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How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby FeenaYs » Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:21 pm

Hi there! I need some advice. My Bebe Parrot, Sophie, is 1.5 years old and we love her very much, but her screaming has gotten overwhelming. Whether we move, laugh, leave the room, before we enter a room, or hears us in the next room...she will scream. We have been trying to not reinforce it, but this has gotten so bad that she will even scream in the middle of the night (even though she is toweled) when I go to bed. I'm thinking she might have separation anxiety. Please help. Any advice will be really helpful. Thank you very much.
FeenaYs
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Budgie, Bebe Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby liz » Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:25 am

Welcome to the forum.

We need more info.

What is her light schedule?
What do you feed her for breakfast and supper?
How much out of cage time does she get?
Where in the house do you have her cage?
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
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BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby Pajarita » Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:08 am

Well, she is an aviary species so, if she is all be herself, she must be very lonely and, most likely, she is also hormonal. Please answer Liz's questions so we can give you a more precise advice on how to solve the situation.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby FeenaYs » Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:10 am

Her light schedule is typically 8am to 9:30pm. I feed her a conure safflower mix seed with dried fruits in it, though she doesn't eat the smaller seeds, and if I get the parrot version she cant' eat the bigger seeds since her beak is longer than most Bebe parrots (I'm still trying to find a better food for her since she's picky and can't eat certain things because of her beak shape). We try to have her out between 1 to 2 hours a days at the very least. And we have her in the same room we watch tv.
FeenaYs
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Budgie, Bebe Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby liz » Sun Nov 18, 2018 5:51 am

Have you taken her to the vet for her beak. If it is long it is because she was not given the foods she needs and things to chew on. The vet can trim it into shape.

They should be fed at dawn so they will eat before sunrise. I feed my cockatiels at 4:00 now since the sun goes down at 5.5

I have a bird light that goes on at 9 and off at 5. I need to change it to 4 now that it gets dark at 5.

I cut fruit and veg with Myrtle on my shoulder wanting to bite each kind. She will eat things that I am eating while she is on my shoulder that she will not eat from her plate.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby Pajarita » Sun Nov 18, 2018 10:53 am

Well, there is your problem: she is alone and hormonal because of the light schedule and diet. Aviary species don't do well on their own once they become sexually mature and are much more diet-dependent than companion species when it comes to breeding, if to this, you add the fact that she is being kept at a human light schedule and she is alone, you get what people like to call 'behavioral issues' which, in reality, have a physical cause.
Let me explain. Birds [ALL birds] are photoperiodic -this means that light is what triggers or stops hormone production so, when you keep a bird at a human light schedule [which means you expose the bird to artificial light when it's dark outside], the bird produces sexual hormones all the time [something that NEVER happens in the wild]. Smaller bird species are also what we call 'opportunistic breeders' which means that regardless of what season it really is, if the bird has enough food and this food is rich enough, it will breed. When you free-feed [leave a food bowl out for the bird all day long] protein food [seeds, nuts, pellets, etc], you are providing a breeding season diet all year round [something that NEVER happens in the wild]. Last but not least, you have an aviary species and not a companion species and this makes it worse for her because she is hormonal from the light schedule and the diet but all alone. Little birds like budgies, cockatiels, parrotlets, beebees, etc need to have companions of their own species because they simply do not bond with people as deeply as the companion species [mind you, I don't agree to keeping companion species alone, either].

The thing about parrots is that they are not domesticated so the needs of our pet birds are identical to the needs of the wild birds so, unless one makes a very huge effort and keeps them as close as possible to what nature decreed their lives should be, they suffer and, when they suffer, they scream and/or pluck and/or bite.

My recommenation to you is to keep your bird to a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk, to allow her to come out to fly at least 4 hours a day, to change her diet to gloop, chop or mash with raw produce in the am and just a level tablespoon of budgie seed in the pm and to get her a male so she can have a mate/companion of her own. If you do all this [it won't work right away, you need to wait for her endocrine system to go back to what it should be and that's going to take months], you will have a much happier and healthier bird -and she won't scream at all.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby FeenaYs » Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:34 am

Thank you for your help. I had a feeling she wasn't getting enough light, we live in a part of my brother's house that doesn't get as much light as I would like for my Sophie. Unfortunately, I can't move her to a different part of the house, because of my brother's dog. But i'll see if I can get an extra light for her. I did try pellets and some fruit with her before and she didn't really go for it, but I will try again. And her beak is trimmed. The first time I had it trimmed by my vet, she cut it where it should be and hit the quick, so her break is actually a little longer than the average bebe. And we try to have her out as much as possible when we get home. we are limited in space and can't get her a friend that she will talk to. we do have an elderly diabetic budgie in a warm tank next to her, but Sophie pays her no mind. Thank you again for all your help. I'll do my best for our bird child and make her a little happier.
FeenaYs
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Budgie, Bebe Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: How to calm my bebe parrot's screaming

Postby Pajarita » Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:36 am

It's not only the intensity of the light, it's the schedule that is a problem. And pellets are also protein food so switching her to them is not going to work in terms of her production of sexual hormones. Also, beaks NEVER need to be trimmed unless the bird has fatty liver disease or a deformation.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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