Little Hellions

[Spacey'sMom]

Hello All,

I am the proud(sometimes regretful) owner of 2 budgies who like to start shrieking for 30 minute sessions at a time. They have birdy platforms throughout the house and come out from 10-7 roughly on a daily basis... I have forage toys, chew toys, and put the food at different stations daily. What else can I do? I work from home and while nobody has complained yet but I really don't want to risk complaints and have to shut them up in a room all day. Halp

Thanks


(The little Hooligans in question)

 

[zERo]

Hello All,

I am the proud(sometimes regretful) owner of 2 budgies who like to start shrieking for 30 minute sessions at a time. They have birdy platforms throughout the house and come out from 10-7 roughly on a daily basis... I have forage toys, chew toys, and put the food at different stations daily. What else can I do? I work from home and while nobody has complained yet but I really don't want to risk complaints and have to shut them up in a room all day. Halp

Thanks


(The little Hooligans in question)

Welcome to the forums! 😊

It sounds like you’re providing an absolutely wonderful environment and home for your budgies!
My four budgies can get louder some days too.
Since you already provide foraging opportunities which greatly help with occupying a birds time, have you tried training them?
You can start with target training. It’s very simple yet engaging for your birds minds.

Do they only scream when you aren’t in the room or when they can’t see each other?

 

[Spacey'sMom]

Welcome to the forums! 😊

It sounds like you’re providing an absolutely wonderful environment and home for your budgies!
My four budgies can get louder some days too.
Since you already provide foraging opportunities which greatly help with occupying a birds time, have you tried training them?
You can start with target training. It’s very simple yet engaging for your birds minds.

Do they only scream when you aren’t in the room or when they can’t see each other?

I've done some training mostly step up and asking them to tolerate touching all over(I don't frequently but I do it so the vet can examine a bit easier.

They will chirp at each other if they are in separate rooms which is fine. My desk is located where I can see most of the designated bird stations.

I have to go shoo them off the curtain rods several times a day (sometimes several times an hour) or away from the houseplants they want to eat. They luckily only bother the safe ones like the spider plant(fancy grass) but they nearly killed it twice now playing with and eating it. Trying to grow a designated patch for them and of course they won't touch it.

When we first got the female(green) she only made the angry shrieking noise when she was surprised and flew away... Now one or both of them just sit there and shriek on and off all day e.e

I give them access to a bath most days (They love the bits of Hay so I put them in there to chew on and bathe)
Forage tray example

 

[clark_conure]

I love the noise and movements of my budgies.....so random, not anything like a quaker or conure. Just step step step, the helicopter sound around and chirpy chirp instead of screach or derp.

 

[Spacey'sMom]

They were absolutely constantly screeching today. Luckily not many calls but its been super bad today :/

 

[zERo]

They were absolutely constantly screeching today. Luckily not many calls but its been super bad today :/

How long did you say you’ve had them?
Maybe they feel insecure?

 

[Spacey'sMom]

How long did you say you’ve had them?
Maybe they feel insecure?

We got Teerie a bit less than a year ago I think? Yvie about 3 months after that.

 

[zERo]

We got Teerie a bit less than a year ago I think? Yvie about 3 months after that.

Have they always screamed a lot? Or had this been more recent of a behavior?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

We got Teerie a bit less than a year ago I think? Yvie about 3 months after that.

Lots of parrots (including budgies) like to scream, screech, and otherwise make lots of noise for no reason other than it's fun. You say it started with your first one, a female, right? Is the second one a male or a female? I've noticed that female budgies tend to have louder, screechier voices than males but some males can screech pretty loud too. From what you describe, they sound like happy, well cared for budgies. If the sound bothers you, use earplugs or sound canceling headphones. Try to ignore the screeching. Any response from you will just encourage them.
If it becomes a problem during work phone calls, either put their cages in another room for the call or go to another room yourself during calls and close the door.
Have you tried putting them in the cage during calls and putting a heavy blanket over the cage?

Keep in mind that a lot of people work from home now and have similar problems with their pets and children and will sympathize, not criticize.

