Help! Parrot keeps screaming and my brother is threatening to kick me out!

[Alexi102000]

Hi, I have a 1 year old south african ringneck. This has been ongoing for a few months, but the parrot keeps screaming for attention. I NEVER respond to him while he's screaming (I completely ignore him) and only take him out only when he's quiet. I take him out and play with him for an hour a day, at different intervals. He's located in the living room, where I hang out most of the time. He has a billion toys in his cage, which I rotate occasionally. Still, he screams and screams all day long for attention. I think this is driving my brother is crazy. I live with my brother and he covers all my expenses (tuition, food, rent, etc.). Now he's telling me get rid of my parrot or he's going to kick both me and the parrot out. How can I make him quiet! Recently, I've been keeping him covered, but I don't want to keep him covered 24/7 (he's quiet when its dark or covered). Help!!!

 

[cdog]

How many times do you take him out? It sounds like he wants to come out and the best way to get him to be quiet is to wait until he stops and let him out for a few hours at a time. Do this several times a day and the screaming should subside. Your type of bird needs to be out for at least 4-5 hours a day or they get unhappy.

 

[Alexi102000]

I'll try having him out more often. He likes to sit on my shoulders...but a lot of time goes flying off. Might need to trim his wings

 

[cdog]

He is supposed to fly off, that is his exercise. If you have him out all day he won't do that, he only does that because he isn't getting enough physical activity. Clipping him will make him stay with you but he won't get the proper exercise.

 

[henpecked]

Have you tried reading though some of the older post on this subject ? Does he have someone he doesn;t like? (the bad guy) . you can try sending in the bad guy when he screams and have them stand near his cage. Of course you need to pay him attention when he is acting good. This was a pretty short piece of advice but some of the other threads have a more detailed procedure. Good luck and PM if you need more help, i'll admit i don't deal with IRNs very often,but this applies to most parrots.

 

[Alexi102000]

I like letting him fly around--just not without supervision. He's been know to fly into windows/mirrors, chew electrical cables, etc. The problem is its hard for me to give him the proper supervision for 4-5 hours. The house is a 2-story house with lots of hiding places and has a very open layout. I need to think...can't realistically let him out for 4-5 hours a day.

 

[RescueMe]

Well, a great way is to invest in a few play perches so that he can have a safe place to play. As he gets more time out he may find that the fun happy place is the place he is supposed to stay, Ie the play stand. This way when you are washing dishes or doing homework he can be with you without having to be on you or risking injury on the floor. My macaws main playstand rolls so I can move it around the house with me. She does however climb down and will come to me if I stay away too long or am not paying attention.

 

[Alisana]

Ensure it's not completely behavioural as well - could it be any environmental or food factors that are causing the screaming? Make sure it's not health related first.

Is he on an all seed diet? Or is he getting organic pellets? Also - do you feed him fruit and veggies?

Does he play with the toys? It's all fair and good to have a multitude of toys, but if your bird doesn't play with them, then it may not be enough. Find out which toys he responds to. When you have him out, play with him and the toys. My budgies don't like toys themselves, but love anything natural. (Australian Native tree branches, bottlebrush flowers, gum nuts, etc) So for them, their cage is designed to be filled with all natural items, and I have to make a conscious effort to purchase "natural" looking items. (The plastic colourful toys get shunned.... )

As RescueMe has stated, get some play perches or play stands. Something like this may work: http://www.myparrotshop.com/playstands/out-n-about-medium/prod_712.html It's small enough to carry around with you for where ever you are doing work, and you can hang more toys off it.

I'm getting one of these stands for my budgies myself - there are colourful versions of the playstands, but as I said - mine don't respond to and/or like them. >_>

Does he talk? Encourage him to talk with you rather than scream at you for attention. Have a look at the video below. This bird LOVES to talk - to the point where he talks so much that he bothers the other birds so is left to talk with his toys. *laughs* (The owner mentioned this on their website)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNEZgOV5jjc]Marnie having fun - YouTube[/ame]

You could even put on videos for him. Whether it be of other birds, or some kids shows. Your bird may show an interest in the videos. A friend of ours has a TV in their birdroom and they put on movies for their birds while they are out during the day. (Apparently Finding Nemo is a favourite )

For flight, have you thought of recall training? Start training with some little behaviours (maybe with a clicker) first to get him used to the training idea, then practice small recalls. That way, if he likes to fly, you can move around the house and call out to him to come and find you.

Be careful for how long you wait for when you go to grab him after the screaming stops. If you take too long, he may not associate "stopping screaming" with "out of cage time".

A good book to read is "The Parrot Problem Solver" - there is some good information and tips in there with screaming birds, so may be worth looking at.

Good luck!

 

[Alexi102000]

Alisana--wow really good advise. There's a lot of things I will definitely give a try right away. I appreciate you and everyone else taking the time to help me. He's currently on an all-pellet diet. I give him seeds/fruits/millet as treats though. Right now he can only say "hello" although I think he's experimenting with his voice more. Going to go right now to my local pet store looking for perches. I've been setting aside $75 every month in case he gets sick (hasn't yet), so I spend part of those funds on new toys. He does enjoy playing with those toys (I think).

 

[Alisana]

Alisana--wow really good advise. There's a lot of things I will definitely give a try right away. I appreciate you and everyone else taking the time to help me. He's currently on an all-pellet diet. I give him seeds/fruits/millet as treats though. Right now he can only say "hello" although I think he's experimenting with his voice more. Going to go right now to my local pet store looking for perches. I've been setting aside $75 every month in case he gets sick (hasn't yet), so I spend part of those funds on new toys. He does enjoy playing with those toys (I think).

Glad to hear. Let us know what you get and how you go!

A friend of ours has an amazon, and the odd thing is he's changed his contact/amazon call (loud) to a rather loud "HELLLOOOOO~~~!!!!"

Confuses the neighbours, but doesn't bother them as much as a screaming bird.

Some birds will ALWAYS scream, but you can limit that with playtime and interaction. If you can't get a block of time with your bird, then spread it out as much as you can over the day. Ringnecks love interacting with people and will happily go with you throughout your comings and goings throughout the house. Just keep some foot toys on hand for him to play with so he doesn't chew anything you don't want.

The site here: PRC Online Shop l Parrot Toys and Accessories in Australia should give you some ideas.

All the best!

 

[cockatiel2]

when he does yell put a blanket over him also put it over him at night

 

[GreyG]

when he does yell put a blanket over him also put it over him at night

Do NOT put a blanket over him when he screams. This is not how to deal with a screaming bird, only leads to more behavioral problems. From what I've read, you've received sound advice (except the quote above). Sounds ot me, though, that this bird needs more out of cage time and isn't getting proper amount of exercise. How big is his cage? I know how difficult it is to go to school and still devote enough time to a bird - been there, done that. It can be done if you care enough about your bird.