Constant Calling and Squawking

[Kevtown26]

Hi there,

I have a 4 year old female parakeet. This is my first female, I've always had males before this. No matter how much attention I give her she is not happy the second I stop playing with her and that will continue on until I'm back giving her attention. I could be two feet away doing a chore and still talking to her and she loudly calls me and when I don't respond to her demand, that turns into squawking which I'm told I should ignore to not encourage it. She'll grab her cage door and slam it up and down over and over to try to get me to come over to her. Despite ignoring the squawking and demands, she spends most of the day calling and squawking whether I'm in the same room or a different room. I'll mention that I do not neglect her and play and spend time with her many times throughout the day. She's only happy when she's less than a foot away from me. Any advice would help. My males would all spend much more time chirping and singing and making pleasant noises and this one just spends all her effort demanding attention. I've got toys and mirrors to give her something to do when I can't play. Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forums!
Budgie are very social, sbd my two are constantly make all sorts of noises to each other, if one fly’s to the other side of the room the do freaks calls to each other till they are back side by side, they are both boys...

This is “ normal “ behavior, as they would be part of the flock and not separate from each other.... it sounds like she is bonded to you... is there a way fir her to be part of the chores??

How long have you had her? Did she have other budgie friends before?

Fir me I’m in the dude of two budgie, as they are so flock driven... but that can possibly lessen the bond yiu two have.. and other issues could arise...

To me it sounds like she is bonded with you, and us flock calling when you are apart. Which you should flock call back .. and also try and have be a part of as much stuff as you can..

Maybe others will post some more ideas
Glad you joined! Love to see a pic!

 

[Kevtown26]

Thank you for the advice. That makes sense. I have had her for 4 years. She has never had another bird in the same house, it's only been me and her. I had considered getting her a friend to keep her company but I wasn't sure if that would be good or bad as I've heard conflicting advice about having two instead of one. Thanks again

 

[Laurasea]

Well you have her 4 years I probably wouldn’t add another at this point. It sounds like you guys are doing great sbd she I really bonded to you.
Birds don’t get us humans wanting to be alone lol, that’s not the burd way

 

[Kevtown26]

Haha ok that sounds good. Yes they don't understand peace and quiet once in awhile ��

 

[Laurasea]

That’s for sure!

 

[Laurasea]

You need to post on the new members thread so everyone will know you are new and stop in to say hi!!

 

[Elysianblight]

My two boys who are bonded to each other (I'm just a secondary flock member) do this if I try to separate them at all.

And I do mean *at all* - they have a perch near their cage that they like to rest on before bed time. It's 2-3 feet away from the cage. At bedtime if I move them to the cage one at a time, they will start loudly flock calling immediately. Even though they can still see each other and it takes less than a minute for me to move each one.

If she is that bonded to you and you can't spend that much time with her, I would be tempted to say go ahead and consider getting a second .. hens can be a bit territorial but if you introduce them the right way you can do a lot to mitigate any problems.

But like Laurasea said, you can also try working her into your routine more.
Does she also flock call when she CAN'T see you (ie, you leave the house), or just when you knows you are around and "should" be able to be with her?
I had a baby, briefly, that always wanted to be on me if she saw me (she would do the same thing, crying and banging the cage) but if I left the room and she didn't know where I was she would calm down and play with her toys.

If it's like that, maybe you can have her perch on your shoulder while you are doing chores in the room where she can see you, and make sure she can't see you when you are doing any "unsafe" chores that she shouldn't be a part of?
And yes, do respond to her calls as much as you can

Has she been doing this the whole four years you have had her, or did it start recently..?