Ask Lafeber

Cockatiel attacking

My almost 4 yr old male had started attacking me – over couple months time vet administered 3 injections of Luprone – he’s been great, but now suddenly attacking me again – help

Hi,

The hormone injections are not as effective with the males. They are more often used to stop females from being chronic egg layers. You need to try to make some changes to naturally reduce hormonal behavior. With an aggressive male cockatiel, it can be necessary to have a modest wing trim to slow him down. Don’t let him roam freely. He should come out on your hand or a stick, and interact with you. If you let him come out as he pleases, and roam around as he pleases, this mimics establishing a territory and looking for a nesting area. Limit any petting to only his head and neck. And excessive petting can stimulate hormones even when only petting the head. Keep him out of dark, cozy places – no bird tents or huts, no boxes, don’t let him explore shelves and drawers. Don’t let him shred paper and cardboard. Try finding some activities to take his mind off of breeding. Maybe teach him some tricks, work on foraging activities. Hormones are a big issue with behavior, and you must set limits and boundaries for him. We have an entire playlist of webinars on hormone issues – we revisit the topic annually. I’ll give you the link so you can view some of the webinars.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda