Help! Screaming cockatiel!!

[sheridan37]

Hi there,

My name is sheridan, and this is the first time I have posted on here.
I have two birds, one lorikeet (Sunny) and one cockatiel (Billee) who share a big cage outside in our entertaining area.

Lately, our cockatiel has been constantly screaming all day. Never at night. Sometime our lorikeet will, but we tell him to stop and he listens. However Billee doesn't listen and continues and continues. And it's really getting to my partner who is considering giving him away which I don't want. So I'm trying everything to try and sort this issue out cause I don't wanna lose Billee. He has become a big part in our family.

Help please. I'm willing to put time and effort into taming and training him I just need to know where to start.

Thanks

[Graeme]

Hi,
more information would be good....

Are they caged outside all the time?
Are they in the cage all day?
Do you spend anytime at all playing interacting with them?
Do they have anything to keep them occupied, toys etc?

[sheridan37]

Hi,

Yeah they are in a twin big cage outside all day. And i take out the middle cage piece that seperates them so they can play together and They have swings, balls, and bells in their cage. Billee (cockatiel) doesn't play with them all, just really interested in his swing and food. I interact with them talk to them, play with the toys with them and whistle with them a few times a day.

Sometimes when I have them together Billee gets bullied by sunny but other times they are great together like best friends.

Thanks

[Graeme]

Well I would definitely look at doing a few things differently....

The first thing to do would be, moving them inside throughout the day. Let them out of the cage to explore and play, only while you or another family member are able to supervise them. have another cage inside the house for short time outs.

You should also interact with them while they are out of the cage, training sessions would be very good for you and the birds as well as playing and cuddles. It may take some time though for the birds to get used to this, so just take it easy to start with.

You could also try swapping their toys around, buy or make a few more and then rotate them every couple of days. Again, it's about making things interesting, by swapping the toys around they will not be as bored with them.

Try changing there food slightly, ad in things that they may like. Buy a couple of foraging toys, to put in their cage, you can then add treats to them. this will give them a challenge and will reward them when they figure it out.

Being locked up in a cage all day with the same toys and same food you would probably scream too and misbehave too. It's all about providing them with fun and interesting things to do and also some one on one time, your birds will be a lot happier for it.

[Pajarita]

For one thing, it's never a good idea to have a cockatiel with any other species of parrots as they are all more aggressive than then and they always lose big time when there is a confrontation and a confrontation is inevitable with two birds that are not mates. It might not happen in a day, a month or even a year but, eventually, it will - especially since they don't have mates of their own and are not out flying four hours or more a day.

For another, the only time a male cockatiel screams is when he is hormonal and wants a mate, otherwise, they are usually quiet not making a single peep for weeks at a time, especially during the resting season (winter) so, what you need to do is separate them, put them into two cages that do not share a wall (birds hang on to the bars and the bird on the other side can bite toes off) and get him a female. If you add keeping them to a strict solar schedule, reduce the protein intake during the winter (they should never be free-fed seeds or pellets but you can free-feed cooked whole grains mixed with cooked and chopped veggies) and giving him a different leafy green every day as well as some veggies and fruits (they are not big on either but they do love corn, baby sweet peas, wild blueberries, grated carrots and apples). I had a flock of over 30 tiels a one time and there wasn't a single peep out of them during the winter.