my lovable, friendly male has suddenly started biting me and attacking his mate, refusing to let her enter the cage basically he just launches himself at her , beak open ,squawking and at me top
they bred last year, raised four healthy babies
Hi Sophie,
Even though your male remained tame last year and raised a clutch with his mate, this is not the usual experience. He is older now, and more mature and his breeding instincts are obviously stronger than they were before. I’m not sure how old he is, but if you let him breed when he was less than 2 years old, that will explain his behavior before. A cockatiel is not fully mature physically or mentally until 2-3 years old, so 2 years is the earliest you should pair cockatiels for breeding. His behavior now is natural. Once cockatiels – and any parrot – bonds with a mate, other flock members are now rivals. The pair will not interact physically with other flock members. And during breeding season, the pairs separate from the main flock and establish a territory where they nest and raise their chicks. Other birds that venture too close will be chased away, and if they do not leave, the male will turn and attack the female, forcing her back to her nest. Your male is confused because he is torn between you and his mate. So he has basically short circuited and has turned on both of you. Even if he was just with his mate, some males do this for some reason in captivity. In some cases, they do this in the middle of incubating eggs or feeding chicks, and has to be separated. In a case like that, you have to rotate the parents every morning and evening and they take turns sitting on the eggs or caring for the chicks. In some cases, after a couple of days the male settles back down and they can be together again. But a male acting this way can be very dangerous to the hen, and he can inflict hard bites on you.
So, you have to make the hard decision to either stop handling him and interacting with him so he can focus on his mate. Or split the pair up, and see if he will be a pet again. If you do this, you will have to find a new home for the female or her calls will keep him in an agitated state – and her, too. When someone asks me about breeding a pet bird, I always explain that when you turn a pet into a breeder, you have to be willing to give the bird up as a pet. In rare cases, the bird might remain a pet when they aren’t breeding. But almost always, the bird gives into natural instinct and chooses the bird mate over the human. I’m sorry you are having this experience. For yours and her safety, you need to separate them until you decide what his future will be. Otherwise she is at risk of him killing her if he remains so aggressive. It can turn very bad, very quickly.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
