My Dusky and I are at our wits end :( Screaming mornings

[Gustopher]

Hi everyone. Desperate times here in my household and I could really use some advice. I have a 2 year old Dusky conure named Gus, he has lived w/ us for about a year and a half. We recently went on vacation and had a friend watch Gus. Apparently Gus really liked hanging out with his birds, and even bonded specifically w/ a love bird who he hungout with outside of their cages. We came back from vacation and things were normal, for a week. 1 week later and ever since every morning Gus has been waking us up yelling around 6:30-7am. Normally the last one who has to go to work feeds and takes Gus out for a bit, it's usually around 8 and he makes a few noises before being uncovered, but nothing major. For the last 2 weeks, he yells when the cover is on, when it's off and I have taken him out and am feeding him he still yells. if I put him back and cover him again he still yells. It's pretty non-stop. Evenings are pretty normal. When my husband and I come home we take him out and he's cool. He hangsout with us and is his regular happy self. He has been putting himself to bed in his cozy hut earlier since we got home too Ive notice.

Safe to say, no one around here enjoys mornings anymore... myself, my husband, Gus who sounds very unhappy and the other tenants in our building who probably curse us everyday. Our problem is 2 fold, we are currently looking at buying a house which will make us less aware of our neighbors, but I am also 4 months pregnant. We had some concerns about Gus and the baby before but are very nervous if this habit keeps up. My dad has offered to take Gus for a while if we need him to, but I would really hate to give him up.

One thing we had been considering even before he got louder was getting another bird for Gus to hangout with. We thought even more seriously about it after hearing how well he did w/ our friends lovebird. However that opens a whole new can of worms... what if they don't get along or Gus continues to be loud and then we have two birds and a baby to worry about.


If you read this whole things I really appreciate your patience. My husband and I are at our wits end. Basically I am wondering if there is something wrong I am missing, and if getting a companion for him could help. We did move his cage before this started, but it'sa spot he had been in before, and it's so he can be closer to the windows and see/talk to the birds outside. In case that was the problem we moved him back 1 night, but it didn't seem to help any.

Sometimes I wonder if my guy is really a Dusky... he is so ridiculously loud! My cousin lives 2 houses down and jokes that he can hear him from there. And he's not kidding!

 

[FineFeatheredFriend]

I do like the idea of adding another bird. Maybe try adding a quiet species so you don't end up having two loud birds.

Your friend might of got attached to the lovebird and is screaming for it? You could also wait this out and hope he forgets the lovebird.

 

[MirandaJeanne]

Would your friend let you borrow the lovebird then that way you'll know it's the companion he's missing instead of just going and getting another bird see if you could try that for a week or so and see if that helps.. Good luck!

 

[Scotty T]

You will never completely stop the screaming because its natural for them. But here is what we do and it has curbed the yelling.

We ignore the yelling, eventually she gives up. But we also needed to incentivize her. When she was a baby I taught her how to whistle. I now use that as a reward. When she hasn't been screaming and she whistles at me she gets the reward of coming out. And she really knows because in the morning we don't take her cover off until give gives us a bunch of whistles. It's funny, she tries extra hard to have a perfect whistle.

But form time to time she will get out of hand and scream too much and that means back to the cage. Sure enough if she wants out she whistles again.

You do have to be careful not to reward to quickly because they will think its a game and bounce back and forth between the good and bad behavior to get attention.

 

[Grenage]

If he's going to bed earlier, I suppose it's natural that he'd wake up earlier.

Could this be a hormone problem? This time last year, he was probably slightly too young to be that hormonal, but now he's two (and bonded some with another bird) - well, it is spring.

How dark is the cover?

 

[baron1282]

So far my bird is up late with us (Watching Star Trek. , and sleeps in late with us. He won't make a sound until the cover is off.

As for the screaming, you can not take him out of the cage until he stops. It gets annoying, but our bird is learning that he will not get his way if he keeps screaming. Also don't make the cage a place of punishment.

You want his cage to be a happy place for him to be in, with lots of toys and conversation. Talk to your bird while he is in the cage, and give treats. You want his cage to be his home, not his prison. This means you don't put him back in right away for bad behavior. My punishment is ignoring him and his bites. He bites hard sometimes and trying not to react to it is hard. lol, but if you ignore the bad behavior you generally will get what you want.

I have also thought about getting another Bird, my wife and I are going to try and have a Baby soon (Lord willing, God me as a parent, sorry world. . I am worried about the new baby coming along and our bird feeling ignored. I am hoping a friend could help out. I am going to study more before I add another bird to the mix, plus how to maybe keep the bird involved with our family, but having the understanding our baby comes first. I am sure there is a TON of helpful people in this community that can help us when the time comes.

I second the love bird idea. See if you can get it back and see if that is the case for his excessive screaming. He might have bounded with the bird, and now is looking for his friend. If that is the case maybe you could buy the bird from your friend.

He would eventually get over the bond, but it will take time. Also you will never fully stop the screaming. It's in the blood, they will call out to their flock all the time. Getting them to do it in a way you like is the trick.

 

[FreddyCheeks]

Have you thought about keeping the bird out/up later and see if that works? I know with my GCC(i know not the noisiest) I keep it out until atleast 930 and it sleeps until 830 the following day.

Just a thought.