I adopted a 6 year old male indian ring neck named pluto who has had a rough life so far. His first home was a parrot hoarding situation where he was likely also abused, when he was 1 my sister in law bought him and since then he has been in her spare room with a quaker. In those 5 years he had very little handling or human interaction except to change his food and water. My partner and myself already had 2 cockatiels and asked my sister in law if she would consider giving him to us and now we have had him for 2 months. His cage is now in our lounge/dining area with our other birds and he has plenty of toys and interaction. He's made a lot of progress in some ways such as learning to step up and interact with us like coming down and sitting with me on the couch. However he still screams a LOT, it doesnt matter whether he is in his cage, out of his cage or getting attention or not. He will sit there shaking his wings and screaming for sometimes hours. We ignore him when he screams and as I am home all day I leave the room and dont come back till he stops but nothing is making a difference. I am lost as to what to do as we live in a unit block and also have 2 senior dogs its affecting as well. Please help!

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mums to ashby, chihiro, pluto and angel harvey

Screaming is a difficult one. A lot depends on why your bird screams. Is it loneliness? Sexual frustration? Illness? Attention seeking? Or just plain boredom? Sometimes, a bird can begin screaming for a reason and when that reason is repaired, he continues screaming because he has grown to like it. It can be really, really hard to get them to stop.

First of all, watch birdie closely and see if you can figure out if there's a trigger (handy that you're at home most of the time). Some birds call at the same times every day. My female Alex calls at 7.30am *sharp* and again at 4.30/5.30pm (depending on daylight saving). She calls for about twenty-five minutes and graduall stops. I assume this is 'flock calling' or the usual bonding call that flock members send out to call in all the stragglers before roosting. The odd thing is that Madge does it religiously while Barney doesn't bother. ????

My Corella also flock calls, but only briefly and half-heartedly in the mornings. The thing about her is that she's EXCEEDINGLY LOUD and I die a million deaths thinking of the neighbours. No one's complained so far, but then they could be sitting in their houses wishing me and my birds in perdition!

So! I've figured out a way to defuse 'Setta's bellowing in the late arvo. Normally, I would give all the birds their daily veggies and pellets in the mornings. I no longer do this. I give the pellets and clean water in the mornings, but save the veggies and fruits or whatever until four thirty. I give half of it and then wait. When the girls start yelling, I give the second half and that seems to keep their fat little beaks busy until it's nearly sunset. They might send out a few well-chosen shrieks, but mostly they settle down and nod off once the sun's set.

I wonder whether your bird responds to wild birds? Rosetta does, calling greetings to the wild corellas when they fly over. The Beaks *used* to respond to the (very large, very vocal) flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets that visit our trees every day. Since I've been giving them the late feed of veggies, though, they no longer bother. The thing is, R'Lorikeets are *notorious* flock-callers and bellow until every bird within a ninety-mile radius has come to roost (exaggerating here, but you get my drift?). I've heard of local birds that respond to the RLs like clockwork and perhaps that could be affecting yours? If he's hearing roosting lorikeets, he might be responding.

Watch him for a few days and try my veggie idea (can't hurt?). Let us know how you get on. I'm sure others will chime in, probably with more useful tips than mine.

Betrisher

PS. Covering his cage isn't entirely the best way to shut him up. It's more likely to make him resentful.

PPS. Other idea! Does he talk? You could try asking him to say things during the loud period and reward him heavily for obeying. I had some small success with Madge doing that at our old house. I'd ask her to say 'Hello' and when she did, I'd reward her. It became tiresome, though, as it meant I had to sit with her saying 'Hello' for the half-hour when she would normally yell. -_-

Thanks for your advice, I wish it was flock calling but its definitely not that. Ive been watching him and spending lots of time with him the whole 2 months and theres no pattern to his screaming he just does it randomly. He does talk though! he has a few things he likes to say Ive been trying to reward him when he's making sweet noises or talking so Ill focus more on that. I might try using veggies to distract him too!

Also I don't cover his cage as a punishment, he only gets covered at night to sleep

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mums to ashby, chihiro, pluto and angel harvey

Yeah punishment does not work with parrots. They are too smart for that. Distraction, now that does work.

If he is comig to you and sitting with you etc, in 2 months, your making good progress. Most ringnecks go back to being almost wild state if the human interaction is stopped for long periods. And they are stubborn to boot. Patience is the key, that and slow progress at his own pace. You can't rush things.

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You’ve received a lot of great advice, but I would add; he needs to see an avian vet and specifically checked for underlying veterinary issues. It could honestly be as simple as needing an antibiotic.


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