# Year old suddenly starting to bite?



## ButtercupBumblebee (Feb 17, 2008)

Hello everyone

I hope you can help me narrow down what's going on with our nearly-year old budgie. He still doesn't have a name yet, my fiance is picky and hasn't liked any of the names I've come up with but he can't think of anything either, so for now we just call him "Birdie".

Birdie has been a lot slower at becoming tame than any of the budgies I've had before, but that's okay! We've let him take his time and never forced him into anything. So far he loves when we talk and whistle to him, bob our heads (he will do it back, haha!), and he has just recently learned two words "Birdie" and "c'mere". He loves his cheeks scratched, so we use that and a sweetly spoken "good birdie!" as a reward whenever he steps up onto our fingers.

He has plenty of toys, in and out of his cage. He's got an assortment of bells, chew toys, and bird wiffle balls. He is out of his cage about...5 hours throughout the day with plenty of breaks for snacks. He has a seed cup and a pellet cup, which he eats from equally. He has a cuttlebone and a vitamin block, I've seen him occasionally chew at both. No matter what we try, we can't get him to eat other foods. We've tried lettuce, carrots, bits of mashed potato, and broccoli (the small bits off the top).

In the last week, we've noticed when he hops on our finger to come out, he will bite. At first it was gentle nibbles, but now he is starting to bite harder and harder. Moments ago he bit hard enough to break the top layer of skin. No blood though. 

We are familiar with the sticky for biting and positive reinforcement, but I'm not sure besides step ups, what we could do to deter this biting, we want to nip it in the bud. Have we done something else that would cause frustration? Do you have any tips? Please let me know!


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi Buttercup! 

Well, it seems your little one has reached the "teenager stage"  

Much like rebellious humans when they reach their teens, budgies who are almost a year go through puberty, in which their hormones go crazy and they have mood swings, and exhibit withdrawn or aggressive behaviour. 

Birdie is simply going through this at this time. Even though you've done everything you can to make him a sweet and loving budgie, for a time he will be more nippy, crabby, and withdrawn. What you can do is give him lots of extra love, but be sure to give him lots of space. Talk to him more, but touch him less if he doesn't want to be touched, and be wary of going "into" his cage, as he will start to consider it "his" territory and may bite if you do. 

He should grow out of this behaviour soon, but for now just let him be a "big boy"


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Hi there,

Was there any change on his environment and is Birdie currently moulting?
This could also explain the moodiness leading to biting. You should also be aware that sometimes budgies want to just be by themselves and don't want to be forced into doing things. If they feel that the personal boundaries they have set aren't respected then they will bite as a response.
I hope your Birdie's mood will soon stabilize and he gets back to his sweeter self.


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## ButtercupBumblebee (Feb 17, 2008)

Thank you StarlingWings, I thought perhaps he was going through a teenager sort of phase! 

Aluz, as for his environment, nothing has changed. We keep it the same temperature all the time and he is familiar with the day time room and the sleep time room. He isn't moulting right now either.

Thank you both for the advice, we will make sure to give him more space. It's just puzzling when he comes to us and then once he's on our finger, starts biting! 

Also, perhaps he needs to think of us more as his flock so that when he sees us eating veggies, he will want to fit in and have some too!


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## shanebudgie (Feb 5, 2016)

sounds like the teen age years indeed lol,as starling has said.hopefully soon he'll grow out of that and be a little calmer.I noticed some budgies just bite sometimes without warning or reason on our part.you look at the Bird and say .hey what did I do you little stinker lol.but yup they can be territorial and aggressive towards other birds or even humans.I got a feeling Gracie is gonna be that way as well.lol oh dear.blessings and have a great day.


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