DYHAmazon being aggressive, wont stop SCREAMING ! Please help! Pics

[weisshd]

Hello All,

My name is Harry and Im new to these forums. I have a 20-30 (Im guessing) year old DYHA that my Mom took in from a neighbor that no longer wanted him because of his aggressive tendencies. Im thinking hes a male because he has never laid an egg and he just generally acts pretty aggressive. "Buddy" will begin to scream very loud whenever I leave the kitchen (a large open kitchen where his cage is located). When I return and he can physically see me the screaming will stop and he is usually well behaved, but the instant I leave or pick up the phone (anything he feels disengages me from him) he turns into an instant bird-terrorist and will not stop. The only thing that works is putting a cloth or something in his cage that he is afraid of, only then will he be subdued.

Any information is greatly appreciated, here is a picture of him after a quick bath!

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

Unfortunately, Zons do tend to be screamers. I have a YC that does exactly the same when I leave her sight

When he screams just, Ignore, Ignore, dont even make eye contact with him! If you acknowledge him in any way while he is screaming, he will do it all the more, as he then knows he has attracted your attention. They can be very crafty. When he does not scream, then give him a treat as a reward. This takes alot of perseverance and can take quite a long time, but eventually you will find he will do it less and less.

My Zon still does it, but not nearly as bad as she was!

Do you have another Room that you can put the Cage in? A Kitchen is not an ideal place for him! There are so many things in a Kitchen that can be harmful to Birds!

Do you have lots of Toys in his Cage to keep him amused? They tend to like all kinds of foot toys.

Will he come out of his Cage? Do you have a Playstand for him? I have a large Playstand for Codie and she quite happily plays on this for hours

His pic is adorable
https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=...ih0QWluoDwDQ&ved=0CB8QvwUoAA&biw=1341&bih=524

 

[weisshd]

There is also a large living room he could be in, but it has less light. We tried to keep him in there, but he seems to like the high amount of activity that is always going on in the kitchen. He has many toys his favorite include ringing his bells when he is excited. The only time he really cant come out of the cage is when I close it at night. He is more picky about when he does and does not want to get on my shoulder and walk around. He has open access to come in and out all day (he opens/closes his cage door with his beak). Its a larger metal cage that he likes to crawl all over during the day (there is also a single lovebird in a smaller cage on top of his, they have been living kind-of together for almost 10 years). One issue I have also had concern over is the fact that I live in Ohio (45degrees lat) and Ive heard that the extremely low levels of UV light in the fall and winter months can be detrimental to overall health, is this true?

 

[MikeyTN]

Just like Wenz said, it's probably best to move him into a separate room. I had to do that with Java our U2 that screams constantly. By moving him into a bird room helped a lot!!!! Then he started screaming if he sees me walk by or hear me. I shut the door to the room and the screaming stopped. He rarely ever scream anymore. He's been talking more now days instead of screaming.

 

[henpecked]

hey harry , welcome to the forum . I think we can help. Buddy screams because he's learn that it get's him attention. It may not work all the time but it works often enough to keep him doing it. Yes ignoring him will help, but you need to do it 100% of the time. In addition you need to reward when he's being good. You need to make an extra effort to reward him somehow when he's doing something other than screaming. I agree with a playstand and toys. Something else, does he have someone at your home that he really dislikes ? have the "bad guy" stand beside his cage when ever he starts screaming for you. They don't neeed to do anything just stand beside the cage while he's screaming and leave when he stops. If you leave for a minute and he doesn't scream ,then reward him quickly. We can help with the aggression issues also but need tons more info about how you and Buddy interact and what brings on his aggression.

 

[MikeyTN]

Your always able to just put a play stand in the room where you guys spend your time and the other room would be like his bedroom.

 

[wenz2712]

There is also a large living room he could be in, but it has less light. We tried to keep him in there, but he seems to like the high amount of activity that is always going on in the kitchen. He has many toys his favorite include ringing his bells when he is excited. The only time he really cant come out of the cage is when I close it at night. He is more picky about when he does and does not want to get on my shoulder and walk around. He has open access to come in and out all day (he opens/closes his cage door with his beak). Its a larger metal cage that he likes to crawl all over during the day (there is also a single lovebird in a smaller cage on top of his, they have been living kind-of together for almost 10 years). One issue I have also had concern over is the fact that I live in Ohio (45degrees lat) and Ive heard that the extremely low levels of UV light in the fall and winter months can be detrimental to overall health, is this true?

I live in the UK and also have the same problem with lack of light in the Winter Months. I have a full spectrum light that I put on for approx 4-5 hours per day.. This does help. If you decide to get spectrum lighting, then it needs to be between 18 and 24 inches away from the Cage. Any further away than this, it will not have any effect.

Also, as Mikey has said, shutting the door does help! I have done this very often and Codie stops screaming instantly

 

[MikeyTN]

The thing is we know how their little bird brain works. They're basically testing you by screaming. If you get aggravated, they got the reaction out of you that they were looking for. By closing the door and ignore the scream they learned that they can't observe you anymore and been shut out of the pack and they calm down. My Java have actually been behaving better then ever.

 

[Birdlover11]

Agree, ignore the screaming. Don't even look at the cage or the bird for a second . Birds are VERY observant , they take the tinyest attention into reward. Talk to them when they are quiet.

 

[MonicaMc]

X-Post....

If possible, it's best to avoid the screaming than have to put up with it... easier said than done, I realize! My mitred conure, Charlie, screams less when he gets exercise! Exercise involves him flying around! A tired bird is less likely to act out. Likewise, a busy bird (foraging, playing with toys, bathing/drying off) is less likely to act out.

