What Do You Think Of This "Stop Biting" Water Additive?

[JennKerry]

The floor stand playset was bought for him when we got him, thats Manzanita so its held up quite well. The playsets on the top of the cages are fairly big. Either he's small or my tiels are big, cause they are almost the same size except for the beaks. The toys have been universal for years and everyone gets a lot of use from them.
He loves to chew, but over the last few years doesnt really play with toys much anymore, just destroys them. My Cockatoo does both, plays hard, chews hard.
He seems to get most enjoyment out of conversating with the Blue Jays, I guess thats the closest screaming relative in the wild!
What I dont want to do, is create even a bigger monster then I already have. I think the reason he is like this is because he is a spoiled brat and if he doesnt get his way, scream and yell, and take it out on whoever.
What my husband used to do was give him something whenever he started screaming. Kinda like if a baby crys, you pick it up. Same deal.
He became spoiled and knew what to do to get his way. After I told my husband that is going to make it worse, he stopped and it seems not too long after that, Nico became more aggressive.
He needs to learn to self entertain I guess. I cant get him a larger friend cause all he wants to do is beat the crap out of any larger bird...aka...Tiki my Cockatoo. He is anti-social. Guess Im just gonna have to live with it, and do my best to control it.

[Ginich]

JennKerry, I also love your set up and it sounds like you are doing lots of things right. I use Bach's Rescue Remedy whenever my fids, dogs or cats (or kids when they were at home) or myself are going through any kind of trauma or anxiety, surgery, vet visits, thunderstorms, hurricanes, 4th of July, etc. It works-I don't know why but it does. I have been successfully using it for years. Less is more effective-again I don't know why-it just is. I dilute 4 drops in 8 oz of filtered or distilled water, then add that water to the fids, cats, dog's or my water.

I also agree with Cindy that a strict sleep schedule goes a long way in controling behavior. It is never spring in my house even though I live in FL. My fids are covered 12 -15 hrs/day. My tiels are all hurricane refugees and came to me traumatized from being blown about in the storm. This is our third year together and they are just starting to act like pets again. Two out of three will step up but Charley still has a ways to go,lol, but he hasn't bitten me in over a year now so that's real progress!

[Darth_Prophet]

tielmama

I think your bird has a great sense of humor if you look closer it would appear he's flipping you the BIRD

[Cindy215]

Originally Posted by JennKerry

The floor stand playset was bought for him when we got him, thats Manzanita so its held up quite well. The playsets on the top of the cages are fairly big. Either he's small or my tiels are big, cause they are almost the same size except for the beaks. The toys have been universal for years and everyone gets a lot of use from them.
He loves to chew, but over the last few years doesnt really play with toys much anymore, just destroys them. My Cockatoo does both, plays hard, chews hard.
He seems to get most enjoyment out of conversating with the Blue Jays, I guess thats the closest screaming relative in the wild!
What I dont want to do, is create even a bigger monster then I already have. I think the reason he is like this is because he is a spoiled brat and if he doesnt get his way, scream and yell, and take it out on whoever.
What my husband used to do was give him something whenever he started screaming. Kinda like if a baby crys, you pick it up. Same deal.
He became spoiled and knew what to do to get his way. After I told my husband that is going to make it worse, he stopped and it seems not too long after that, Nico became more aggressive.
He needs to learn to self entertain I guess. I cant get him a larger friend cause all he wants to do is beat the crap out of any larger bird...aka...Tiki my Cockatoo. He is anti-social. Guess Im just gonna have to live with it, and do my best to control it.

OK well the size of the birds really doesnt have anything to so with it. Parrotlets are the size of a canary and will try and kill a big bird under the right circumstances.

Anyone I know with a flock of Tiels and parrots reports that they are totally different and not interested in each other especially the Tiels. It was that way in my pet store too. I had them together in a playpen and they self segregated. Tiels are very gentle. Yes people may disagree because they can bite hard but you get my drift....

