Update

[Joshuwaaa]

Should I be holding off breakfast until he stops screaming? Will it encourage him or will it just get him into a frenzy?

I'm going to plead for a different day from yesterday x

 

[Joshuwaaa]

I must apologise for my bombardment of posts. I think I'm finding it quite therapeutic to get my thoughts out and think of ways to help Loki.

It has to attention. If I real off what he is doing, maybe we can all agree its attention, and find a battle plan and tactics to get him a happier life.

Here's an honest account of his day and behaviours;

Morning calls around 7 o'clock I have found. To start they are low and spread around 5 minutes apart.
Around 8 he starts to call louder and more frequently.
His breakfast is a poor routine, because it can vary between 8.00 - 10.00 dependant on work. This feeding will be the first time he properly sees me and as I enter with the food he will go nuts. I sit by him and calm him after repeatedly walking out, then give in and put it in his cage.
I leave him to eat for about an hour, then I try and study for an hour, so he's alone then for about two hours. If I'm studying he can sometimes come in the front room with him on his java and he's fine. Doesn't scream at all.
Then Jack gets home around 1-2 an will start his study/clean the cage while Loki is out.
Loki goes back in around 2-3ish so we can finish our Uni work.
Around 4 Loki starts to scream, or if he hears any beep from a utility in the kitchen he goes wild. This is a hard part because again we can't feed him. He do just give up and hand it over.
We would like to be able to have him eat with us on the evening. A social part to his day. However, after a day of screaming we sometimes like to try and go for the easier option.

Behaviour.
Morning is the worst, his screams get frantic and violent and when your trying to sleep it really sets you off to a sucky day.
He screams before being fed. Now as I write, he's eating and I can hear nothing. However, as soon as I go near the cage he screams in excitement for me to get him out.
If I go in to praise him it seems pointless because he sees me and immediately sets him off.
He will only quiet if I sit by his cage. I don't talk until he gets quieter but he screams then gets lower until I speak to him.
If I talk, he will let out an almighty screech and I have to walk away.
If I walk in the room and walk about it, he screams until I go sit near him.

With jack however, he can go in and praise and Loki doesn't make a sound.
He can try and feed him but Loki lunges aggressively.
He can try taking him out but he again, lunges aggressively.

Would it perhaps be better if jack spoke to him while he was quiet more? Praised him? Or will his praise mean nothing?

I was thinking. Try and feed him before he starts to scream. Literally get right out and do his food so he doesn't get the chance to go into a frenzy?
Then again before tea so he can't get all worked up about food.
With screaming? Should I sit there ignoring him until he quiets then praise him with a hello. Or walk out immediately and try and wait out his screams until I can go in again?

Sorry, I just think if I make a plan to stick too and try desperately to work this out. It will help jack, Loki and myself maintain some sanity

Hope your all well, x

 

[Joshuwaaa]

Just got Loki out for some reading and study.

This was the immediate reception I got. He's back in cage now, I couldn't handle it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRzdUJiZKPQ]Loki - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Joshuwaaa]

Jack just went in and he got right onto his hand. Didn't scream at Jack at all.

Its just me now.

would a better bugger cage help? His cage isn't ideal, when i first showed it people said it was a bit small x

 

[sodakat]

Please Josh, keep the feeding completely separate from any behavioral things you are trying to achieve.

He MUST be fed on a regular basis and know he can count on this, regardless of his behavior.

That is not obnoxious screaming or calling. I will record some today.

That is a NORMAL social Eclectus noise. My 6 week old chcks are already doing that when I have them out for a few minutes. They sit with me as I hold them against my chest so they dont' fall and their dad sits on my shoulder. After a few minutes they will call out like that. In a way, it's begging, but in another way it's just them saying "here I am".

In all honesty, if that noise bothers you, I don't know how to help you. I understand that repetitive noises can be trying, but that isn't even loud. Eclectus can make a terrific loud noise which is a completely different pitch than that awking noise in the vid.

