About to loose my mind - screaming

Tmarshall

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Oct 13, 2021
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Sun conure and parrotlet
I debated writing this but I truly donā€™t know what else to do. For the past two days now Marty has been screaming continuously, loudly non stop , I have tried ignoring it as I donā€™t want to reinforce bad behavior, I have tried giving activities with forgoing toys but he is terries of anything new or toy wise , I have put JJ and him together a lot which JJ doesnā€™t mind he enjoys it but I also see at times he gets tired of the constant petting , , I have held him when he is quiet , we have tried to do some training yet he is terrified of the pointer, I put it down and used my hand he was very shy but came around but for a short while but nothing stops him from screaming once you put him back in his cage . I feel at times he gets a bit aggressive of not overly excited and bites sores. I canā€™t help but feel like a failure and absolutely frustrated I know you not supposed to yell when they are screaming but I swear itā€™s like having a two year old stand there and scream at you while you trying to figure out whatā€™s wrong -ugh!!!

hence I went to take a bath and only way to keep him quiet was to bring him and JJ along well that lasted foe all of 10 minutes because he got into the bath with me lol and now is flinging a toy he seems to like on my lap around while JJ is spiking at him like he is nuts !
 

Laurasea

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Hi,
It does push one over the edge with non stop screaming . I know first hand, and have fixed this issue in multiple parrots.

The first thing if this is sudden onset, is a veterinarian exam. This can absolutely be a health issue.

Second I'd like more background. Daily routine, time you have had the bird, age of bird. Diet, time out of cage, any changes in home? New pets? New people? New job? What kind of parrots?

Behavior changes take time, they usually took time to get started, and they take time to get stopped .

My most difficult one took months. I bought a screaming quaker from the pet store because she had been screaming non stop for months , and I knew I could help her. Tho I nearly lost faith lol.


There aren't instant fixes. It really comes down the same things. Increasing out if cage time 5 plus hours. Increasing self choice and self directed Behavior. Increasing activities and environmental engagement. Prevention of screaming sessions from getting started, interrupt and redirect the moments they start. And lots and lots pf praise when being good as well as when being quiet. Patterning to music, this starts by playing something quiet and calming when they are already quiet, about to nap and at bedtime. Once you have created the association and Patterning while they are quiet, you can start trying to play the same calming music when tgey are loud and hopefully they will calm down.


This means keeping them flighted. If that is completely impossible ( and you should try all ways of making it possible, wher you make compromises and sacrifice) then create a link of perches so they can choose to move around a large area. You can use ceiling hooks and heavy weight fishing line to hang rope highways. To create climbing walls of cargo net, perches swings rope spirals ect. And this is fantastic even for flighted burds. Set up several areas around the home for them to hang out. Again I find its cheap and fun for them to use the ceiling hooks and huge rope spirals that I attach stuff to, as play stands are expensive and usually boring to parrots. This increases their territory and mental stimulate. Also in the self choice department, is when to take a bath, allowing them to choose. I put out a sturdy casserole dish with 2 inches of water daily, they choose when to use. Increasing self choice of natural Behavior to engage in really helps!!!++! These are intelligent self directed individuals.

If this bird can't cope with new stuff, he obviously doesn't know how to cope with stress. He is lacking self confidence. You need to build all that up. And a way to do thst is as above. More self choice, more ability to explore the environment and come across ( discover ) things to chomp and manipulate. So easy to destroy can boost confidence, like yucca chips, basal wood, paper toys, treat sticks.

Nearly all my work to stop screaming isn't directed at screaming at all. Its all about the environment and enrichment, occupied mind and body. Often doing the above will drop screaming by 75% right off the bat, then takes a little work and reinforced good behavior, developing a non screaming habit, preventing known likely screaming triggers.
 
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Laurasea

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In my thread are lots if links on behavior, tho you will have to page through.

This is a great article
 
Last edited:
OP
Tmarshall

Tmarshall

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Oct 13, 2021
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78
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Sun conure and parrotlet
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Hi,
It does push one over the edge with non stop screaming . I know first hand, and have fixed this issue in multiple parrots.

The first thing if this is sudden onset, is a veterinarian exam. This can absolutely be a health issue.

