Biting and Ornery?!

The last few weeks, my BCC Sage, has been more aggressive. She isn't wanting to come down from her cage as much, tries to bite us for seemingly no reason. She's still affectionate, but is unpredictably aggressive at times. I sort of know that birds can go through phases, whether it's hormones or whatever, but it's been kind of hard and I'm wondering if there's anyway that I should respond or train?
She turned a year in September.

Yes, this is likely hormones at play!

In situations like this, well, the best thing to do (in my opinion) is just to leave them alone. If she wants to sit on top of her cage, let her sit. If she doesn't want to be handled or pet or touched, don't attempt to do these things. You have to learn to deal with the hormones and sort of let them work their way through it. If she's biting and aggressive when you try to do things with her, it may be her telling you to back off for now and let her be.

Of course when you need her to go back into her cage for safety (if you leave the house, for instance) be wary of her hormones and be ready for biting. It's natural and common for this time of year.

My male cockatiel has been getting more ornery lately, just turned a year old last month. I prevent bites and aggression by reading his body language and not over-handling. Sometimes he'll sit for a while peacefully on my hand and then doesn't want to be there anymore so starts biting at my hand, so that's when he gets some alone time on top of his cage. I don't allow biting while sitting on me. Also its important to never pet them below the neck, no along the back or under wings as this can definitely stimulate them and make them frustrated.

Good luck to you!

Thank you Jackie!
I understand and am comfortable with everything you're saying, except for the neck scritches. Lol. This is our favorite thing! If she seems to respond well to it, must it be ok? Or is it specifically something to avoid during this horomonal season?

neck scratches should be okay, as far as I'm aware it's not an "erotic" area for them, just keep that the lowest you go

briannamd said:

Thank you Jackie!
I understand and am comfortable with everything you're saying, except for the neck scritches. Lol. This is our favorite thing! If she seems to respond well to it, must it be ok? Or is it specifically something to avoid during this horomonal season?

Click to expand...

Oh sorry if interpreted wrong, my male LOVES head scratches and I still give them to him during this time. Anything below the neck I don't do.

Yes, sounds like sex-hormones kicking-in (it is the season, trust me I know), and I agree with Itzjbean, the best thing you can do is to just let her alone and don't try to push her to do anything she doesn't want to do, because that's when you're going to get bitten and see the aggressiveness...And certainly don't "force" her to do anything she doesn't want to do, unless as Itzjbean said it's an emergency or a safety thing, like having to put her inside of her cage because you're leaving the house, etc.

***Also, try to make sure that there is nothing inside of her cage or outside of her cage that she has access to that is triggering her sex-hormones to rage or that is constantly causing them to be active...The big ones inside of the cage are any type of Boxes, Tents, Beds/Triangle Beds, Hammocks, and especially the "Happy Huts" or "Snuggle Huts", they are not only notorious for causing hormonal-behavior in ALL BIRDS, but they are also quite dangerous and have resulted in the sudden deaths of literally tens of thousands of pet birds/parrots, specifically all species of Conures because they love to get inside of/underneath things that creat a Small, Dark Place. So you need to remove and never put back in anything like this that is inside of her cage that creates a small, dark place she can get inside of or underneath...No beds of any kind, she can sleep just fine on a perch...And the same goes for letting her get underneath things when outside of her cage, such as furniture, behind pillows, blankets, towels, etc. These are all big no-nos, especially with Female Birds, because all of these things not only cause hormonal-behaviors, they also cause the production of infertile-Eggs, and you really don't want that to start happening...

Also, make sure there is nothing that resembles "Nesting-Material" in the bottom of her cage/in the tray, such as any types of animal-bedding, such as corn-cob bedding, crushed walnut-shell bedding, any types of wood-chips, shredded paper, etc. This does the same thing as the small, dark places do...

No petting on the back, wings/underneath the wings, the legs, the tail-feathers, on her belly or around her vent....And avoid all warm, mushy foods...

***Also, make sure she is getting at least a solid 10-12 hours of sleep every night, and if possible get her on a "Natural-Light Schedule", meaning she wakes-up with the Sunrise and she goes to bed with the Sunset, just like wild birds/parrots do (this is the reason why birds in the wild only breed during "breeding-season", they wake-up with the Sun and go to bed with the Sun)...It helps if she can see the light-changes of the sun in the room her cage is in, and right as the Sun sets you cover her cage up with a dark sheet, and then remove it just as the sun starts to rise, so she can actually see the light changes at both times of day...This is a really efficient, quick way of knocking them out of these hormonal-periods...

Great advice!

Here are my three cents...


Personally, I have reduced biting to almost zero over the years I've spent with the Rickeybird... and a lot of that has involved compromise. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. Some will say I have let him get away with too much, and that's a fair criticism, but, well... I'm okay with it. I don't do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I'm disappointed/embarassed at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.

Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it. So food reward is a necessity for me. Time-out doesn't exist in the Rb's kingdom.

I have had some success with using the "earthquake" technique for biting. When he bites, give your hand a swift shake... it should make him let go. The idea... every time he bites, a mysterious earthquske shakes him up. Some people feel this is mean and/or engenders lack of trust. The same can work for clothes biting... give your shoulder a shake, or jump! For me, it has helped.
But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here.
Don't compromise until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.
My Rickeybird is in some ways kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us. Parrots run the gamut (just like people) of temperament and mental stability/brain chemistry. Like the proverbial box of chocolates... ya never know what you're gonna get.
Parrot-owners usually wind up determining their own personal comfort level with various behaviors.

Good luck, and good for you for reaching out.

Thank you so much everybody! This has been so helpful! ♥️

When Remi is in one of his sour moods, we just let him be. Usually, he gets over it because he wants to be with us. But if he is biting and such, he goes back to his cage and has time to cool off and reflect on life, lol.