Agapornis screams driving me crazy

[amethyst92]

Hello everybody. I need help asap. How do I keep Agapornis parrots quiet? Yesterday I went to the pet shop to buy an Agapornis. I've done lots of research and read that they don't necessarily have to live in pairs. As I got there, I saw this beautiful Agapornis parrot (they couldn't tell me if it was a boy or a girl) who was alone (no pair) in the same cage with another pair which seemed kind of aggressive to it. It broke my heart to see her alone and sad so I bought it. It got a little vocal when I brought her home, but then she turned pretty quiet. I have to mention that I decided on an Agapornis because everyone I know who has them has told me they're not noisy. This morning, at 8 sharp, it started screaming like crazy and flying around the cage. I couldn't even stay in the room as I felt I was about to go deaf. I did some more online research and found out that they will be more quiet in pairs, as they'd spend all day "making out". So I went to another pet shop with more experienced staff and asked about it. They said "Yeah, look at our birds! We keep them in pairs and they hardly ever vocalise." And since they too had a single Agapornis alone and sad, I bought her too. Brought her home, put her into the cage. They seemed to be bonding. No fighting, a little screaming and then peace and quiet. They didn't get close to each other though. And then it happened. They started screaming like they're possed. They're INCREDIBLY ABSOLUTELY loud . It's deafening and I don't know for how long my neighbours and my own family can take it. How do I keep them quiet? Is there a possibility they are both girls or boys and that's why they are screaming at each other? And can I do in this situation?

[Wolf]

You are so lucky that you got lovebirds, because putting two strange parrots in the same cage without taking it slow and introducing them first is a major mistake and could have easily resulted in two dead birds. As it is you still don't know if they will continue to get along or not.
Well by now you are fully aware that books can't prepare you adequately for caring for birds, I am sorry that you had to discover this the hard way. So lets see what we can do to make it better. Lovebirds are one of the quieter species of parrots, but that does not mean that they are quiet birds all the time and most will be vocal in the mornings when they first wake up and just before the go to roost in the evenings. Since it was about 8 in the morning when the bird started screaming it was either hungry or scared and wanting reassurance from you. Since you are very new to this we may as well start from the beginning and get you to tell me what lovebirds that you now have and what you are feeding them. Anything else that you can tell me would be helpful.
Do you have a second cage? Do you cover the cage at night? It is now almost 4:30pm so it is about time to give them their dinner and then they should go to sleep by full dark. Since you haven't had these birds long enough to have a schedule , it would help to know what your daily schedule is so that I can help you to get this going in the right direction.
I am hoping to hear from you yet this evening but just in case we miss each other tonight. You need to get up and uncover the cage about 6:30 am and then put a few small pieces of fresh fruit such as apple and a little fresh raw vegetable such as sweet corn( rinsed well) or carrot and maybe some romaine lettuce in the cage make sure that you have separate dishes for them to eat from or put these things on a paper plate on the bottom of the cage and then in about an hour give them what ever you are currently feeding them along with fresh water. It would be a good idea to sit down with them and talk to them while the eat their breakfast. Just sit nearby but don't touch the cage or bother them other wise. You just want to be there and reassure them that everything is alright and you want them to start getting used to your voice and presence.
This will get you through until we can start talking.

[Pajarita]

Wolf gave you good advice but you can't just give them fruits and veggies for breakfast, lovies are granivores so gloop (along with fruit, veggie and leafy greens, of course) is the right breakfast food for them with seeds for dinner. But, my dear, you need to have those birds DNA'd because you cannot put two female lovies in the same cage. You can have two males or a male and a female but not two females. They will fight and hurt each other. There have been cases where they were fine for a long time but, one day, one attacks the other one. It's inevitable when you cage them.

[liz]

LOL I thought you were talking about a big bird screaming. Rambo and Myrtle can make the wall shake.

Lola has been calling me at 6:30 am from day one and has not stopped. She does not get quiet until I answer her. The woman I got her from was an early riser and must have fed her at that time.

8 am sound like feeding time at a pet shop.

These little guys are in a new place and don't understand why and where the old place went. They don't know you and wonder where the other people are.

It helps if you can get them up to face level. Hands scare them but faces don't.

I don't give them all of their breakfast at once. Everything wants fed when I first get up. I give them their gloop and tend to others. They get their fresh fruit and veggies next and give them crushed nuts and grain last. They all came to me as seed eaters and the dry grain and crushed nuts sort of distracted them from the seed. They pick through their plates all day and get other handouts as I have them. By evening they don't even want the seed.