 

[Spacey'sMom]

So short bouts of loud screeching is normal especially in the morning. Both do it the the 2nd one who I believe is Male is definitely the culprit most of the time now. His other vocalizations are fine or even intermittent screeches because they are generally less piercing in between other sounds.

As for the cage that is located in our bedroom on the 2nd floor. We let them into the downstairs living area daily to do "donuts" and fly from station to station. It's the piercing shrieking that cuts through the audio and among other things is highly distracting. When I say constant I mean for 20-30 minutes at a time and loud enough to hurt my ears through the headset. I'm glad they are happy but the only real option would be to put them upstairs in the bedroom... I worry about them getting into things or eating something dangerous.

I can't just go in a different room because that would leave the birds in attended with our other animals and things in the house. Like how the female has taken to hopping on an old picture frame that has a metallic paint of some kind. I have to shoo her off about 10 times a day. I covered the top with cardboard to be safe but still.

Today I was on one call for an hour and a half. The other vocalizations are easily overlooked or assumed to be birds outside. I haven't encountered any issues with customers yet but they've actually complained to me about other people's background noises. I mute myself when I can to cover the noise. My supervisors regularly listen in on my calls for quality checks. I just worry that it may become an issue of lock them away or work from the office which would be considerably worse for all of my animals.

 

[Keet_Krazy]

Have you tried seeing if they're screaming for a reason? Mine only "scream" when something isn't how they want it, e.g. someone turned the light on when they were sleeping, I woke them up too early, I am late with food, they are having a squabble with another budgie over something random, etc.
Are they seeing something out a window? Has something changed inside the house?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

So short bouts of loud screeching is normal especially in the morning. Both do it the the 2nd one who I believe is Male is definitely the culprit most of the time now. His other vocalizations are fine or even intermittent screeches because they are generally less piercing in between other sounds.

As for the cage that is located in our bedroom on the 2nd floor. We let them into the downstairs living area daily to do "donuts" and fly from station to station. It's the piercing shrieking that cuts through the audio and among other things is highly distracting. When I say constant I mean for 20-30 minutes at a time and loud enough to hurt my ears through the headset. I'm glad they are happy but the only real option would be to put them upstairs in the bedroom... I worry about them getting into things or eating something dangerous.

I can't just go in a different room because that would leave the birds in attended with our other animals and things in the house. Like how the female has taken to hopping on an old picture frame that has a metallic paint of some kind. I have to shoo her off about 10 times a day. I covered the top with cardboard to be safe but still.

Today I was on one call for an hour and a half. The other vocalizations are easily overlooked or assumed to be birds outside. I haven't encountered any issues with customers yet but they've actually complained to me about other people's background noises. I mute myself when I can to cover the noise. My supervisors regularly listen in on my calls for quality checks. I just worry that it may become an issue of lock them away or work from the office which would be considerably worse for all of my animals.

If your job may be eventually in jeopardy you should probably do something to prevent that. I would "bird proof" the upstairs room as well as you can, like taking the questionable picture frame off the wall, close that door so no other pets can get in there and let the birds fly free in that room while you concentrate on your job duties. Check on the birds once every hour or two.
Other than keeping the birds in their cages in a closed room I can't see any other solution based on what you described.

 

[Spacey'sMom]

I'll see about bird proofing the 2nd bedroom better :/ I just like letting them have space and time out. The blinds stay shut during the week days. They definitely will yell at the birds outside given the option hence why the blinds stay shut. Also part of why I moved my desk downstairs because the windows on the 2nd floor are tree level and there's more to yell at.

They are very opinionated little boogers. I've tried distracting them or moving them to another "station" when it's that continuous shrieking but they just fly off to wherever they feel like it. If I chase them around, pretty sure they think it's a game e.e Bedtime is always great fun for THEM. On the bright side when I do chase them around they sleep for a good hour or so.

Would changing their daylight hours help?? I could try and shift it so their active hours are closer to the end of work maybe? Problem is the light primarily comes from the windows. Might not be an issue during the warm season with longer days... Might try that