How do you get a cockatiel to stop biting?

I found it outside a few years ago. It used to be nice but now it is stubborn and won't let me touch it.It bites me.

Gently flick its beak. Then pet it slowly....Thats what I used to do to mine and it worked. But all birds are different like people. You might call a bird store and ask them for more ideas.

I have a cockatiel, and mine would bit too! I took alot of time with the bird to get him to trust in me . Plus I used leather gloves to train him. You must have changed something that you do to make him bite you when he did not before. Use the leather gloves to get him out of the cage and just let him ride on your sholder untill he gets to be friendly again. This will take alot of time , it won't happen over night. I took me a year an a half with my bird!! Now he will wash my face and eat from my mouth, plus he talks to me now. I'm now traing him to poo poo on his cage, because I let him fly around the house. The main thing is to let your bird trust you again, don't force it , it will come in time. Now I can't do anything with out him on me in the house. I have seen people that think that if you flik his beak that will stop it .That is false, it will only make it worst than it is, never hit your bird if you want him to trust in you and love you like mine dose. He will nerver stop biting if you hit him. They do like the back of there head petted, be nice to him and you will have a firend for your life time!

Biting is not a natural behavior for wild birds when they're together. It's more likely that they'll take flight for self-defense rather than engage in real biting matches with other birds of the same species. They will snap at each other to wrangle for a better spot in the tree, but there's no real chomping down or bloodshed. There is sometimes physical violence over nesting sites, but even that's rare. Of course, if a predator tries to enter the nest or corners the bird, the bird is going to bite. But that's an extreme case of real danger.Now think about the times when a bird has bitten you. Did the bird perceive danger? Were you doing something the bird didn't like or want to do? Did the bird have any other choice? Could it have flown away? This is the primary biting impulse. The bird perceives immediate danger (fear of harm, fear of pain, and so on).The secondary biting impulse comes from a learned response. Because birds are intelligent, and because biting works to get the bird what it wants, a biting bird will continue to bite unless a guardian works to try to correct that behavior. There are two ways this happens, first, the guardian does something the bird doesn't want, like pick it up to put it in the cage, and so the bird bites. The guardian pitches a fit, screaming and carrying on. Wow, the bird thinks, how fun! A song and a dance, I think I’ll do that again! By carrying on, you have just reinforced the biting behavior by giving the bird a big reward: DramaSecond, when a bird bites, the bite-ee generally moves away from the bird. That's what the bird wanted. Again, the biting works. Now, put those two reactions together, and you have the perfect recipe for training a bird. The bird does something to elicit a reaction and gets what it wants. So if biting works for one thing (not getting put back into the cage), it may work for another (not getting taken off the shower perch). So the bird experiments with biting in different situations. Now you have a biting bird.The natural reaction to being bitten (or to any pain) is to pull back and move away from it. The natural basic reaction to wanting something away from you is to push, hit, or force it to move away. You know it and your bird knows it. It's instinctual. So if you have the opposite reaction, you'll throw your bird off guard, and you'll cause the biting not to work anymore. If the biting doesn't work, the bird won't do it (unless it's terrified and then all bets are off). Instead of pulling away when the bird bites, push back. Push the bird right off the perch if you have to (gently, please). I guarantee you that this will put a look of surprise and shock on you bird's feathered face. He will be genuinely bewildered. Of course, don't go asking for the bites. Don't corner a scared bird, and don't force a bird to do anything it doesn't want to do unless you absolutely have to (medical exam, being put into a carrier, and so on).If the bird bites while on your hand, you can wiggle your hand or turn you wrist a few degrees to unbalance the bird. He will let go of your hand. If you can anticipate the bite, you can wiggle just before he lunges. Be consistent with this and the biting should cease. Don't drop the bird to the floor unless you absolutely have to in the case of a huge bird and extreme pain. You can really hurt a bird this way, and it only teaches him that if he bites you, he can immediately get away from you, which is the opposite of what you're trying to teach.Some people use the tapping beak method as punishment for various offenses, and it doesn't work! In fact, the beak is very sensitive, and tapping it can hurt. Also, in so species, this can be interpreted as part of a mating ritual and may just cause the bird to become more violent.(Some follow up info regarding the other statements posted.)Do not listen to the other advice given about doing nothing. The biting habit is like an STD. You cant just do nothing about it, thinking it will go away. It will just keep getting worst until it may become permenant.If your bird is biting you, do not play with him at all. You are just reinforcing the idea that it is ok. You need to follow my advice above.On a side note regarding a couple statments in the answer above mine. Do not let your cockatiel eat out of your mouth. On the same note, never give your bird anything that you have already eaten. It is extremley un-healthy for the bird and a real good way to make you get that shoe box ready for buriel. Also, you are not going to be able to train your cockatiel to go back to his cage to poop. Birds are very clean animals and if they have the option to poop outside there cage/home, they will. Even Alex the African Grey, (The smartest parrot in the world.www.alexfoundation.org) is not trained to poop.You guys need to know what you are talking about before you start giving advice on animals. Bad advice can lead to companion pet deaths. If you are bird owners your selves you need to go read some good birdy books, and I know that you haven't or you wouldn't be giving this horrible advice. A great site you can use to find A+ reading material is WWW.UPATSIX.COM

This one's easy...If it is biting, then it is trying to tell you that it doesn't want to be touched or that it would like to be left alone. They have no other way to tell you how they feel. If it used to be nice, maybe it isn't feeling well or getting to be old and grumpy...either way, I would respect his or her feelings and leave it alone. That would be the kind thing to do.

ask yourself why is the bird biting me now? why didn't he bite me before? what has changed? am i doing something different that he does not like?now also, to get the bird to stop, i think you have to train yourself to not react to the biting. normally, when a bird bites us, we move away or get angry. Do NOT do this. you will only reinforce the bird's biting if you do because they are getting a dramatic response - and most of the time they are getting what they want that way.instead when you get bit, try to continue gentle interaction. you can also try turning your back to the bird for a second or two but continue to speak to the bird gently. then turn back around again and continue interacting with the bird calmly and lovingly. good luck.

Gently wrap your bird in a towel. Make sure not to crush its chest. Then gently find its head and caress it softly. Speak to it while you do this. In this way, your bird will know you mean no harm. Repeat daily as many times as necessary. Usually once or twice is enough. After this training, if and when it tries to bite you again, let it bite, don't move your hand away. That would empower the bird more and encourage it to keep biting you. Cockatiels don't do much harm after all. But it is important for you to be in control. Never hit your bird, though. Just be assertive and it will understand that you are the master, that it can trust you and it won't bite you again. Be patient, it's worth it. Cockatiels are lovely birds!!

Blow in it's face and give it a sharp command of "NO BITING!), this works for me.