# Help with aggressive bird



## Ninjaturtleswag (3 mo ago)

Hi everyone! I have 4 parakeets, 2 males, and 2 females. Their names are Beef (male, blue and black) Butter (female, yellow and green) Cokie (probably female, but unsure, albino) and Creek (male, blue and white) The males are mine and the females were a roommates who no longer wanted them so I ended up taking them in.

Butter has become a bit of a problem bird, she always fights and squawks at and pecks the other birds, and they will also all gang up on her and attack her back, none of the others fight amongst themselves, they only attack butter. For now I have seperated her and put her in her own cage, and Butter definitely seems happier to be in a cage by herself, she will chirp to her hearts content and since there's nobody to cause trouble with, she doesn't! 

She doesn't trust me at all, and taming her has been downright impossible, but this is probably due to the previous owner aggressively poking fingers and yelling at her whenever she would pick on the other bird (cokie) and honestly butter does upset me quite a bit when I see her biting tails and feet which has made me want to rehome her, but I'd hate to give up on her like that, and the other birds see her as part of the flock and freak out if she's gone.

Is there anything I can do to stop her from being so aggressive? They're not hormonal, and get plenty of dark time, I change out water and food daily, plenty of perches and cage space, toys, shreddables, etc. I realize some birds are just like that but ya know. Maybe I'm not doing something right or I'm just missing something. Any advice would be wonderful! Here is a picture of the main cage and them enjoying some lettuce.










Here is butters naughty bird jail its a little small but it's the only other cage i have right now (placed right next to main cage)


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Some birds - just like people - can be huge jerk faces. I've got two girls, one is sweet and gentle no matter how hormonal she is. The other is the devil incarnate when she's hormonal and regularly draws blood.

I've been given some good advice by @vrabec to incorporate target training and encourage good behaviours. This might be something you could look into? I can forward their DM to you.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Thank you for separating Butters from the other budgies when she becomes aggressive.
It is very important that she not be bullying the others. If she is territorial and aggressive, she can severely injure or kill one of the other birds
If they "gang up" on her, they can severely injure or kill her.

Unfortunately, it may be that she will need to be housed separately on a permanent basis.

You can look into positive reinforcement training and clicker training in the links below:

Positive Reinforcement in Training.*
*Basics of Clicker Training*


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## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

What @FaeryBee wrote.. separating them may be permanent. For helping you get close to the bird without her attacking you, look into Constructional Aggression Treatment. This was developed for dogs, but the similar techniques can be brought over to birds  It's a theme on positive reinforcement. Good luck!


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## Ninjaturtleswag (3 mo ago)

I don't really know what to do with her unfortunately... I put the other birds away and let just butter out today to see what would happen and she just sat on top and sides of the main cage trying to bite the other birds through the bars. 

When everyone is out, she just tries to assert her dominance by flying into their cage and fighting anyone that didn't want to come out at that time.

Obviously it would be cruel to just leave her in the cage 24/7 but I can't house butter in another room as my roommate recently got a puppy and I don't really want to know what would happen if it ever comes face to face with a bird, so all the birds live in my bedroom.

I have tried target training her for a while but have made little progress, unlike with the other birds where I am slowly earning their trust. I realize every bird is different, and especially harder with a bird who has already not had great interactions with humans.... aggghhhh I just feel so bad. 

It's a shame, I know she's a very sweet bird but as soon she started getting fingers poked at her it really messed her up... poor butter.

I will look into the constructional aggression treatment and see how that fares. Thanks a lot!


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## Sweety's mom (4 mo ago)

I hope so much this isn’t an inappropriate or insensitive thing to say. But given you have 4 parakeets and the one who doesn’t seem to want to fit in, if you considered rehoming her to someone like me who just wants one at a time and can focus entirely on her, she may become so much happier. And you would be happier and more peaceful too.

I can attest that there are lots of good parents wanting to adopt and take in rehomes. If I could have taken in someone like your Butter, I totally would have preferred that to going to the pet store. Healthy parakeets to be rehomed where I’m at seem to get snapped up immediately. Even not so healthy ones, there are several good orgs who will take and rehab them.

But again please don’t take this as advice, and I hope it doesn’t make you sad. I don’t mean to say that we can or should just easily give them away when they aren’t like what we expected.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Sweety's mom is correct. It's our responsibility to care for our budgies no matter what their temperaments or illnesses may be. However, in your situation, you may not be able to give Butter what she needs, which is time away from other budgies when she can fly around on her own without obsessing over fighting the other birds. Since your roommate has a puppy, that's not something that you can reasonably provide at this time. 

If it still seems like she's not able to live fully despite your best efforts then I agree that rehoming to someone who is aware of her history with budgies and has time to devote to her as a solo bird and give her the attention she needs may be a better option for both of you. 

On the other hand, solutions to this you may want to try first are a floor-to-ceiling room divider, curtains, or even a small popup tent to keep her flying time separate from the others.


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## ChickWas (May 6, 2021)

Floor to ceiling room divider is what I'm planning on doing myself, to allow both girls out of cage playtime without worrying they'll fight each other.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Sweety's Mom and StarlingWings have both offered excellent advice.*


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## Ninjaturtleswag (3 mo ago)

Once I've truly felt like I've exhausted all other options I will end up rehoming her as I do want what's best for her, and if that isn't with me that's ok. 

I do like the pop up tent idea! I will try that as well so she can have time to stretch her wings. I will see how things go with a little extra time and effort and see what I can do. Thanks guys, very helpful info from you all


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Take a look at this post to see what another member did to divide space with a magnetic screen Sweety


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