Blue crown has been screaming incessantly, what do I do?

Owmypatience

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Blue Crown Conure: Emmett, 10
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I've had this ten year old blue crown for the last 5 months. Lately he's been screaming, "AHAH! AHAH!"
I normally wouldn't be bothered but with my hearing aids, it's like I'm handing him a microphone.
I can tell he has anxiety as he's plucked his chest, belly, and back of all green feathers and in some places the downy feathers too. The last owner admitted he likely had anxiety as well.
What sets him off are boxes, men, phone calls.
What on Earth do I do?

He has been to the vet.

I have tried all the advice below, I am looking for advice from those who have had pluckers/self mutilators and birds from less than stellar homes. He will not touch toys, new perches, etc even if I coat them in millet and peanut butter.
His diet is fine, he will eat what the other birds do.
 
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Laurasea

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It can be a slow process to turn around, but you can make progress.

Usually a check up by a certified avain vet specialist is a great place to start, their can be health issues behind this. And uts a good idea fir a new older bird.

Yeah its drive you nuts at first, till you make progress. I've had to go through this a few times with new birds.

Often this behavior starts because the basic need of the parrot haven't been met, and then it becomes reinforced and a habit.

Keeping them busy, and preventing tge screaming sessions from getting started helps a ton.

Make sure cafe is big enough, plenty of different types of perches, several things to destroy. Make sure cage is in the best place, to see and be part of the action, but safe from surprise appearance of people ( doorwsy( ..

Get them foraging, use treats like millit, or treat Stix, you can thread them through toys. Plenty of instructions and ideas on web searches.

Set up outside of cage with lots if Twitty turns of perches, swings, hoops, spiral ropes, make a jungle gym. Parrots really enjoy testing their jump hop skills, and feelings daringly as they climb, hang or swing. Hide little things fir them to find along tge perches, or if tgey climb to a top of a latter there's dome yummiest things.

Make sure you offer a lot of veggies, keeps my bird busy.

Out of cage time, sim fir six hours a day, a couple of those hours is direct contact with you.

Look into target training, bird tricks on YouTube has lots of great parrot training videos, even a foraging training video.

All of the above will greatly reduce screaming. Truly prevent the screaming by keeping them busy works. In the midst of any scream serious you have to ignore and bear thru. Reward quiet behavior.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/
 
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SailBoat

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Truly great advise provided above!

The only thing I would add is to increase your communication with your Parrot: Contact Calls. Remember that in their natural range, they are in constant contact with their flock. Consider it part of being a crazy bird person that is talking with their bird all the time. Songs also work and the best part of that is they really do not care if you cannot carry a note or not... :D
 

Laurasea

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Ok, the green ball with holes, I stuff popcorn, or millit, and shredded paper in it and hang for tgem to work on. The braided shredders come in rolls, I weave in cafe bars, or attach to perches, the blue shredded paper bunch is great for preeners to work on, the plastic blue box is a foraging toy that you can attach to the side of the cage , and refill with lots of stuff, I only have 2 yucca chips left because they are a favorite to rip up. I also go to dollar store and buy stuff, like this two drawer mini box thst i put stuff in . I use ceiling hooks and fishing line to hang perches besides my chair Pikachu favorite place to hang out.. differnt places in the house, I usually have toys attached but need to go shopping fir more. The seagrass mat is great and I attach stuff to that, Ta-dah my GCC proudly shows it off. The white rope ball, Orbit my blue quaker is chewing a yucca chip, they love to discover " Easter eggs "
 
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wrench13

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Our Salty, who is normally a pretty quiet Amazon, goes on screaming jags when the wife is prepping dinner. And a few of those screams are ear piercing. Believe this or not, when he does those I will whisper ( in a loud whisper) Quiet, in between his screams, and most times just the difference stops him in his tracks and he changes his calls. Or sometimes I will whistle a tune and he will switch to whistles, which are better than screams any day of the week. Just a matter of distracting them.
 

