Help! My cockatiels keep biting each other

Coffeelover

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Nov 11, 2019
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So before I adopted my cockatiels Pickles and Kea. They’ve been together for quite some time. At first they would fight here and there but I would brush it off. But now Pickles will bite Kea for no reason and would bite Kea so hard, he make this little noise almost like a scream because it hurts. Also, Pickles will not let Kea eat. He will eat and if Kea tries to even go near the food he tries to bite him and he will keep on until he finishes. So I tried put two bowls down with the same food so they each can have their own bowl and nothing has changed smh I had to separate them but at the same time I’m still training them so they are still a little scared of my hand but I don’t want them to keep fighting. Idk what to do they were never like this when I adopted them and when I separated them, they freak out because they are always together but they fight so much. I understand birds fight but Pickles really bites Kea hard even when I give them a treat it’s like Pickles wants it all to himself and will bite Kea to the point Kea won’t even go for the treat he just looks on while Pickles eat and will get scared when I put the treat near him.
 

LaManuka

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Aug 29, 2018
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Queensland, Australia
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Fang ({ab}normal grey cockatiel), Valentino (budgie), Jem (cinnamon cockatiel), Lovejoy(varied lorikeet), Peach (princess parrot)
Unfortunately just because two birds are the same species it doesn’t automatically follow that they’ll get along. Even two previously bonded birds may have a falling out and no longer be able to live peacefully. My current male cockatiel (Fang) and my previous female (Twinkle) had separate cages so that Twinkle could be protected from Fang’s hormonal rages. Your two sound like they need their own space for safety’s sake before someone is seriously injured.
 

itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Iowa, USA
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These birds need to be separated in cages side by side so that the bullied bird can eat, drink, sleep and play in peace. You can allow them out together but it is not fair to keep them together when one is constantly biting and not allowing the other one to eat.

Perhaps a long enough separation will curb the attitude of the one that's bullying the other to start being nice.

You can let them out together supervised ONLY, and anytime one bites or bullies the other its time to separate. You'll have to deal with the freaking out they do when they are separated its for the best, r the one WILL end up killing the other. As stated above, they may have been bonded and happy previously but as time goes on sometimes things change and the two can't live together in harmony anymore.
 

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