I don’t know what my parrot wants

MustacheParrot

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May 7, 2021
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Hello everyone,
I have a 3 month mustache parakeet, which I adopted three days ago. He constantly screams and I don’t know why. He has toys and foraging opportunities, which he uses and he gets enough food. Still he screams really really loud (I had Hahns macaws in the past and he is on their level of screaming) all day long. He screams when I’m out of the room, he screams when I’m in the room. When I talk he screams even louder. Since he is the first bird I had this young I don’t know if it’s just his age, or if he misses his family, or if it’s something else. He‘s also pretty aggressive, when I look at him he puffs up, when I stand by his cage he puffs up. He also bit me to the point of drawing blood, when I tried giving him some of my strawberry. So maybe he’s just generally stressed and it might get better in time? Does anyone know what to do about the screaming and aggression?
 

chris-md

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Mustache parrots tend to wean right around this age. However, weaning can regress when a newly weaned chick is exposed to stressors like a new home/environment. Weaning regression simply means that the bird has begun to seek comfort feedings - its a psychological need you don't want to ignore.

SOunds like your chick has regressed slightly in the weaning. The screaming is screaming to be fed baby food. Try feeling some slightly warm cooked oatmeal (not too hot at all! Don't want to burn the crop!) from a spoon and see how he reacts.
 

wrench13

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THe poor little guy is upset being yanked from where ever he was hatched and raised , to your house. Give him some time to settle in. During this period try not to reinforce objectionable behavior, so I would lay off for a week or so before you start to try and interact with him. Sitting quietly by his cage, not close enuf to get him upset and then day by day try moving the chair closer by a little bit. If he reacts badly, move it back a bit. Parrots hate change and new things most of the time and they should be gradually introduced. Your lil guy seems to be the sensitive type. Dont rush anything, hopefully he will be with you for many years.

Chris-MS's point is well taken!
 
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MustacheParrot

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Thank you very much for the advice with the oatmeal! The scream is this two tone high pitched shriek, that actually sounds like it could be begging.
Would you advice to change the cage location to the living room? I have him in an extra room. I enter it for an hour or two a couple of times a day. If he was in the living room he could be around me much more, since I also work from home and he could watch me from further distance. I wouldn’t mind leaving the living room for his bedtime.
 

noodles123

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I'm not convinced he is weaned fully.. He may be screaming for supplementary feeding at that age. Things must be very sterile and temp of food must be exact if you do this-- must use avian formula (do not do baby food, as it is fortified/contains vitamins at human levels that are not safe for birds). If you must make something short-term, there are options, but ideally, you would need formula and you would need to know how to prevent aspiration etc...Can you call the breeder? Plain oatmeal could be okay, but I'm worried it could be too thick...


How well is he eating the food in the cage?


He should spend his days in the most active room of the house (once adjusted)--- that could be on a large playstand etc, or you could get 2 cages, one for sleep and one for the day. Noodles has a room off my living room--- that is where her cage is. At night, I can shut off all of the lights in there and close it off so as not to keep her up with my sleep schedule (which is far less than her required 12 hours). I also have a play stand in the living room and often transfer her between cage, play perch and fridge top during the day. You parrot needs 10 hours of dark/quiet sleep each night (cockatoos need more, hence 12 for mine).
 
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MustacheParrot

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How well is he eating the food in the cage?

Surprisingly well, he only ate seeds and fruit as solid foods before. I offered him beans, dark leafy greens, sweet potato, carrots and a lot more and he eats everything.
He’s not so fond of pellets, but as long as I mix them with fresh produce he eats them too.
Interestingly he stopped eating seeds, when I throw some into his food he picks them out and throws them out of his bowl.
 
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MustacheParrot

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So a quick update to the Situation: I tried spoonfeeding him some warm oatmeal. He didn’t really care for it, yelled at a deafening level, displayed aggressive body language and attacked the spoon a couple of times.
So he’s probably just scared and aggressive on a very high level.
I moved his cage to the living room, covered three sides for a cave effect and will just keep my distance and deal with the screaming for now.
I’ll only get near his cage to clean and feed and hope he‘ll get better with time and confidence in the fact, that I am not interested in eating him.
It’ll probably take a long time since he even flips out if I stand up to leave the room and cleaning and feeding are to close to his comfort zone right now, but I can not not do it, so let’s hope he’ll come around eventhough I am traumatizing him a couple of times per day.
I am really baffled by the amount of aggression at this age, I had a parent raised Hahn’s before, which came to me at two years of age and she was a beast and took very long to come around, but even she let me change water and food and give the occasional treat through the cage bars after a couple of days.
 

Laurasea

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Hi,
Where did you get your new parrot? Was he hand raised?

Good advice above, newly weaned parrots can revert under stress of moving to a new home.

3 days isn't much. If something in the transfer process to yiur house spooked him or was traumatic to him. He might take longer to trust sbd settle.

This is my stress bird link, I thi k has some good tips.
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

Quick Google search says they can be very aggressive if not handled and worked with when young,, and often. That they are simular to IRN . IRN can have big fear of hands, folding fingers can help. I will link SilverSage Avairy , a member who breeds, she has lots of articles on her website. You might go there to see if they will help.
http://silversageaviaries.com/
 
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MustacheParrot

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He and his two siblings got confiscated and are from a shelter. They we’re hand raised by the owner and then by someone at the shelter. And his move actually was pretty stressful, about one minute after he arrived someone broke the bell (I live in an old house, so it’s a literal bell, which is pretty loud) and it rang for about 5 minutes until I realized it wasn’t fixable and simply blocked it. Must have been terrifying and I am still pretty unhappy about that incident.
Lafeber.com is your website? I’ve read a lot of your articles! And thank you, yes I know they are related to the IRN species I’ve read the silversage articles and I’m reading the posts in this forum about IRNs and Alexandrines.
 

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