The fact that you report him calling back and forth to the blue jays tells me a big thing IMO. It's some dynamic about the flock. It could even be THOSE birds now calling and getting him riled up. Alot of birds cannot be around others. Like my Parrotlets. The way you get Parrotlets to breed is to let them HEAR other birds. But not see. Or else they do mate aggression.

This means whenever they think a "stranger" is going to threaten the bird relationship they bite the mate. Wierd but true. There are other reasons too like wanting to breed when one wont....

The way I"m understanding you is you had your husband withhold attention then Nico became aggressive. So doesnt this say he us upset and wants the love of the person he used to have? Birds attack the ones they love, too. Especially if they see that person giving attention to another bird. The other thing that makes me sad is you had him eight years, right? And was he the only bird alot of the time and did he spend that time bonded to you or your dh?

It's a very complicated dynamic. But if you dont want to give him the one on one he needs then yes maybe another home with the same kind of bird, dna opposite sex would be best. But he will be very depressed that's for sure.

I think after summer he'll calm down. But the Jays I bet a dollar are part of the problem.

The fact he destroys toys and Tiels dont is normal. Every parrot needs to destroy stuff. Your Too does also, right?

Sorry there's really no such thing as a spoiled brat imo. Yes we make them overly dependent because we think it's so cool they are imprinted to humans and act like little babies. But as they get older and we change their lives we get frustrated when they revert to communicating the ONLY WAY they can. Lilke birds.

I really hope you'll start over with Nico. Let him have the attention of your husb if that's what he needs and see if he can calm down after breeding season. It's really hard to guess over the internet but I'm sure it's him being lonely and bored. And thinking the Jays are going to show up any minute whether for good or bad. He's only a little conure but they are just as complicated as a big bird.

[JennKerry]

Food for thought! When we bought Nico, I lived with my parents, so his cage & stuff was in my room. I bought the Cockatiels 12 yrs ago, so they have been around 4 more yrs b4 he was. That didnt matter much cause like you said, they dont really want anything to do with eachother and they lived downstairs in the livingroom.
At first, it was great, he was interactive with everyone and sweet, great right? Then some time passed, it started with my sister. Even though she helped out with his hand feedings, things began to change with they way he acted towards her. We think its because my sister and I look so alike, that it may have set him off in some way.
It started with him not wanting her to pick him up, so she backed off for a day or so and tried again, then it got worse. Then the aggressive screaming started before the "Come-ere" was learned. Again, got worse, then the attacking started. We thought that maybe it was because he was in our room and wasnt around people all the time, but he was still socialized with the rest of the family on a daily basis. So we didnt know why he singled out my sister.
I put it as the trickle down effect. It started with my sister, then my mom, dad, whatever friend would come over, and my husband was the last one for Nico to turn on.
Our Too wasnt brought home till 10 months ago, so giving other birds more attention hasnt been an issue.
You should hear my wedding video, I had a quaint backyard wedding and I was getting ready in my room, JEEZ, nothing but screaming at everyone and attacking the bars of the cage. Possibly it was because it was HIS territory, but that was just vicious. At that point, he was just barely a year old, so this came on very fast. The past 7 years have been trying.
If my husband is to handle Nico anymore..as in recently, I have to basically be out of the house all day so he hasnt seen me AT ALL, then he goes to Kerry. Its almost like, "Well, if moms not around, then I GUESS I have to SETTLE for you dad!" And at that, he could snap any second.
All Kerry and I want, is to be able to spend joint time together with him, like in the beginning. We want old Nico back, but I think that ship has sailed.
Trust me when I say that my birds are my kids and I do my best to provide for them and give them everything they could ever want. Im at my wits end, so I end up here to see if Im alone in this and things to try.
Kerry is fed up with the painful bites and scars left behind, my sister wont even come in to see him anymore, due to the same reason. He has basically put a wall up and literally chased everyone away, except me, he wants me.
I wont get rid of him, I would sooner get another bird just for him if it helps. My husband is the one saying that he wants to give him to our breeder cause of the anti social/biting behaviour.
Im trying guys...I really appriciate all your help too