Laurasea

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this online store is great! I've ordered stuff many times from them, they sell stuff to build your own toys , and have the shredder rolls.

Oh and screaming while you are on the phone, that's a common problem we all joke about. I mean there you are sweet talking and giving your attention something other than THEM, lol , the nerve of you!!! I helped with this by holding tge phone and giving tgem treats, till they git a more positive association with the now " treat" phone.
 
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Owmypatience

Owmypatience

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Nov 16, 2020
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Blue Crown Conure: Emmett, 10
Green Cheek Conure: Mumble, 5
Cockatiels: Rudy, Grayson: 6 (twins) and Athena (16)
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I was hoping to get some input from people with birds who are pluckers/mutilators.

He's been to the vet, he's fine health wise.
He's outside of his cage from sun up to sun down, so that's not an issue.
He's got toys, he doesn't touch them and he will not touch new perches, no matter how I try to introduce them to him.
The floorplan is an open floorplan so we are never out of each other's sight.
I do not work so I'm always home.

I guess I should have mentioned that all in the main post.

I appreciate all the advice given, but it's all things I've tried.
 

Laurasea

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Ahhh, bummer huh? All those things will work, it can take time, finding the best treat motivation, and confidence building.

Tge link to stress reduction, has so many great tips, like soothing music, rituals, feeding of warm food by hand just prior to bedtime.

Is all this new? Or did he come to you doing this?

My Rescue quaker Penny came to me from a terrible situation, she screamed, acted out, was a shut down lump scared of every new thing, plucked, and mutilated her feet, even amputated a toe. It took work and a good bit of time to get her engaged, to get her moving, to get her exploring, and increase her confidence. I had to model behavior, coach and cheer her on. Provided her tons of frilly paper toys, millit is great fir picker and plucker, especially if you make it a little challenging to get at. She never mutilate ir scream now. Plucking stops for periods of time and starts bsck up but is mild.

No quick or easy fixes, sorry
 
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Owmypatience

Owmypatience

New member
Nov 16, 2020
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Midwest US
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Blue Crown Conure: Emmett, 10
Green Cheek Conure: Mumble, 5
Cockatiels: Rudy, Grayson: 6 (twins) and Athena (16)
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Ahhh, bummer huh? All those things will work, it can take time, finding the best treat motivation, and confidence building.

Tge link to stress reduction, has so many great tips, like soothing music, rituals, feeding of warm food by hand just prior to bedtime.

Is all this new? Or did he come to you doing this?

My Rescue quaker Penny came to me from a terrible situation, she screamed, acted out, was a shut down lump scared of every new thing, plucked, and mutilated her feet, even amputated a toe. It took work and a good bit of time to get her engaged, to get her moving, to get her exploring, and increase her confidence. I had to model behavior, coach and cheer her on. Provided her tons of frilly paper toys, millit is great fir picker and plucker, especially if you make it a little challenging to get at. She never mutilate ir scream now. Plucking stops for periods of time and starts bsck up but is mild.

No quick or easy fixes, sorry

He came to me a feather plucker/self harmer and the only thing the vet could recommend was CBD or chamomile.

He's been worse at screaming lately and the only change I can think of is my own stress levels increased due to an upcoming surgery and dealing with insurance.

I'm always trying to show him new toys, foraging items, treats. He would much rather rip up newspaper and grumble to himself.

It doesn't matter how I introduce toys or perches, he will refuse until the Earth implodes. I even tried to play with them for awhile and the only one who got excited and worked up was the green cheek and my duck.

I hope my response did not come across as rude, :(, it was not my intention.
 

Laurasea

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I've had this ten year old blue crown for the last 5 months. Lately he's been screaming, "AHAH! AHAH!"
I normally wouldn't be bothered but with my hearing aids, it's like I'm handing him a microphone.
I can tell he has anxiety as he's plucked his chest, belly, and back of all green feathers and in some places the downy feathers too. The last owner admitted he likely had anxiety as well.
What sets him off are boxes, men, phone calls.
What on Earth do I do?

