Cockatiel acting weird

[TaliArtyom]

Why does my male cockatiel likes to stay in Tali’s food bowl when he goes to sleep at night? He even pushes her so he can sleep there and gets a little bit aggressive with her. I really don’t like his personality, he doesn’t play at all unlike Tali and he’s grumpy all the time and he does this face (pic 2), the only nice thing about him is that he sometimes sings but that’s kinda of it. I love him but sometimes he’s really annoying unlike Tali who has a beautiful personality. One more question, they are 11 months old, should I buy them a nesting box? I saw that Tali is losing some feathers, I don’t think she’s stressed because she fluffs her tail and comes to me when I enter the room, I know that chickens lose some puff and tiny feathers when they are ready for nesting.

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

Bump

 

[Shezbug]

 

[sunnysmom]

No nesting box. Even if you want them to breed, which I hope you don't, they're too young. So you don't want to encourage egg laying. Your male may be hormonal and that's why he's in the bowl and grumpy. How much sleep/dark time does he get? Your female could also be starting to molt. As could your male, which also causes grumpiness. Do he eat okay? What are his droppings like? If he's inactive and puffed up, that can also be a sign of sickness.

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

Poor love, he really doesn't look happy. He has a bird-pain/saddness face. I'd like to point out that "unhappiness or grumpiness" is almost never a "personality trait" in a bird. Right now he's not happy - that could come from hidden health issues, issues with his surroundings, diet, boredom or yes maybe hormones and molting. Try to find that cause, please; he could end up a very happy, energetic and friendly bird yet. <3

 

[TaliArtyom]

No nesting box. Even if you want them to breed, which I hope you don't, they're too young. So you don't want to encourage egg laying. Your male may be hormonal and that's why he's in the bowl and grumpy. How much sleep/dark time does he get? Your female could also be starting to molt. As could your male, which also causes grumpiness. Do he eat okay? What are his droppings like? If he's inactive and puffed up, that can also be a sign of sickness.

In the last couple of days they slept like 8-9 hours a night. I know they have to sleep 12 hours but I usually stay on my pc until 2-3AM and when I go to sleep they usually wake up because of the sound of my chair/door. My room gets really quiet at night so when I move a little they always open their eyes (The male does this more). He’s still afraid of me, any tips so I can make him get used to me? And should I not intervene when they are fighting each other? They usually fight when she moves from the upper part of the cage down to the lower part of the cage, one thing that he’s doing and really angers me is when Tali is coming back from the outside of the cage and she tries to climb to her food bowl and then he gets really aggressive and start hitting his beak on the bowl and he even bites her when she gets close, I always intervene when he does that and I push him a little so she can enter. He bit me 2 times (like strong bites) and I’m starting to hate him even though I know he’s just afraid, I just don’t know how to show him that I love him besides giving him things that he likes (millet and salad those are the only thing he likes). And he looks at me a lot, I may have scared him the last time he bit me because I accidentally dropped him to the floor... by reflex, (I was trying to put him on my palm because he got scared when the fish bone fell from the cage and he flew away so I wanted to put him back in his cage) after that he got really scared, he started to breathe loudly, he positioned his left wing a little weird and started coughing, I really regret that I dropped him. This happened one week ago and he stares at me when I move. Any tips on how can I improve my relationship with him?

 

[Tiel Feathers]

You really should have them in two separate, large cages. This would be better for them and easier for you. I think you need to start over with him. You can improve your relationship with him by sitting near his cage, reading aloud to him, trying to target train him, giving him treats, and never force him to do anything. If you put in the time, and be extremely patient with him, your relationship with him will change dramatically over time, but you have to think in terms of months or more.

You can try covering them at night or having some sort of white noise so your room isn’t so quiet. Definitely don’t get them anything that resembles a nest, and you might want to try foraging toys to get him interested in toys. Maybe he will start to become more interested in toys as time goes on, especially if he sees your female playing with toys. My tiels only like small toys that are easily shredded. I think he can be a great friend, but you have to change your expectations and give him a fair chance. It makes me feel sorry for him when you say you are starting to hate him.

 

[TaliArtyom]

You really should have them in two separate, large cages. This would be better for them and easier for you. I think you need to start over with him. You can improve your relationship with him by sitting near his cage, reading aloud to him, trying to target train him, giving him treats, and never force him to do anything. If you put in the time, and be extremely patient with him, your relationship with him will change dramatically over time, but you have to think in terms of months or more.

You can try covering them at night or having some sort of white noise so your room isn’t so quiet. Definitely don’t get them anything that resembles a nest, and you might want to try foraging toys to get him interested in toys. Maybe he will start to become more interested in toys as time goes on, especially if he sees your female playing with toys. My tiels only like small toys that are easily shredded. I think he can be a great friend, but you have to change your expectations and give him a fair chance. It makes me feel sorry for him when you say you are starting to hate him.

I will give him a few days and if he fights again I will put him in another cage but the thing is that they love each other, they like to cuddle and stay close to each other, but sometimes they fight, they have been in the cage tougher since the previous owner bought them. And they don’t like being covered, every time I cover them they freak out so for the last month I didn’t cover them and they are alright, I have a lamp so they don’t get scared at night. I will buy a clicker so I can interact with them and train them. Thank you for helping me!

 

[Tiel Feathers]

I’m glad that you are going to try to train them, and it’s okay if they are not covered at night. They are so cute! Is that their cage in the picture? It’s much too small for two cockatiels. If you can get them a big flight cage, they will probably fight less.

 

[TaliArtyom]

I’m glad that you are going to try to train them, and it’s okay if they are not covered at night. They are so cute! Is that their cage in the picture? It’s much too small for two cockatiels. If you can get them a big flight cage, they will probably fight less.

A new cage is coming in a few days, but I don’t mind them flying, I left they’re tiny doors open so they can fly whenever they want, but when they come back they are struggling to enter because of the roof. That’s why I bought a cage with a opening in the roof.

 

[TaliArtyom]

I’m glad that you are going to try to train them, and it’s okay if they are not covered at night. They are so cute! Is that their cage in the picture? It’s much too small for two cockatiels. If you can get them a big flight cage, they will probably fight less.

When a parrot sings, isn’t it a sign of happiness?

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Could be happiness, excitement, showing off, trying to attract a mate, etc. not usually a sign of a sick or tired bird.