the cage is in another and you have to walk a distance to put her in her cage, then no it will not work. If it’s not done instantly with a “no” associated with the bite, then she will not associate the two. Even if it’s done immediately, there’s a chance she will still not associate the two.
My suggestion is to figure out what’s causing her to bite in the first place. Does she have anything in her cage that she can crawl into and find dark? Cockatiels are cavity nesters and will seek out dark and enclosed places to lay eggs. Also mirrors in the cage will sometimes trigger breeding behavior because they can mistake their own reflection as another bird and feel like they need to protect it. This would be the same behavior if she has something like a sleeping sack to crawl into at night. A lot of pet bird owners purchase sleeping sacks for their birds to sleep in at night. In the bird’s natural habitat, she will sleep on a branch with her flock mates. They will only crawl into something when they are in the breeding phase and if they breed, lay eggs and raise chicks they will go back to sleeping on a branch or perch after the babies have fledged and left the nest.
So, if you have anything in her cage that will trigger nesting behavior, I suggest removing them right away! Also, if there have been any changes in the home such as a new pet or new baby or a new resident, this could also create a bit of stress for her.
If you can write back with additional details about her cage setup and where it’s placed in the home, I may be able to help you figure out why she’s biting and how to eliminate the behavior.
Debbie
