screaming sun conure. please help before I lose him.

[BirdLady93]

I have a baby Sun Conure. He is about 7-8 months old. His scream is really bad.
It's gotten that bad that my partner is considering rehoming him. And I can't have that. This bird is my baby. When we got him he was taking the place of our green cheek so we were awear the noise levels would go up but he is getting really bad. Especially first thing in the morning.
He also has separation anxiety. If I walk away slightly from him he will start screaming the house down and it's not always appropriate for me to have him on my shoulder.

It's mostly his morning screams that are the worst because they can start early. His perch is in our bedroom so he is there with us and I take him with me when I get up but if I don't take him there is no stopping the screaming.

I really don't want to lose my baby. Please is there anything I can do.

 

[Ann333]

Conure are known for screaming especially the suns and other Aratings species. And all birds scream in the morning. I know you should never encourage the screaming but you can not just make them be quiet. I hope someone else can be more helpful.

Edit: maybe you could try getting a sleeping cage and put it in a room that won't bother anyone and leave the bird in there until it is finished screaming?

 

[BirdLady93]

Conure are known for screaming especially the suns and other Aratings species. And all birds scream in the morning. I know you should never encourage the screaming but you can not just make them be quiet. I hope someone else can be more helpful.

Edit: maybe you could try getting a sleeping cage and put it in a room that won't bother anyone and leave the bird in there until it is finished screaming?

He has his own room from time to time. But even then it doesn't contain the sounds.
I know it's normal for him to do it I'm just hoping there's a way to get it to come down a few decibels.

 

[Ann333]

If he has his own room and it still bothers your parents then it sounds to me like maybe you should have done more research before bringing home a bird known to be that loud. Not to be rude, but It sounds almost as if someone got a Great Dane then wanted to rehome it because it was too big.

I see that you said he has separation anxiety. You should not reward or encourage this behavior. When he screams for you do not give him what he wants. When he's quiet he should be rewarded. This will still only help to a small degree...

 

[BirdLady93]

We were well prepared for the fact that he was going to be a loud bird. We have had a sun conure in the house before so we are awear of the behaviours.

 

[Ann333]

Well I wanted a bird, but I live with two people who didn't want noise. That's why I did research to find the right bird for a decent compromise between the three of us. Everyone living in the house should be considered when chosing a new pet. Sounds like your partner maybe was not as prepared as you thought.

Hopefully someone with experience with this particular problem will offer some insight.

 

[Kiwibird]

Is he all alone in the room most of the day? Parrots are flock animals and do best when in the busiest area of the house. The reason some people can get away with "bird rooms" is because they have 5 or 6 (maybe more!) birds, so they keep each other company. That's not saying you should go buy him a friend, but perhaps considering keeping him in a busier room so he's not so lonely

 

[BirdLady93]

Mostly he is on my shoulder if we are home unless I'm doing something unsafe for him.
My only concern about bringing his perch out of a day time is his separation issues. Every time I leave the room he goes nuts. I try to ignore it so he learns that it doesn't get him what he wants it's just a little hard when he doesn't stop after just a few screams. Again I understand this is the nature of them and we love him a lot.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Conures are line of sight screamers. If you reward the behaviour by coming back, you're reinforcing the screaming because it is a natural behaviour to try and ensure that flock members are safe. Have you tried training him to respond to you with a different sound, or by simply telling him what you're going to do? If I leave my room without saying "bye" and shut the door, the birds scream constantly. If I do say it, or say be right back, there's hardly a scream before I'm gone. I also give them a small treat when I leave so there's a small yet positive reinforcer for my absence.

 

[SolsDad]

I must have an absolute angel of a sun... Sol screams once in a while, but not often. She calls out - I'd guess about half volume - more, but still not much. Anyway, when I first got her, she did scream for attention. It was all she knew, so I taught her a way that was more appropriate for a household. First, I taught her to knock on her cage. This was easy, simply tapping on the cage with a finger a few times while saying 'knock,' then giving her a tiny treat. After a few times, I'd repeat saying knock until she tried to do it, heaped praise and give a tiny treat. Took about 3 minutes, then all she wanted to do was knock! Then, when she would enter a screaming phase I would walk over to her cage, turn my back to her and give her the knock command. I kept my back to her until she knocked. Then, lots of praise and sometimes a tiny treat. Now she knows to knock for attention, and not scream. If you do this, be sure not to ignore the knocking... She still screams on occasion, you have to remember these birds try to communicate with the flock in a LOUD jungle over hundreds of yards. They are loud by nature, it's part of the package deal. But the snuggles more than make up for it!

 

[Birdman666]

Screaming Behavior mods are already posted on this site:

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48649-screaming-behavior-mods.html

Some happy to see you screaming is just normal vocalization, and should quiet down after a few minutes. This is normal.

Conures are notorious line of sight screamers. If they can't see you they call to you to check on you and see if you are still there, and all right. It's how the flocks check on each other, and stay in contact when they are out foraging for food. If the bird can see you he won't calll...

They can also be trained to scream, if the screaming is rewarded by attention, or getting what the bird wants. Do this, and you inadvertently train your bird to scream. Now you have to undo it, which is harder...

Structure the interaction, and set a routine with this bird. The more structured your day is, the more the bird will get used to a normal routine, and won't scream for more attention that he knows he isn't going to get...

Parrot training is all about structured interaction, boundary setting, and positive interaction and reinforcement.

 

[SilverSage]

Yes, please check out birdman's thread on screaming, it is all very good info. I have had at least 3 birds who were pretty bad screamers when I got them and are not anymore. It is on the owner to channel that natural need to keep in touch with the flock into an acceptable behavior. It sounds like this bird doesn't have a cage, just a perch? I would say that getting him at least a cage to sleep in would be a good place to start.

 

[BirdLady93]

I must have an absolute angel of a sun... Sol screams once in a while, but not often. She calls out - I'd guess about half volume - more, but still not much. Anyway, when I first got her, she did scream for attention. It was all she knew, so I taught her a way that was more appropriate for a household. First, I taught her to knock on her cage. This was easy, simply tapping on the cage with a finger a few times while saying 'knock,' then giving her a tiny treat. After a few times, I'd repeat saying knock until she tried to do it, heaped praise and give a tiny treat. Took about 3 minutes, then all she wanted to do was knock! Then, when she would enter a screaming phase I would walk over to her cage, turn my back to her and give her the knock command. I kept my back to her until she knocked. Then, lots of praise and sometimes a tiny treat. Now she knows to knock for attention, and not scream. If you do this, be sure not to ignore the knocking... She still screams on occasion, you have to remember these birds try to communicate with the flock in a LOUD jungle over hundreds of yards. They are loud by nature, it's part of the package deal. But the snuggles more than make up for it!

Thank you!!! This is probably the best bit of advice I've gotten about this I will definitely try this out and see how I go. Thank you