KuraiKarasu
Moving in
- Joined
- 3/3/18
- Messages
- 6
- Real Name
- Ayesha Dewan
Hello! I have been a lurker here for several years (without an account), but have been too shy to post here until today since I'm at a loss for what could be causing sudden aggression in my cockatiels. To give you some background before I begin: Piu is a normal grey male cockatiel possibly carrying recessive lutino genes, and Kuhu is a dominant yellow cheek pied cockatiel who is most likely male due to all the male behaviours he displays but could possibly be female. They are both healthy. Piu weighs 80 grams and Kuhu is slightly smaller and bulkier at 84 grams. Both were from a local registered breeder, handfed, and have always stepped up very well and have never shown signs of serious aggression towards each other. Piu is 18 months old, and Kuhu is 17 months old, and I've had them both since they were weaned.
They didn't become the best of friends like I'd hoped they'd become, but for the most part they have always tolerated each other and half the time even seemed to really enjoy each other's presence. Piu occasionally preens Kuhu but Kuhu has never reciprocated. There are two of everything in their cage and at least 6-7 feeding stations at all time located in various places throughout their cage. They do enjoy napping next to each other, and I've never had any issues until earlier this February.
They'd always nipped each other a little bit if one tried to sing, but never seriously. I did not see how this first incident started, as I was doing my own work while the birds were allowed to play on their cage in their play area. All of a sudden, I hear them both screaming, and I look up to see them attacking each other, literally flying through the air to chase each other. It took both me and my mother to separate them and put them in separate cages, and we received several very painful bleeding bites in the process. Neither had ever drawn blood prior to this. Kuhu and Piu both had injured feet at the end of it, though nothing serious that I couldn't treat myself.
I had assumed it was because of hormones and decided to act accordingly by decreasing their amount of waketime, setting the indoor temperature lower, and changing their setups. After two hours separated where they both contact-called for each other several times, they were perfectly fine together once more, and all was well. I thought I had fixed whatever the issue might have been.
However, earlier just now, the same issue happened again, this time starting when Kuhu nipped Piu a little roughly when Piu had begun singing. I was able to respond much quicker this time and neither of the birds received injuries from each other and I had separated them both relatively easily compared to the last time this happened, though once again, Piu drew blood because he'd step up and then proceed to viciously attack the finger he'd stepped on to. They also seemed very agitated by the separation and I let them interact again after only 10 minutes of separation, and both are currently fine and playing with their toys together.
What could be causing this sudden aggression towards each other? Has anyone experienced anything like this before? I've never heard of this happening with tiels. Should I separate them permanently? Thank you for the help and I appreciate the responses!
They didn't become the best of friends like I'd hoped they'd become, but for the most part they have always tolerated each other and half the time even seemed to really enjoy each other's presence. Piu occasionally preens Kuhu but Kuhu has never reciprocated. There are two of everything in their cage and at least 6-7 feeding stations at all time located in various places throughout their cage. They do enjoy napping next to each other, and I've never had any issues until earlier this February.
They'd always nipped each other a little bit if one tried to sing, but never seriously. I did not see how this first incident started, as I was doing my own work while the birds were allowed to play on their cage in their play area. All of a sudden, I hear them both screaming, and I look up to see them attacking each other, literally flying through the air to chase each other. It took both me and my mother to separate them and put them in separate cages, and we received several very painful bleeding bites in the process. Neither had ever drawn blood prior to this. Kuhu and Piu both had injured feet at the end of it, though nothing serious that I couldn't treat myself.
I had assumed it was because of hormones and decided to act accordingly by decreasing their amount of waketime, setting the indoor temperature lower, and changing their setups. After two hours separated where they both contact-called for each other several times, they were perfectly fine together once more, and all was well. I thought I had fixed whatever the issue might have been.
However, earlier just now, the same issue happened again, this time starting when Kuhu nipped Piu a little roughly when Piu had begun singing. I was able to respond much quicker this time and neither of the birds received injuries from each other and I had separated them both relatively easily compared to the last time this happened, though once again, Piu drew blood because he'd step up and then proceed to viciously attack the finger he'd stepped on to. They also seemed very agitated by the separation and I let them interact again after only 10 minutes of separation, and both are currently fine and playing with their toys together.
What could be causing this sudden aggression towards each other? Has anyone experienced anything like this before? I've never heard of this happening with tiels. Should I separate them permanently? Thank you for the help and I appreciate the responses!