He has been to the vet.

I have tried all the advice below, I am looking for advice from those who have had pluckers/self mutilators and birds from less than stellar homes. He will not touch toys, new perches, etc even if I coat them in millet and peanut butter.
His diet is fine, he will eat what the other birds do.

Hmmmm
Bold edit
Hopefully you didn't feel like I was implied that you are a bad owner. Sure wasn't my intention.

I have been part of a medical rescue program, I took on the severely self mutilated and plucking parrots. Some with life treating infections from chewing holes in their bodies git them all past the self mutilation and improved tall the birds plucking. So the advice works....

For shut down parrots it can take some work to get them interacting with the environment of toys and perches.

Sailboat has a thread called I love Amazon's it a blue sticky thread st the top of the Amazon sub forum, its full of great experience and advice.

Thanks for taking on a self destructive parrot, its hard to watch and deal with. But you will get there

EDIT, it can take time.. like months..to hsve progress, some things have to repeated over and over and tweaked.
 
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Inger

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I don’t have a plucker, but I’ve seen people mention Missing Link supplement and say it has worked wonders.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

SailBoat

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Interesting!

IMHO, you have come to one of the premier Parrot Forums on the Internet and provided good, but not clearly all the information regarding your Parrot. That happens here far too often.

My good friend provided excellent information based on what you provided and I added my comments as well. Your additional information provided clarity and depth and although it helps greatly, there is true realities regarding longtime pluckers.

I am sorry that you are faced with an upcoming surgery and issues dealing with an insurance company... I can understand as I have completed two extensive surgeries this year, plus the last one included an additional hospital stay as a result of a of surface infection of stitches. I understand the pain of dealing with insurance companies, but I feel obligated to inform you that you must find a way to reduce your stress level as it can greatly effect your overall success of the surgery and recovery! Find someone that you can talk openly to about your feelings and your stress.

Regarding Your Special Needs Parrot! The reality is; our Parrots tie very closely to OUR emotions and reflect it back at us! Long Story Short; it is very likely, you Parrot is acting-out as a release of the emotions s/he is sensing in you! Breath Deep, hold and release the emotions. Some people find it helpful to go outside and just YELL at the World.

Where my household comes from! We have over fifth+ years of taking in very special Amazons. Those Amazons best described as 'other Peoples, Yesterdays Trash!' Commonly, older, very sick and commonly serious abused, with no want to every trust another Human!

Where we start from: These very sick Amazons require multiple medications each day, by mouth, which requires one of us to hold the poor baby, while the other flows in the liquid or pill. These poor Amazons have no reason to trust us, yet with time, lots of time, they very slowly start to kind of trust us not to kill them. Then they trust us not to cause them pain or mental suffering and findly with every more time they trust us enough to open a place in their hearts...

The Hard Part, We Loss Them Far Too Soooon. Some within days, weeks, months and with luck a few for several years. We deeply miss each of them everyone, all these years later. Yes, its hard work, long hours, but it is all worth the effort! They all pasted on, over rainbow bridge knowing they where Loved!

Medical Support!!! You need an Avian Professional!!! The reality is -- There is no Silver Bullet!!! Yes, there are 'things' that comfort them (natural aloe cream)! There are some very special Avian Professional care processes that limit their damage to their skin (we can talk about that a bit later). But, the biggest success comes from simply accepting them for who they are!!! Open your heart and cry with your Parrot, tell s/he that you will always love her /him for who they are and that they have a forever home with you!

NOTE: Never provide Supplements unless an Avian Professional has provided your Parrot a full spectrum blood screen! If the Vet you visited did not provide that, you are in the wrong clinic...

Reality! You are among those who have been and are in the same place your are. Fellow Humans that have traveled the road you are on... Here, You Are Not Alone!