Second I'd like more background. Daily routine, time you have had the bird, age of bird. Diet, time out of cage, any changes in home? New pets? New people? New job? What kind of parrots?

Behavior changes take time, they usually took time to get started, and they take time to get stopped .

My most difficult one took months. I bought a screaming quaker from the pet store because she had been screaming non stop for months , and I knew I could help her. Tho I nearly lost faith lol.


There aren't instant fixes. It really comes down the same things. Increasing out if cage time 5 plus hours. Increasing self choice and self directed Behavior. Increasing activities and environmental engagement. Prevention of screaming sessions from getting started, interrupt and redirect the moments they start. And lots and lots pf praise when being good as well as when being quiet. Patterning to music, this starts by playing something quiet and calming when they are already quiet, about to nap and at bedtime. Once you have created the association and Patterning while they are quiet, you can start trying to play the same calming music when tgey are loud and hopefully they will calm down.


This means keeping them flighted. If that is completely impossible ( and you should try all ways of making it possible, wher you make compromises and sacrifice) then create a link of perches so they can choose to move around a large area. You can use ceiling hooks and heavy weight fishing line to hang rope highways. To create climbing walls of cargo net, perches swings rope spirals ect. And this is fantastic even for flighted burds. Set up several areas around the home for them to hang out. Again I find its cheap and fun for them to use the ceiling hooks and huge rope spirals that I attach stuff to, as play stands are expensive and usually boring to parrots. This increases their territory and mental stimulate. Also in the self choice department, is when to take a bath, allowing them to choose. I put out a sturdy casserole dish with 2 inches of water daily, they choose when to use. Increasing self choice of natural Behavior to engage in really helps!!!++! These are intelligent self directed individuals.

If this bird can't cope with new stuff, he obviously doesn't know how to cope with stress. He is lacking self confidence. You need to build all that up. And a way to do thst is as above. More self choice, more ability to explore the environment and come across ( discover ) things to chomp and manipulate. So easy to destroy can boost confidence, like yucca chips, basal wood, paper toys, treat sticks.

Nearly all my work to stop screaming isn't directed at screaming at all. Its all about the environment and enrichment, occupied mind and body. Often doing the above will drop screaming by 75% right off the bat, then takes a little work and reinforced good behavior, developing a non screaming habit, preventing known likely screaming triggers.
Marty is a Nanday and is male dna tested, I do not know much of his past owners history with him or how or what he did with him as he was a surrender to the pet store I got him from. He is only 7months old but from what I have discovered he is very toy shy (donā€™t think he had any) never had veggies (that took me a month to turn around) is absolutely terrified of the broom or anything new like milit spray or treats.

He has many wooden shreddable toys in his cage that he has had since day one of him coming home which has been a month and some days and he has not touched any of the toys in his cage.

his and JJā€™s routine is I wake between 7-7:30 and prepare their veggies everyone is woken with kisses and served veggies, lil seed, and fruit and in their cage they have Harrisonā€™s pellets, their cage it totally opened up for the entire day he and JJ can fly down and into living room as much as they want I often take them out and sit with them on me. I work three days a week at nights while my husband is home with them so they are never alone , he as well interacts with them .

Marty has his first vet visit on dec 2 unfortunately with the holidays we had to wait I donā€™t think his screaming is health related, seems more attention but the amount of attention he gets is not enough . I recently added a rope between the cages so they can climb back and forth from cage to cage which allows JJ to escape Marry sometimes as he can be overbearing

there are no new additions or members and when my family arrives with their dogs which are small like mine because they are freaked out by the screaming I have all the birds in my office but for now they are out in the common area with us.

I take him down and play with him on the floor to allow him to explore and build his own confidence with small toys but there are some like the orange ball he will side step around in absolute fear and crawl in my lap
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Laurasea

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Looks good. He's a cutie! Good routine as well. Good has friend, and good he likes you ;) great diet.

But as great as those cages are, bigger ones would be better, I have bigger ones for my smaller birds. Also more perches inside, some short fat ones . And perches on the outside sides and top. And taking advantage of the space above cafes to create what I'm always call an air gym. Birds love testing their jumps, climb and dangle skills.

