New friend has changed behaviour

[timmy and muffin]

Hello,

This is my first post here and I hope it can shed some light for me on an issue I am facing.

In February we purchased a hand raised 1 month year old, 'Muffin'. She has been a delight, well behaved in and out of the cage, happy to sit on our shouders and quickly learnt to sing and mimic our songs that we sung to her.

Last week my son decided he wanted one as well, we bought another 8 month old however it was not had reared, and it was a boy. Currently they are in seperate cages.
Now we find that 'Muffin', the original bird, has become quite aggressive and territorial, no longer sings at all, and spends all her time gazing into 'Timmy's", the new boyfriends, cage and she hisses if we go near her and she bites us when out of the cage. Timmy seems pretty chilled out and oblivious to her battering eyelids, however he is a bit of a biter when out of the cage but we expected that as he isn't hand raised.

So I have read that her bond has shifted to her beau, which we don't mind, but have we lost her sweet singing nature or will that come back in time??

My daughter, who is the keeper of the original bird, is quite saddended by this change in behaviour, I would love to hear about peoples experiences in similar situations. The birds are located in our loungeroom so there is plenty going on, and we have 2 budgies as well.

Thanks!

 

[wrench13]

Introducing another parrot can do this. Only time will tell if Muffin returns to her prior behavior ( i think not but....).

 

[AprilRobin]

Welcome to the forum! My husband and I also have two Cockatiels (and Budgies, and a Sun Conure), but we adopted ours together, so it's not quite the same situation.

You only got Timmy one week ago, so I think it's possible that the hype/fascination will settle and Muffin will adjust to him being a normal part of the home. Only guessing because, again, my Cockatiels were adopted together. But I have seen a couple of Budgies ignore and avoid us while being temporarily fascinated with a new Budgie.

If you leave millet and other treats in the cages all the time, take those out (except for hiding a few seeds inside toys). These should be treats that your bird only gets from you. Plus, you don't want them ignoring their main food too much. Only their main food and vegetables should be left in the cage for extended periods of time. I take vegetables away after 2 or 3 hours. When it's time to get treats from you, maybe Muffin will take a break from the fascination with Timmy.

Two good YouTube Channels are Denny the Budgie" (it's also about Cockatiels) and "Love of Pets".

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Why did you get a second cockatiel if you were so happy with the first one? Is the first one a DNA sexed female?
If Muffin is a DNA sexed female, adding a sexually maturing male is going to create new loyalties toward each other, and eventually likely babies.
Why didn't you get a second hand raised one? A parent raised 8 month old will take much longer to become a hand friendly bird and on top of it a male may change the whole dynamic.
Are your son and daughter children? How old are they? Can they just keep their birds separately in their own rooms and take care of their own birds?

 

[AprilRobin]

Why did you get a second cockatiel if you were so happy with the first one? Is the first one a DNA sexed female?
If Muffin is a DNA sexed female, adding a sexually maturing male is going to create new loyalties toward each other, and eventually likely babies.
Why didn't you get a second hand raised one? A parent raised 8 month old will take much longer to become a hand friendly bird and on top of it a male may change the whole dynamic.
Are your son and daughter children? How old are they? Can they just keep their birds separately in their own rooms and take care of their own birds?

Should no one ever be allowed to own more than one bird? Most people on this forum, and people who I've met in real life, and other forums, have more than one.

Also, as with Budgies, a male + female doesn't always guarantee babies. I don't know for sure that Pepper isn't female, but if "she" is, then she and Kona are almost three years old and haven't wanted to mate so far. We avoid creating tempting nesting spots, and sometimes a male and female simply don't like each other for mates.

This person came to the forum because they care about their birds and are looking for help.

 

[timmy and muffin]

Thanks for the replys. Looks like Muffin is calming down a bit after a few days and has returned to singing again, albeit not as much. I think I have worked out that it is me that she is guarding from the new bird, I assume she wants him all to herself, and I am letting her know that I am happy with that and that all our family are part of the same flock. So lots of chatting and singing to them both as much as possible from me and the other humans.

 

[timmy and muffin]

Why did you get a second cockatiel if you were so happy with the first one? Is the first one a DNA sexed female?
If Muffin is a DNA sexed female, adding a sexually maturing male is going to create new loyalties toward each other, and eventually likely babies.
Why didn't you get a second hand raised one? A parent raised 8 month old will take much longer to become a hand friendly bird and on top of it a male may change the whole dynamic.
Are your son and daughter children? How old are they? Can they just keep their birds separately in their own rooms and take care of their own birds?

We got the second one as a companion and pet for my son. To be honest not enough research was done beforehand and I made too many assumptions based on our budgies! The difference in price between hand raised and parent raised is quite a lot and was one of the factors, plus the fact that we fell in love with the pure white one. They get along well together so I think it will work out, Muffin has calmed down a tad and I think more importantly my expectations have as well. Cheers.

 

[timmy and muffin]

Should no one ever be allowed to own more than one bird? Most people on this forum, and people who I've met in real life, and other forums, have more than one.

Also, as with Budgies, a male + female doesn't always guarantee babies. I don't know for sure that Pepper isn't female, but if "she" is, then she and Kona are almost three years old and haven't wanted to mate so far. We avoid creating tempting nesting spots, and sometimes a male and female simply don't like each other for mates.

This person came to the forum because they care about their birds and are looking for help.

Thanks, and you make a good point, I don't know for sure that either of them are male or female, I was making assumptions based on their behaviour, they are getting along very well and often chat to each other so I think it will all work out well.

 

[AprilRobin]

Thanks, and you make a good point, I don't know for sure that either of them are male or female, I was making assumptions based on their behaviour, they are getting along very well and often chat to each other so I think it will all work out well.

I do think your situation might just need time. Six months from now, it could be totally different, in a good way! Cockatiels in particular have a reputation for being slow to trust their owners, but the relationship you have with them later is worth it. (Of course, anything that you hear about a certain species, is not always true for every bird.)