Stop My Cockatiel from screaming!

[Alexia]

I own a preowned cockatiel. I want it to stop screaming at me every time i leave the room. I have tried covering his cage back up and waiting and waiting and waiting until he shuts up and then lifting the cover up and giving him a treat for being quiet. Its been a week now since i've been doing it and he just doesnt get it. I am at my wits end. Someone please tell me how to stop it in less than a day. I am gonna go crazy. I am trying so hard to be nice to it, but i'm ready to just give it away and let someone else deal with the problem.

[Kathleen]

Please don't give your bird away and give it some time. I think with a little patience you can get it to not scream.

The first thing you need to do is stop responding to the screaming. You are heading in the right direction by only rewarding it when it stops, but I think you need to do it a little differently. The cockatiel has learned that screaming gets attention. You cannot make a big deal about screaming by going over to the bird when you are trying to leave and giving it attention in response to a scream.

You cannot eliminate screaming either. Your cockatiel has to figure out on its own that screaming is a complete waste of time and energy because you won't reward it for screaming. You HAVE to walk away from it and close the door or get completely out of its sight. Don't give it any attention. Unfortunately, it might take a while for this to happen. The bird might scream and scream for you but you must not respond. Don't be sympathetic to this behavior. It might take a few screaming fits for it to figure out that it doesn't get anything for it. Instead, you can try to encourage your cockatiel to make a sound you want to hear. Try whistling to it or teaching it to say hello. If it learns to make a sound that you like instead, make sure whenever you hear it making that sound, you go over and give it lots of attention, reward, and praise.

[Alexia]

Thank you. I will start ignoring it more. He justs goes on and on for so long that I just cant believe he wont get tired of it.

I have another issue. He hates my hands. or anyboies hands. He hisses and attacks them. Ive tried laying my hand down beside him and distract him, which works but he shakes the ENTIRE time. He knows Touch. I taught him that the other day by using the stem of a willet grain. And i reward him for that. But hes gotten to wear he latches on to the treat (which is the actual other broken off piece of the willet). He will fly to my shoulder if I coax him enough but he wont let me put him on my finger. its annoying.

[Michael]

See:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

[peaches25]

I have had a cockatiel for over 25 years. You do go through these periods of time with your cockatiel. How long have you had your cockatiel? Has it done this before? or just started? Some times your cockatiel is trying to tell you something, either it is not feeling well, it is hot/cold, hungry/thirsty, or it doesn't like a bright light facing it, whether it be sun or a lamp. If it hears other birds outside chirping, it will scream along with them at times. If it is wanting attention from you or other family members, it sometimes wants out for some bonding. If any of these are possible factors, if you correct those issues, you will probably see a big difference. I was also once told by an exotic pet doctor, that if the bird is in mating season, it is likely to chirp and scream alot. However, most of the time, you will not have these issues once you learn what the bird is trying to tell you. I have had my cockatiel for 25 years, and I definitely know what she wants and doesn't want. Some cockatiels do hiss and attack when your hand is in the bottom of their cage, they are just protecting their territory, food, or something else. I hope this helps.

[bmsweb]

He hates my hands. or anyboies hands. He hisses and attacks them. Ive tried laying my hand down beside him and distract him, which works but he shakes the ENTIRE time.

Hi Alexia, I'm a very new Cockatiel owner myself. The first day I had Jazz our cockatiel, he screamed so much that I honestly was thinking I had to tell my wife we can't keep him. He was able to easily draw blood when I got anywhere near him. He would do the hissing thing and snap at me.

Have a look at this thread http://theparrotforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1179. This is Jazz after 2 weeks of the Taming Training that Michael recommended to you in the above post. Follow it and you will have a totally new bird. It's a fair bit of work, but I it does work and at the end of it you will understand your bird so much better.

Good Luck.

Cheers
Paul

[windharper]

Hi Alexia,

Don't give up yet! I, too, have a rehomed 'tiel who came with her clutchmate. Their owner did nothing with them and said they were "mean birds". It was necessary for me to separate them because the male, Tico, was brutalizing the female, Teyla. When I did separate them, they both SCREAMED for each other incessantly! I had to place them in the rooms farthest apart and close the doors. I was at wits end. They had only known each other and had never been given the opportunity to socialize with humans. I eventually found another loving home for Tico. I still have Teyla and for quite a while, she still screamed for no apparent reason.