 

[SandyBee]

Josh,
I have to say I agree with Sodakat here, that is not screaming.
Also the low call he makes in the morning are probably only contact calls, the flock call is the really loud one you hear around 8.
In the mornings I have to wake up my amazon otherwise I wouldn't see him before I got to work, When he is doing his flock call I go get his breakfast ready and I soon as I return with it, the call stop because he's busy eating. I do not wait for him to settle.
And as Sodakat said food must be on a regular basis, please do not expect him to quiet before giving him food.
I give Bosley a treat of some sort in the afternoon while dinner is being prepared.
As he likes to have dinner with us.
I think you have to start working with the personality of your bird instead of expecting things a certain way.

 

[Peeker]

Please Josh, keep the feeding completely separate from any behavioral things you are trying to achieve.

That is not obnoxious screaming or calling. I will record some today.

That is a NORMAL social Eclectus noise.

My thoughts as well.

I can tell you that mine call out for food at mealtimes. I keep mealtimes very regular as they KNOW when it's time. I feed them in the mornings when they wake and right before sunset about 4:30 here. In the wild they would eat prior to the sun going down and then call to their flock to gather and roost in the trees for evening. If I am too late feeding and it's getting dark I try to light the room but they typically will not eat as much.

You can still have him out to join you for social time if you eat later and offer him some things.

That's a very relaxed sound really. He appears to be calm while doing it in the video. When you said screaming I am picturing a very different thing! Mine scream if they see a hawk out the window for example.

Has Loki learned any human words yet? My experience is that birds that like to be vocal generally learn human speech more often. That is not to say he will only speak human words. In general, if they like to be vocal they will enjoy words, phrases, songs, and bird noises. You have to take the good with the bad.

 

[jeffy]

Yeah I agree that noise isn't bad at all sounds like he is very happy to be honest, my pair makes similar noises when there on the shower perches relaxing waiting for me to finish my shower

 

[jeffy]

Another thing is you should try and feed your little guy when he gets up or closer to when he gets up I wake up at seven thirty to fed my pair and crawl back to bed for an hour while mine eat.

 

[Joshuwaaa]

So we have been ignoring him for all the wrong reasons!? Oh my god I thought he was being bad.

That has helped a lot but he's not being nosey. He is just being social. Thank you, i appreciate the honesty.

Now, I can just handle him and talk to him and be socail. I'm not encouraging bad behaviour, I'm so sorry I've made such a big thing of it. No wonder he is stressed. He's being social and I'm being ignorant.

From now on he will be fine, because we will be able to talk and not fear we are doing anything wrong.

I promise, we love him dearly, feed him the best and would do anything for him.

Thank you so much. Hope I haven't frustrated anyone x

 

[Peeker]

You haven't frustrated me one bit. You gave me a little chuckle as I know how much you love you're bird and are only worried about doing the right thing. I'm relieved to see he is doing just fine.

Another thought is if he is waking very much earlier than you make sure his room is dark. He will want to wake up and eat once he feels the sun is coming up! No guarantee he will sleep later but it's worth a try!

 

[sodakat]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqKt5DPrVoE&feature=youtu.be]VIDEO0297 - YouTube[/ame]

This was not what I intended to film. I was going to leave the camera phone for a couple minutes so you could hear "normal" noise. Then Jackie caused a ruckus with Bella and they were off!

I guess you may as well hear some screaming. LOL

 

[sodakat]

Here's another from today where I got them going singing a song they like. They know that they get to shout when I say "hooray". Sometimes they anticipate and shout at the wrong time. Very funny. Anyway, this is a happy sound even though it sounds kind of rude. Oh, and my ceiling in the bird room is glass which you can see in this vid and right now we are finally losing some of the snow off the roof of the house which first slides onto the bird room glass along with small branches and debris. That's why it looks so crazy above them.