[amethyst92]

Thank you all for your advice. And sorry for my late follow up. I've been really busy trying to sort things out around here. Seems like both of my birds were females. I separated them after their first night together as, apart from the screaming, they weren't getting along at all. The first one (Kiwi) was getting territorial and wouldn't even allow the second (Mango) to eat or drink. Actually, it was Kiwi who made all the noise and her "voice" was incredibly pitch. I didn't want them to start fighting so I separated them. And I had to find Kiwi a new home I hope that her new mommy will take good care of her. I couldn't keep them both as Kiwi was way to loud to keep in an apartment. Now Mango seems pretty happy to be the only one in the cage. She even had a flying trip in the living room (she got out when I was cleaning the cage). She doesn't make noise in the morning (I put her some Lovebirds food in the feeder before I cover the cage for the night, so that she finds it in the morning) and it seems like we're gonna be good friends . I'm not an early riser, so I appreciate I a lot her behaviour She still screams when I put my hand in the cage and gets a little jumpy around my mum (she's the one who got her hand in to catch Kiwi when we separated them and I guess she's still a bit frightened) but I am hopeful that she will very soon eat from my hand.

[Wolf]

So sorry that you got rid of the first bird, she was so scared of her new environment and had probably regressed to where she needed to be given weaning formula twice a day for a while so that shy wasn't constantly hungry. If a parrot is screaming it has a good reason for it, as in their natural environment screaming can get you killed. I hope that you found her a good home.

[Pajarita]

Well, you can't leave her cage covered and sleep in late. She needs to be exposed to dawn from beginning to end as well as dusk or she will be hormonal all year round (and lovies are very prone to becoming chronic layers, a very dangerous condition). You also can't feed her high protein early in the morning, it will destroy her liver and kidneys and make the bad light schedule even worse. And don't put your hand in her cage. You are using a flooding technique and they are no longer recommended as their success is only short term and cause undue stress to the birds. I am also very sorry you rehomed poor Kiwi. Imagine that! A baby and already changing hands after a few days, poor thing!

[amethyst92]

Yes, I'm incredibly sorry I had to give Kiwi away. I feel so guilty, as when I saw her alone at the pet shop I only thought that buying her would actually give her a chance to a better life and then I let her down by putting her in this smaller cage and giving her away ( Other than the screaming, she seemed fine, so maybe it was just her temper. She had great appetite and she was really active. Her new owner loves parrots, but I still cry when I think about her... Now back to Mango. She isn't eating any fresh fruit or vegie yet, nor has she touched her dried nuts, seed and fruit snack. She only eats the Lovebird menu I got her from the pet shop. Shall I let her get really hungry before I feed her fruit so that she eats them? Some people say fresh fruit should be given to her every other day in low quantities, some say the seed mix from the pet shop isn't good, so I'm getting a little confused here... Also, I keep her cage covered till about nine, as in the evening I keep lights on until about 8 in the room she's in, so she gets about 12 hours of sleep...

[Pajarita]

That light schedule will keep her hormonal all year round and she will end up, eventually, a chronic layer. In my personal experience, lovebirds are as opportunistic as budgies when it comes to breeding but budgies are determinate layers so, even when their endocrine system is screwed up they are not at the same degree of danger of becoming eggbound as lovies are. She needs to be exposed to dawn and dusk without any artificial lights on and kept to a strict solar schedule. You will find people that say that 12 hours of sleep is what they need but these people are just repeating something somebody said without doing any scientific research as to how birds bodies determine when it's breeding season and when it's not. Don't take my word for it, do your own research and you'll see.

Seeds are fine for lovebirds but only for dinner. For breakfast, they need to have a different leafy green, raw veggie, raw fruit and cooked whole grains (look up other threads on gloop). Lovebirds are much, much better eaters than budgies and tiels (I don't have any personal experience with plets or linnies so I don't know about them) and I've never had any problems transitioning them to a good diet.

[Wolf]

Skeeter/Paquita, my Parrotlet, loves the gloop and transitioned to it in 2 days with he/she eating a healthy amount on day 2.When I put the Gloop in the cage in the morning Skeeter is on my hand biting the back of it and yelling at me until he can get his bite of it. I have learned to let him have two bites and then put the dish in its holder.