Yucca chips are irresistible, soft, try them I think they would like them. As well as those cardboard rolls called birdie bagels, and basal wood will try and link some stuff.


Unfortunately nanday conure are loud and like to make noise. I'm sure Google will warn of that. One of my fosters was a nanday. Still you can modify and improve. I normally hate when people blame hormones, because even with hormones things can be tackled with all I've mentioned. That being said at 7 months he us likely in his puberty rush of hormones, and that can be hard especially if energy isn't getting burned up with flight and foraging. So he could be stuck in a teen boy mode right now, and next spring will likely be his worst hormones rush. Many parrots are more vocal during breeding seasons...if yoy stay active you will see many threads were we all share abd vent lol

I have a link to burd tricks teaching foraging, and it fun way to interact with your parrot. I'll get it and link. Also simple tricks. Like touch this. Or pick this up. Or putting a bunch of bottle caps in a cup. Or plastic rings on things fir them to throw off. You can teach fancy stuff, but mine really enjoy doing simple stuff


Great store with lots of great stuff to create fun
 
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Laurasea

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Birds are built for flight, every system in their body, thinking on the wing, vision and mental development. The days of just accepting that every bird should be clipped are gone. Unfortunately people new to parrots usually buy a bird with wings clipped, and then just keep in having them clipped without really spending time thinking about ir researching it. I invite you to do some research and thinking on tge topic.

 
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wrench13

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You can try some smaller type toys. The ones in his cage are a bit big for Nanday's. THe big blocky wood bits are harder to chew and destroy. My small 'zon loves his tubular bells, so you might want to get one of those, smaller one. He fights with his daily!
 

Laurasea

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How ya doing with screaming?
Really you have my sympathy, its hard going till you start making progres.

Everything i share is learned from many hours of research , and learned first in hand in helping behavior over years. And I continue to try to improve myself.

Some individual parrots just need more . They are usually the smarter, more sensitive or more energy individuals. Or ones who experienced more stress or rushed weaning, clipped before fledged. But parrots as whole just need more than we start out expecting. They are on par or surpass other primates . And not many of us would consider adding a primate to our home. But it's not till we get into parrots that we realize they aren't like other pets and how incredible they are.

Increasing his confidence, ability to handle change, his self directed Behavior, interactions with environment, and intellectual challenges and energy. Will dramatically reduce screaming.

Screaming is the number one reason people rehome. I have a soft spot for the ones who need more and act out. I think they end up being the biggest loves the best personality!

I wish I was better at helping people .

On building confidence, most parrots are sucker for flattering ! I bragg on everything to them. They also have a natural curious you can build on. Plus reverse psychology works great on them.

A busy burd isn't a screaming burd. Usually food, and the ability to easily destroy something are biggest motivators .

Example hang a millet spray on the outside of the cage bars. They have to really work at it to get the treat, a little mental challenge and most parrots find millet spray desirable.
Stiing some plastic beads on a shoe lace or safe burd material, and do the same thing tie it on the outside of the cage bars, usually makes it something tgey want go get at. Tie one of his foot toys to a perch.

To get him more used to new objects . Have a big pile of them next to you when you have him out on the floor. Pick them up and tell him the color or name and put it drown on the other side of you. Lay down and rummage through them talking to yourself. Parrots just about can't resist coming over to investigate. Ever time he touches something tell him how brave and good he is.

I like taking popcorn and filling those rubber balls with holes with t r popcorn abd shreded paper, I hang it just below head hight. You could do that for when out of the cage. They need more to do than preen each other abd scresm when out of the cage . I have a flock, and I'm home, so I have to come up with creative stuff to keep them busy and not needing my direct attention all the time. And I have fun slightly annoying(?) them, like tie strips of paper to their favorite perch, or making them have to duck under a fringe of paper clutter to walk down the perch to get to the food dish
 
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Tmarshall

Tmarshall

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Oct 13, 2021
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Sun conure and parrotlet
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You can try some smaller type toys. The ones in his cage are a bit big for Nanday's. THe big blocky wood bits are harder to chew and destroy. My small 'zon loves his tubular bells, so you might want to get one of those, smaller one. He fights with his daily!
Tubular bells? I have caught him playing with some of the blocks but not to the extent as my sun conure but I ah be noticed he is more accepting of smaller toys that you use for budgies.
 