Most people are aware of the extinguishing technique...

There is another technique, that of putting your bird up for success. That is, keeping your bird from screaming by preventing it in the first place. It takes work, like anything, but can lead to a happier bird without the need for screeching and having to ignore it. After all, who wants to deal with screaming?

Living With Parrots Cage Free: Does Ignoring Really Work?

Some other blog posts that may be of interest concerning screaming.
Living With Parrots Cage Free: Search results for screaming
Search Results screaming « Best in Flock – Parrot Blog

 

[MikeyTN]

Monica, what you say I do agree with BUT have you ever owned the bigger parrots prior? Some of them are not your every day smaller parrots that you just let out to fly free so you can tire them out. Or they're stubborn and won't have anything to do with toys and such. Or even dangerous at times.

 

[henpecked]

Not flighted at 30 yrs of age, teaching to fly will be an uphill battle, IMO.

 

[Coopertheredlored]

My RL amazon used to scream for what seemed like 30 mins straight at times... Before I need how to deal with it I would rush back into the room just to get him
To stop! At this time he had the cage I got him in which was small with just a wooden dowell and feeders in it. I've recently changed his cage to a much bigger one with lots of pirches and toys as well as a play area on top.. I've noticed a HUGE deduction in his screaming! He's not so worried about me anymore!

 

[MikeyTN]

My RL amazon used to scream for what seemed like 30 mins straight at times... Before I need how to deal with it I would rush back into the room just to get him
To stop! At this time he had the cage I got him in which was small with just a wooden dowell and feeders in it. I've recently changed his cage to a much bigger one with lots of pirches and toys as well as a play area on top.. I've noticed a HUGE deduction in his screaming! He's not so worried about me anymore!

Changing their cage WILL stop the screaming temporary!!!! Unless if your lucky they'll stop for good. Part of the reason they stop is they're in a new environment pretty much and some birds freaks out being in a new cage. It sounded like your Amazon needed a new cage badly anyways....

 

[MonicaMc]

Monica, what you say I do agree with BUT have you ever owned the bigger parrots prior? Some of them are not your every day smaller parrots that you just let out to fly free so you can tire them out. Or they're stubborn and won't have anything to do with toys and such. Or even dangerous at times.

Nothing larger than Charlie!

What I'm reading is that this amazon is not aggressive, only "acts" aggressive. The bird, to me, sounds like he enjoys human interaction, so encouraging flight and tiring the bird out may be the way to go.

Charlie doesn't just "fly around", I have to have him fly to different locations, unlike Casey, my tiel, who will fly around the room on her own.

If this bird was actually aggressive (which I don't know for sure, but doesn't sound like it), then I wouldn't really be suggesting flight so much as training in general.

 

[oled]

Welcome to the forum. Try to ignore him, normaly it will reduce the screaming

 

[Kiwibird]

Hi. Our 15 y/o male blue front has always been pretty low volume for a zon, but he does get extremely upset and screeches when my husband (his favorite human) leaves for work in the morning. We adopted him 5 years ago, and are still working on some of his lingering behavioral issues, and just recently (last 6 months) started with distractions to discourage screaming rather than straight ignoring (since it really wasn't working). While I do agree that ignoring is a good way to discourage this negative behavior, I also wanted to add that the distraction method has worked quite well for us. Right before my hubby leaves, I feed him for the morning, and he gives him a treat in one of his foraging toys. Kiwi gets busy trying to retrieve his treat as my husband slips out the door, and by the time he's got his treat, noticed (and pigged out on) the fresh food in his dishes, he's forgotten all about my husband leaving. He generally remains quiet for the rest of the day, unless he happens to be by the window when the mailman comes by (for reasons unknown, he hates the mailman and *****es up a storm at him). The benefits of this method is he doesn't start screaming in the first place and it further reinforces "self rewarding" behavior as well as independent play.

Just remember with whatever method you try, don't ever punish the bird. Ignore him, distract him, but don't do things like squirt him with water, tap his beak, smack his cage ect... This will only make it near impossible for him to trust/bond with you. Parrots do not understand punishment. Best of luck with the cute little guy, and remember, if you work with him, he'll work with you,

 

[MikeyTN]

Kiwi made a very good point!!! Giving foraging toy with treats is a great way to distract!!!

 

[Aquila]

Maybe try to teach him a contact call? A whistle or something, which is better than screaming. My blue front will do a soft whistle to me once in a while. I'd do it when I went out of sight into a different room, and right before I came back in. They like to communicate with their flock, and it seems like he's going into panic mode being alone. Even saying something like, "I'll be right back!" and "I'm back!" until he learns that you're not disappearing forever! I also tell mine, "I'm going to work!" and he'll say, "Buh-bye!"

 

[melissasparrots]

My first amazon was a screamer. When I first got her, I put her in a separate room to quarentine her from my other birds and it prooved to be an ideal situation because it helped me stop her screaming. If she was screaming, I just left the door to that room closed. There was nothing in that room that I needed most of the time, so it was easy to avoid contact if she was screaming. When she was quite, in the evening, I'd bring her out and give her some social time. It didn't take more than a few months before she figured out that screaming wasn't going to get her anything period during the day and that she would just have to wait for evening for out of cage time. By the time quarentine was over, the screaming had gone from a couple hours at a time to just 10 minutes a couple times a day.

For the aggression, male amazons can sometimes be that way. Personally, I'd make sure his wings are clipped and then focus on stick training so you can transport him from cage to playgym without getting bit.