It took a few months for Teyla to get interested in humans and not bite or hiss. BTW: my worst bite came from her when I attempted to grab her from a dangerous area. She bit me sooooo hard it not only drew blood, but also, damaged the nerve in my finger and she would ~not~ let go! Early on, I did the same thing you are doing by placing my hand in her cage to get her to tolerate it. She would hiss, nip, and run away. She wanted nothing to do with humans. I was so desperate that I talked to a breeder friend of mine who had very valuable advice which I followed.She is such a different bird now!

I started by working with her out of her cage on a T perch in the bathroom (with commode lid down and room door closed). Yes, I had to chase her around the cage with a hand towel to grab her and then place her, screaming all the way, into a travel cage, just to get her into the bathroom. The cage is ~her~ territory, which is why we needed a neutral place to train.

She originally took no interest in taking any food from me. So the best I could do was simply praise her in a calm tone whenever she did good. I did find that she liked millet when I put it in her cage and left it for a couple of days. So, I continually had millet with a very long stem to offer her while training. At first she had no interest in it. Now, she looks for it!

The first thing I trained her to do was step up. I wore very thick heavy leather gloves while I worked with her so it wouldn't make a difference if she tried to bite me. She learned very quickly that she couldn't hurt the hand in the glove. She would hiss at it but still get on my finger. It didn't take long before I didn't need to use the gloves anymore.

I also used one of her old tail feathers to pet her with it (while announcing, "Mommy pet.") If she bit it, no problem, she wasn't going to do anything to that feather that I was going to feel. She learned that being touched wouldn't hurt her. We are still working with this.

As for the hissing when my hand was near her in the cage, I was able by then to have her take millet from me ~if~ she was at one end of the very long stalk and I was at the other end. From here, I would put the millet up against the bars of her cage and let her come to it and eat some through the bars with my fingers pushing it against the bars sideways (like 1/2 inch away from her). Once she got comfortable with me doing that. I held it inside her cage and waited for her to come to it to eat some. I steadily made sure there was a shorter and shorter stem and now she doesn't mind if my finger is touching her wing as she's eating it. Just today she even put one foot on my finger as she ate it - this was a first. Bottom line is not to chase them around but to let them get comfortable coming to you.

Now, as for her screaming: she will scream if she hears Crows or Blue Jays and she will scream when she want's to go to bed (and have her cage be covered up). Every few days she may scream if she is looking for us and don't know where we are, but, this doesn't happen much and she will be as quiet as a church mouse if I whistle at her or talk to her or go into the room where she's at. What she does now is very bearable.

So, IMO, why your baby is screaming right now is that he has not bonded with you yet and is screaming for his prior 'flock'. Get him to bond and I think he will be just fine.


I have found the the more socialized I was able to help Teyla be, the less she screams. She no longer hisses at us. I can take her for a walk around the house (stopping to reward her with millet for staying on my finger), she steps up for me and my husband without problem, etc. She is now a very active part of our flock.

So, be patient if you can. Work with your baby and I firmly believe he will come around.

Let's us know how it's coming along.

Good luck!
Deb

[hansonp]

Hello.
I have a mad cockatiel too.
This 100% Helps!
I know it sounds awful but I wrap him gently in a tea towel and then tickle his head and blow on him gently, talk to him in a soothing voice for about 5 minutes.
When you release him he has a bit shout but then almost immediately settles down and is lovely and relaxed, beak grinding generally being normal!
Billy doesn’t particularly like this but he never bites (he is used to being touched and likes his head tickled but not being restrained).
When you feel at breaking point with the squawking this works for me EVERY time.
The bird is normally squawking because he is stressed.

The other thing that 100% helps is a bigger cage.
Cockatiels are not suitable to be kept in a small budgie cage. They are meant to be kept in larger parakeet style cages. When I used to lock my Billy in his cage he would go mad, backwards and forwards and backwards and so on…..! Leave the door open and he is absolutely fine. So long as he knows he can come in and out.

Billy is scared of feathers so I use them to my advantage around the house, placing them in places I don’t like him going.

I still have bad moments with Billy but he is improving and when you feel like you are at your wits end keeping hold and gently calming the bird works wonders.

[Pajarita]

I've found that tiels that live with other tiels hardly ever make a peep. It's the hormonal males without mates and the lonely ones that do.