Ugh! Stella has found her true screaming voice…

[birdie]

:ugh: :czy:
Up until now, I thought Stella to be pretty quiet and was pretty relieved. Well, over the weekend she took to SCREAMING every time momma was out of her site! I have a Mealy Zon that screams and calls for his Papa, but usually only when Papa is home. Taco was screaming for his Papa most of the week, and I think Stella has learned she can be louder than he can.
Stella is still getting the attention she always has gotten and the toys, etc… What in the world can I do? All of my birds are housed in the same room, I have pondered putting the two Zons in the spare room to lessen their screams when they compete with each other but I like them all together, it’s much easier to clean just 1 room up from feathers & seed.
I have been going to my room and closing the door until she quiets, then I go pick her up for a cuddle. Can I unteach her to mimick her abnoxiously loud sibling? What do the rest of you multiple bird owners do?

[Julie]

Brenda,

I do not have much of a suggestion here other than to say I too went through a VERY ROUGH weekend with my Carl.

Stay strong, I'm sure others will be along soon with good advice. My CAG is the screamer in our house, but normally only when she does not get enough sleep, so we simply put her in her night cage and cover her up.

Julie

[too&me]

She is a Too after all. :eek:My sympathies. We have worked on getting Harrys' noise levels down this year & done pretty well. It is just so hard to ignore them when you think your ears will bleed.:beathead: I'm sure that Iti Hoas Mom has some advice for you better than I can offer. I do feel your pain. :nuts:

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

Brenda,

I can relate. My quaker (who can be very loud for a little guy) now imitates all of Linus's worst moments from the next room. He even does it when Linus is quiet, which doesn't last long. I don't know why he does this because neither he nor Linus get ANY attention when they scream, I simply don't respond. He just seems to enjoy creating havoc. Whatever.

Patty

[Dot]

IMHO you are doing all that can be done. Ignore the scream and cuddle with the quiet. RFMs are screechers, but nothing like too screamers.

When I take my Scarlet Macaw to the vet, she is taken into the small examination room, and the vet and her assistant both insert USAF ear plugs. Otherwise, when the exam is over, their ears ring.

The vet's assistant works on the flight line at the base here. Want me to see if she is interested in a side business? :haha:

[Larry, Baby and Me]

As you all know - Baby is very quiet. But she does get to hollering once in a while. Boy I thought she was loud when she lets loose.

But there have been a couple times when she REALLY let loose - it made my ear drums bleed. Goes right through your head.

I am so glad she has only done that twice. I could not imagine a living with a Too that belted out like she did.

I would have to move and not give her my forwarding address.

[FoxersArtist]

Brenda,
I'm going to go out on a limb here but i'll do my best.
Sometimes less energy means less screaming. It may be very possible that Stella is just bored and needs some additional stimuli to keep her from fixing on you every time you leave the room. Give her something to chew on like a phone book so she can just go to town tearing it apart. Bathe her every day so that she has to preen her feathers to stay "pretty." If you have never tried flight arrobics with her, that may be helpful also (though not when she is screaming.) Put on some music which will stimulate her senses. sing opera at the top of your lungs and dance with her once a day. Get her going and provoke her to act silly and scream when appropriate. All of these things will drain her energy and will help her to be calmer inbetween activites. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our birds is cut loose and have a blast with them. Try it and see if it helps!
-Anna

[Evelyn]

Brenda -

I think I'm extraordinarily lucky because my birds don't make a lot of noise. I think one reason is that they are in the family room which opens onto the kitchen and my husband's home office. We spend most of our time in one of those places, so they can see us most of the time. And we talk to them a lot when we pass their cages or are sitting near them.

My E2 will sometimes have a screaming fit just because he is happy or wants attention or is hungry. If he's hungry, I feed him; if he wants attention, I take him out and cuddle him a little (I know--this theoretically reinforces his screaming--but when I put him back he is quiet); if he is happy, sometimes we just get silly together. Sometimes I will whisper to him, and that usually quiets him down. If nothing else works, then I take him downstairs where I have an extra cage in my office and put him in time-out for awhile. That never fails.

I agree with Anna that one reason a bird screams is that it is bored. Change toys often. Use foraging toys for feeding. If they have to find their food instead of just walking over to their bowl, it will keep them busy.

Evelyn

[bonnie]

:glare: Lucky dog...:glare:
As you all know - Baby is very quiet. But she does get to hollering once in a while. Boy I thought she was loud when she lets loose.

But there have been a couple times when she REALLY let loose - it made my ear drums bleed. Goes right through your head.

I am so glad she has only done that twice. I could not imagine a living with a Too that belted out like she did.

I would have to move and not give her my forwarding address.

[Dot]

Brenda,
I'm going to go out on a limb here but i'll do my best.
Sometimes less energy means less screaming. It may be very possible that Stella is just bored and needs some additional stimuli to keep her from fixing on you every time you leave the room. Give her something to chew on like a phone book so she can just go to town tearing it apart. Bathe her every day so that she has to preen her feathers to stay "pretty." If you have never tried flight arrobics with her, that may be helpful also (though not when she is screaming.) Put on some music which will stimulate her senses. sing opera at the top of your lungs and dance with her once a day. Get her going and provoke her to act silly and scream when appropriate. All of these things will drain her energy and will help her to be calmer inbetween activites. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our birds is cut loose and have a blast with them. Try it and see if it helps!
-Anna

Wonderful post. I knew all those things but just didn't think about them as ways to relieve boredom in a bird. Thanks for being on top of things.