I do make a fool of myself singing here but they like it and that's what counts. You can hear a couple different birds joining in, but the two you see are not making noise.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVCKSBVjNts&feature=youtu.be]VIDEO0298 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[drlisaort]

Josh, I think you are amazing and I admire your perseverance! The good news is Loki is only 7 months old (same as Oliver) so he doesn't have years and years of "bad" habits. The situation will turn around! And you did not do anything wrong. Remember, I got Oliver when he was a baby and bonded from five weeks on every weekend until he came home. And of course I'll have challenging times with him too, just like I did with my children from time to time. All normal!

I do agree with the others that Loki may need to eat three times a day. I do feed Oliver three times a day and I find if I'm a little slow, or when the time changed and he didn't get his feeding on time, he was a little ornery and vocal. So the others may be on to something. We do have growing babies!

I also think (like Sodakat) you are not a bad person if you decide now is not the time to have a parrot. It doesn't mean you failed it just means now is not the time. Whatever you decide I am in awe of you and your little family. I don't know if I could or would have handled it with such grace and dignity. Bravo you!!!

 

[Joshuwaaa]

Aww those videos were brilliant.

You have no idea how relieved I am that I wont be reinforcing bad behaviour, I can talk back to him and get back to having fun with him instead of trying to fix something that was never broken.

I'm so sorry, he is my first larger parrot and after cricket he just seemed so loud I was worried.

Your right though, those major screeching beeps have never happened.

This morning he did his usual excitement and instead of walking out we had a moment and singing and calling.

Bliss.

Thank you all so much, I'm so embarrassed and annoyed with myself.

x

 

[Crackseed]

As someone about to be a new Ekkie owner [my first parrot ever] I don't think you should be embarrassed or ashamed.

You came on here, talked about what was going on and were humble and open-minded to seek advice from more knowledgeable folks and put that into practice.

If anything that's what a good parent SHOULD do - we never are done learning in anything we do, and that goes to taking care of our fids - always something new to learn and if we're too proud or stuck-up to ask or seek advice, then we're doing ourselves and our fids a great disservice.

Glad things are looking up for you and your new green machine!

 

[Soyajam]

I totally second Crackseed - as a total first timer too your honesty and people's responses have made this one of the most useful threads I've read through...

But I must confess, if thats normal and regular I wonder why I'd not heard if it earlier (after everything i read and watched that said it was now and again )... and whether I might actually get into trouble with noise now. .. uh oh

 

[Joshuwaaa]

aww thank you.

yea everything i read did not prepare me for the reality of an eclectus. To anyone knew to owning a parrot i would say that their not as quiet as made out.

Think we are going to get a bigger cage so he can burn off more energy and more thinking/foraging toys x

 

[sodakat]

Some of them *are* quiet. My LaFitte is quiet, but I know how to get him going! He is also a talented talker as is his son, Sailor, who was the loudest in the vid when I said "hooray"! He loves that song. They are more polite when I sing the doggy in the window song and merely bark at the appropriate spot.

Sully, who is likely a Vos cross, maybe Vos/RS cross, has a unique, LOUD call that he makes a couple times a day. It lasts a few minutes and I'll try to record it for you. I found something very similar on the xeno-canto (Results for 'eclectus' :: page 1 :: xeno-canto) You should listen to some of these recordings. Consider they were made outside and a good distance from the Eclectus calling. Imagine them in your house.

 

[Peeker]

First, Joshuaa I hope I didn't say anything to make you feel foolish. When I said I was chuckling, I was only remembering going through many of those same thoughts when I first got my birds. It's wonderful to see things through another's eyes and I hope you continue to share your thoughts. I agree with Crackseed you had concerns and you asked for help and that's exactly what you should do.

Mine are sometimes noisy and sometimes quiet but in different ways. Tina is very quiet except for contact calls to me. My family had a hard time adjusting and when we have company it makes them jump. I hardly notice it lol!

Ruby can make a horrendous noise--sounds like bad airbrakes on a truck coming downhill fast. She doesn't do it often but when she does it's loud!