Aggressive cockatiel

angel_uk

Regular Member
Registered
I have a budgie and cockatiel which have been housed without any issues for a good while now.

my budgie became sick so I put him into another cage whilst he is recovering and hopefullygetting better.
I firstly had the budgie upstairs to keep him warmer and so he would have less stress but cockatiel was flock calling so much I had to bring him down and put cages side to side.

cockatiel is bonded with me but has occasional moody moments when having have to go back into the cage. Nothing really major.

since birds been separated and cages next to each other the cockatiel started lashing out and biting us when we get close to budgies cage or when I want to put him back to his own cage.

he proper flies at us and bites and flaps wings
as if he’s protecting the budgie. I do need to keep them separate as he’s also pecking and picking on budgie as he’s ill.
Any advice as I don’t know how to go about it and can’t allow cockatiel behaving like that and scaring the whole family.

please let me know what are my best options here.
 
Sorry to hear this let's see what @Roz can advise and of course any other members.
 
Sorry your budgie has been ill. Hope he’s on the mend now.

The cockatiel is probably is protecting/resource guarding the budgie as you suspected. Try to work around it:

I wouldn’t try to touch the cockatiel when he’s near the budgie. If you want to get the cockatiel out of his cage, open the door and let him come out himself and fly to join you. He’ll probably behave better away from both their cages. Then you can positively reinforce his behaviour around you… ie have fun with him as you used to.

To put the cockatiel away in his cage, why don’t you temporarily move the budgie’s cage to the other side of the room, put the cockatiel away in his own cage, then bring the budgie‘s cage back next to the cockatiel?
 
Thank you I will try this but my only issue then is his flock calling. As even with him out of cage he doesn’t stop. Another thing I’m wondering also is when will he stop picking and pecking the budgie?
Is it when he is fully recovered? Will he be able to tell?
Thank you for your time and help I really appreciate it 😊👍
 
first of all I do hope your budgie recovers, i will agree you cockatiel is being protective of the budgie and is not happy to be separated. unfortunately this you need to do until your budgie recovers. you will not stop the flock calling when they are apart but your budgie needs to be away from your cockatiel when it is out so it can rest and recover and not be pecked, for this reason i would take the budgie to another room while your cockatiel is out and return it to next to your cockatiels cage once it has returned to the cage. you must not let your cockatiel peck at your budgie and also you do not want it to peck at you. I know you will be hearing you cockatiel calling while out as the budgie is out of the room but your budgie will be under less stress and will have a better chance of recovery. When your budgie is fully recovered I would let the budgie out first and under supervision let your cockatiel out after, keeping a watch on how they behave together. Its only when you see them being happy together or they decide to go in one cage themselves that i would remove the second cage.
 
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