I come across as heartless, the death and inhumanity I have dealt with from those who dropped their Amazons off to die can cause that. I and the others here have come to help... Know that we care that your Parrot gets the Love and Care s/he needs.
 
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OP
Owmypatience

Owmypatience

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Nov 16, 2020
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Blue Crown Conure: Emmett, 10
Green Cheek Conure: Mumble, 5
Cockatiels: Rudy, Grayson: 6 (twins) and Athena (16)
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Laurasea,
A big dear thank you for the advice.
Yes, I took him to the vet a month after I got him, had him checked over to make sure he was healthy before introducing him to the others. Since then he's come out of his shell, and now that he's talking more, I can hear what's been said to him atleast enough for him to pick it up. :(
 
OP
Owmypatience

Owmypatience

New member
Nov 16, 2020
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Midwest US
Parrots
Blue Crown Conure: Emmett, 10
Green Cheek Conure: Mumble, 5
Cockatiels: Rudy, Grayson: 6 (twins) and Athena (16)
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Sailboat,

Thank you for providing all of this information, I knew animals were in tune with our emotions, but I never figured he would be so impacted.

It's just a "plain" knee surgery, but as I can't get stitches and will need to be off my feet for a week, I'm running helter skelter trying to get everything I need done for the outside critters. (Ducks and chickens and more chickens oh my!) This will be my second surgery in a year, the first being abdominal surgery that was looking at the extent of ligament damage.

I'm not sure I want to go the supplement route yet, especially if it is my own stress causing him to act out.

Thank you again for that information, all of you.
 

Laurasea

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When we have feather pluckers diet is so important. Normally parrots molt twice a year. But when they pluck them out, the body trys to grow them back right away . So they are burning through calories, vitamins, minerals, and protein. They also burn more calories to stay warm. And if you have mutilation on top of that, that also takes a lot of calories to heal .

If he is going through a cycle of mutilation, then he is having pain from those wounds. And that chronic pain can be upping the screaming.

Usually parrots from this situation are seed eaters only. If thats the case, you've got to work on eating veggies for those nutrients. Don't limit the seeds but , also offer a lot of vegetables. Red chilli pepper is well liked by most parrots, and is hugh in vitamin A. Also you can lighting steam a mix of finely chopped veggies and mix in with fresh made cooked rice. Often parrots will try warm veggies this way. A spoonful if boiled egg, or scrambled egg is good fir protein and a little extra vitamin. Diet us huge with a parrot in this situation. If you need any veggie eating tips let us know.

On supporting with warmth, I really like tge sweeter heater, sold on Amazon. Its a radiant heat panel not a light, and puts out a lot if warmth. So you have to monitor hiw far back to set it.

On mutilation. Probably need pain meds from vet. With mutilation I have had to temporarily give mood altering medication from the vet, until wounds healed, but not always. The vet csn go over wound care with you to. Sometimes we have all had to find a second option or different vet. Or if he wasn't mutilate at that time , you need to get back in contact with them.

The special needs guys , need a lot if supporting
 

SailBoat

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Sailboat,

Thank you for providing all of this information, I knew animals were in tune with our emotions, but I never figured he would be so impacted.

It's just a "plain" knee surgery, but as I can't get stitches and will need to be off my feet for a week, I'm running helter skelter trying to get everything I need done for the outside critters. (Ducks and chickens and more chickens oh my!) This will be my second surgery in a year, the first being abdominal surgery that was looking at the extent of ligament damage.

I'm not sure I want to go the supplement route yet, especially if it is my own stress causing him to act out.

Thank you again for that information, all of you.

A wise word from an old man: If you plan for 1 week and it takes 2 1/2, what are you going to do! Plan for 2 1/2 and if you are walking in 1 1/2 week, life is a whole bunch easier... I know with all the Sports Injuries, they continue to improve the micro-surgery involved and turn around time is much shorter. That said, this is not a perfect World and you are likely not a sports' star getting the very best of everything...
 

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