New to the community with a small problem.

[Peppers mom]

HI everyone and everyparrot! I am a home-maker, with two boys that are 6 and 4 (aslo a 32 year old if you count my hubby lol) We have a dog and an out door cat. I owned a sun conure in Hawaii, but my Dad decided to keep him.Which worked out wonderfully, Papaya will have a buddy by next year and is spoiled rotten! I adopted Pepper (Blue and Gold Macaw) exactly a week ago today. He is 7 years old and beautiful! (actually the sex is unknown) I have never owned a parrot of this size before and I love him to death! Pepper has warmed up very well to me. I am able to grab his beak and give kisses on the head, cheek, neck, and back. I am able to give hugs also. Pepper bit me a few times since we have had him, only got me twice with good ones! Boy, did it hurt! The one thing that is driving my entire house mad is his screeching for me. I do not know what to do. I try ignoring him, I also tried giving him the 'disapproving look' and said 'not nice Pepper to loud hurts my ears' (i get a 'huh?' back ) I am working on getting him to call me mom, and get my attention that way. But there is a problem, a good majority of his talking is done when he is going into his cage for bed or when he gets up in the morning. As well as when it is just us. He says 'what, hello, and Pepper' when others are around but that is about it. In the past week Pepper has learned to say, 'Here kitty, kitty' 'I love' (working on u) 'Hi Pepper' and 'Outside' (still stuggling with that one a little) He said 'mom' once and that was last night.I was able to teach him to say all these with out treats, believe it or not! Just kisses and hugs! but once again he only talks when it is just us. Pepper gets to walk around the house and follow me during the day as I do house work and what not. He does the cooking with me and the dishes. Loves when I do laundry! I take him with me almost every where I go. (Not to my sons school makes him a little nervous don;t blame him at tall though) If I leave him home with my husband he starts screeching, if I go out the front door for anything , or my boys and dog walk into the living room, even if I step into the kitchen to do anything he screeches. I understand that I have only had Pepper for a week and it will take time for him to adjust. But I have read that once the screeching starts like that it is very difficult to break. I also know that it is part of his nature to use his 'voice' just as a dog 'barks' and a cat 'meows'. What do I do? I love him so much, Pepper is one of the family and thats how it is going to be, it would just be even better if he did not feel the need to call for me in his very very loud tone! Well thats everything. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Kris and Pepper

 

[Von1983]

Welcome to the forum Pepper and Peppers Mum!

Congrats on your new fid (feathered kid) can't wait for pics, I love B&G's

I'm sure Melly and Patterson who also are guardians to these lovely birds will be able to help you.

My birdie is a sun conure known veeerrry well for their overly loud voicing of opinions! I worked hard from the beginning to work out a code for us so she would not scream.

I posted this for another member who was having a similar problem with his sunny.

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/7085-iago.html

I think it is very important as loud birds tend to be the ones rehomed the most often. This may not even be due to the guardian having an issue but another member of the family or even a neighbour kicking up such a fuss.

I would attempt to start whispering your trigger word just before you leave the room from beside his cage....sheer nosiness will get Pepper to listen!! If you do it gradually by moving further and further out of the room with your trigger word or sentence, pretty soon you will be able to go all over the house with Pepper being happy and quiet! As he is new to your family, he is also looking to you for reassurance so if you bear all that in mind, you should find success relatively quickly!

Rewarding, praising, treating.....it's a simple process but needs to be consistant and from now on or Pepper could regress. Everyone else in the household needs to be aware of this!

I'm not saying my "shouty method" is set in stone or the only way to do it, but I can't stress to you how important it is to find a routine with nipping this in the bud and ensuring ALL the family abide to it.

We are only human, and sooner or later someone will yell SHUT UP at the top of their lungs and perhaps even worse, throw something like a cushion at the birds cage. I'm not suggesting any of your family are evil or mean or ANYTHING like that, but can you vouch for visitors or even know how loved ones would predict after hearing it day in day out for months on end?

Additionally, teaching such a method IE: I will return, don't panic/here I am, strenghens the bond between you and your bird. They are reassured and know you will return and that you've made the big effort to come inside their world by recognising how fiercely important it is that they know where all of their flock is. This may even be helpful with helping your son and husband bond with him so even if he is a single person bird just bonded to you, he will still tolerate and listen to the boys in your life!

This will help in years to come where there are hormonal changes and the screaming can hit fever pitch. Cal screamed for 2 days almost solid when she started her first moult last month(that's right, that thing that EVERY bird does once a year at least) and nothing but a spray of a water bottle would placate her. I firmly believe that if we had not taught her no shout that it could have continued throughout her whole moult.

I hope that's helped you somehow!

Good luck!

 

[Peppers mom]

Thank you so much Von1983 for the advice! I will be putting up pics of Pepper tonight.

 

[Von1983]

I'm looking forward to seeing him

 

[mellykyitus]

hi peppers mom! with my b&g i try to associate something nice with me leaving the room. like i would put his favourite foraging toy in when i walk the dogs, or give him grapes (his favourite) when i'm cleaning etc. he now goes happily in his cage and when i get my coat on to go out his eyes light up and seems to say 'what am i having then'.
so if peper has a favourite food or treat only give it to him when you leave, start off with just leaving for a minute or so and popping your head in so he knows you're about and gradually lengthen the time.
beau doesn't even notice when i'm out now cos he's so happy with his food or toy!
hope i've helped a bit, i know how loud they can be!
maybe where earplugs while he's learning, you'll need tons of patience!
good luck, let me know how it goes, and post some pics when you get time! xxxxxxx

 

[Peppers mom]

Thank you mellykitus, Walnuts are his favorite! I will try that for sure. I think with the combination of your advice and Von1983, he will learn very quickly. He amazes me everyday with how quickly he learns new words. I mean he has only been he a little over a week and he laughs just like me. It is the funniest thing! I could go on and on about him. But anyways, I could not import his pictures from one of my memory cards because it is broken. So today I have to take pictures with my other camera. But I will have them up tonight. Once again Thank you so much!!

 

[Von1983]

There's always a solution! Melly's suggestion is great - I was hoping she'd chip in because I think a B&G's and sun conures mentality differs slightly!!!!

Best of luck and I can't wait to see this bundle of joy!