BirdyBee

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Marty is a Nanday and is male dna tested, I do not know much of his past owners history with him or how or what he did with him as he was a surrender to the pet store I got him from. He is only 7months old but from what I have discovered he is very toy shy (donā€™t think he had any) never had veggies (that took me a month to turn around) is absolutely terrified of the broom or anything new like milit spray or treats.

He has many wooden shreddable toys in his cage that he has had since day one of him coming home which has been a month and some days and he has not touched any of the toys in his cage.

his and JJā€™s routine is I wake between 7-7:30 and prepare their veggies everyone is woken with kisses and served veggies, lil seed, and fruit and in their cage they have Harrisonā€™s pellets, their cage it totally opened up for the entire day he and JJ can fly down and into living room as much as they want I often take them out and sit with them on me. I work three days a week at nights while my husband is home with them so they are never alone , he as well interacts with them .

Marty has his first vet visit on dec 2 unfortunately with the holidays we had to wait I donā€™t think his screaming is health related, seems more attention but the amount of attention he gets is not enough . I recently added a rope between the cages so they can climb back and forth from cage to cage which allows JJ to escape Marry sometimes as he can be overbearing

there are no new additions or members and when my family arrives with their dogs which are small like mine because they are freaked out by the screaming I have all the birds in my office but for now they are out in the common area with us.

I take him down and play with him on the floor to allow him to explore and build his own confidence with small toys but there are some like the orange ball he will side step around in absolute fear and crawl in my lapView attachment 32359View attachment 32360View attachment 32361
The cage setups are great, but I'd recommend removing those fluffy fabric pieces that are in the cage, as they can make birds hormonal, and if they swallow the fibers they can get crop impaction, which can kill them unless they have surgery, but unfortunately most birds don't make it
 

HeatherG

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Iā€™m wondering how your little Nanday, Marty, is doing.? It seems to me that if I was a ā€œteenagerā€, in a newish home, afraid to play with toys, and afraid of ā€˜funā€™ foods; my life would be pretty barren and Iā€™d be crabby. I bet he is (was) having a hard time and you just need to stick with him to get through the hard spot. When Martyā€™s a bit older and you have found toys and food heā€™s not scared of, his life will be much more fun and rich.

your Marty is a handsome guy!

my Quaker is learning to play with toys. When he came here a year and some months ago he didnā€™t have many. I did not realize how scared he was for a month or so. We had A LOT of alarm screaming and contact calls before I figured out that all but his worn out hanging chime toy were scary. We went back to eating seeds and everything.
A year and a half later, Quaker has a seagrass playgym, a climbing ladder, jingle bells, cuttlebone, AND his refurbished chime toy. He is eating pellets and fruit and vegetables. He is so different from my Lucy but he is a loving sweet bird, too. We are just taking things at different speeds.
i hope Marty is doing better. Good luck!
 

moon1964

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I debated writing this but I truly donā€™t know what else to do. For the past two days now Marty has been screaming continuously, loudly non stop , I have tried ignoring it as I donā€™t want to reinforce bad behavior, I have tried giving activities with forgoing toys but he is terries of anything new or toy wise , I have put JJ and him together a lot which JJ doesnā€™t mind he enjoys it but I also see at times he gets tired of the constant petting , , I have held him when he is quiet , we have tried to do some training yet he is terrified of the pointer, I put it down and used my hand he was very shy but came around but for a short while but nothing stops him from screaming once you put him back in his cage . I feel at times he gets a bit aggressive of not overly excited and bites sores. I canā€™t help but feel like a failure and absolutely frustrated I know you not supposed to yell when they are screaming but I swear itā€™s like having a two year old stand there and scream at you while you trying to figure out whatā€™s wrong -ugh!!!

hence I went to take a bath and only way to keep him quiet was to bring him and JJ along well that lasted foe all of 10 minutes because he got into the bath with me lol and now is flinging a toy he seems to like on my lap around while JJ is spiking at him like he is nuts !
I have the same problem with my male BF amazon. I have to cover his cage or i will loose my mind. when i uncover him after a bit he starts right back up.. like you idk what to do anymore
 

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