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Post by captain on Mar 31, 2016 8:49:31 GMT -5
Our sins parakeet died last year and he decided with my wife a Quaker Parrot would be a great pet. He named it Captain Georgie (the parakeet was named Georgie) He went away to college last September and the bird cage is in the family room. When we are in the room until about 8 to 9 pm the bird is fine. We just cover and say a few words of night night and we can watch TV or etc and he goes to sleep. He does laugh with my daughter, and if you ask his name he will respond with "cap tan" we look for this type of voice or chatter tone and are trying not to respond to diatribe of squawking or agressive perch pacing. The annoying an verging on intolerable is the morning screaming and squawking even after my daughter goes to school and Captains cage is open and he is up on top perch. He can see the kitchen but if you move.out.of view or go upstairs or leave him there he is a loud, persistent , pain in the ass. I can't even have a.conversation upstairs in my home office. So here are the questions. How to address, handle, not handle the squawking. Maybe cage location. We could put him in another cage at night in the basement? Sometimes when he just won't stop he gets put in a travel acylic cage in then laundry room door closed or basement so i can finish some calls, but then it feels.lik in a way "responding" to the squawking, even if in a negative way. (Which he may not even think is negative) leaving him.in basement seems sorta cruel but he is just.not cohabiting with the family so no real choice. He seems to prefer me, does the occasional beak open, lsd head slowly swirling, feather ruffled hump squatting on my hands once in awhile I don't like that and return to cage usually. (Eeeh gads.) Okay long first post, hope in the right place? Experts let the advice fly!!!! Oh in see a picture i possible....... a selfie??? ~ Thomas Lynch ~ and Captain Georgie  |
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Post by captain on Mar 31, 2016 8:52:34 GMT -5
To add like daughter and charges , bites, and is hugly hostile to my wife, who is basically is and appears afraid and can't tolerate any biting. The little guy can break skin when he is not being nice.
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Post by easttex on Mar 31, 2016 11:54:48 GMT -5
Parrots are going to be most comfortable with people who are comfortable with them. If your wife is interested in handling him, she'll have to call on some acting skills. And she will have to initiate an improved relationship. I think this link provides a lot of very good information: www.stfrancisanimalandbird.com/index.php/pet-resources/library/9-avian-care/84-my-parrot-bites-what-can-i-doIt's pretty long, but worth taking the time. I'm guessing that Captain is not getting the kind of focused attention he got when your son was there. All parrots are very social animals, but the Quaker is more so than most. They like to be in constant contact with their flock. Many of us do have a quieter sleep room for our birds, and there's nothing wrong with using a basement for that. But keeping him down there beyond that on a daily basis would be, to me, a cruelty. Personally, I would look for a new home for him before I did that. My suggestion is to try bringing him with you to your office. Try to start out at a time when you don't need absolute quiet, and let him get accustomed to it. He'll feel more involved and will be a happier bird. Parrots are noisy, messy creatures, and there's no guarantee he won't make noise when you least want it, but the screaming for attention could get a lot better. Having him close by will also allow you to reinforce his good behavior. Give him stuff he likes when he's quiet. A link that should be helpful with the screaming: goodbirdinc.blogspot.com/2008/05/stop-you-parrot-from-screaming-for.htmlGood luck! With love, patience, and understanding, Quakers really are wonderful companions. |
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Post by captain on Mar 31, 2016 12:11:17 GMT -5
This is fantastic info and feedback. My apologies for the typing on my phone. It's not my favorite typing device!! I am sharing this info with the rest of the "flock". Thanks again.
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Post by biteybird on Mar 31, 2016 18:05:03 GMT -5
Hi Thomas and Captain Georgie. Welcome!  I am far from an expert, but I'll throw my 2 cents' worth in, in case it helps you. Our QP, Bonnie, is a 'squawker' too. She can start up at any time of the day (we often don't know what the 'trigger' is), but it definitely increases when either my hubby or I leaves the room and she can't see us. The other time she tends to do it is if she wants to come out of her cage. Bonnie is also similar to Captain Georgie in that she does the aggressive perch pacing and sometimes (not always, though) charges and attacks my husband's head/hands/arms and bites him. It breaks the skin and really hurts him - unfortunately, he yells and gives her an extreme reaction when she does it, which makes it more likely that she will do this to him again. I agree with your speculation that putting Captain in another location is responding to the squawking (i.e., negative reinforcement of the unwanted behaviour). When Bonnie nips me too hard (usually when we are playing the 'ow' game and she gets carried away) I don't pull away, but say calmly "no" or "that's enough" or "too rough/you need to be gentle" and she looks at me and usually stops. Sometimes it takes a couple of reminders. Sometimes I carry her to her cage, put her in and say "have a break". The key is to remain calm and behave unafraid. This is the part that is difficult when you have a partner who has been hurt by the bird and cannot appear calm (like my hubby)...as consistency in reactions is really important. Perhaps you could you try the following things? 1) Sit down with your daughter and wife and discuss Captain's behaviour and try to come to a consensus about all your reactions to it (so there's consistency across the 'flock') 2) When Captain is out of the cage try to give him your undivided attention and interaction. I find that if Bonnie is out and I'm ignoring her (such as when I'm typing on the computer or watching TV) she is NOT happy and does her best to get my attention by any means; usually by landing on my computer/TV remote and trying to chew the buttons, or else just won't leave me alone. Providing even a short amount of 1:1 attention is much better than letting your QP out for a long time when you are 'multitasking'. 3) As Easttex said, you could position Captain's cage in your office whenever it would work OK noise-wise for you (most likely the noise will decrease once he realises he won't be far away from you all the time). If you need to make phone calls you might need to go to another room - Bonnie HATES us making phone calls and tries her best to disrupt them.  4) You could trial a 'sleeping' cage. We found that Bonnie's squawking decreased a lot once she was in a quiet area of the house for her bedtime hours. We previously thought that because she was quiet in her covered cage near the TV she was getting enough quality sleep...not so. Just because you don't hear your QP making noise doesn't necessarily mean he's properly asleep. Bonnie squawks loudly between 6:30-7:00pm and we've come to realise she's telling us she wants to go to bed. I open her day cage door and hold out a beanie and she literally runs into it to be transferred to her sleeping cage in the other end of the house. Then we don't hear a peep out of her all night until she wakes up around 7-7:30am the next morning.
5) Reward appropriate behaviour as often as you can and if she's willing, have your wife give Captain a favourite treat when he's been quiet and non-aggressive. My husband and I are often guilty of not noticing enough when Bonnie is quiet (therefore only responding when she's noisy) - we're still working on that one! 6) When Captain's in focused squawking mode, try to wait it out. Don't even look in his direction or speak to him. When he's quiet for 10 seconds, then look at him and tell him "good boy, you're quiet". With Bonnie this can take up to half an hour (I know!) if the squawking mood has taken her. I know this is a long post (sorry!), but hope that some of it may be useful. Let us know how you go! |
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 1, 2016 3:11:19 GMT -5
I concur with Biteybird. The most important thing is not to reinforce Captain's squawking and biting by rushing to give him attention. I know it's hard, but you must ignore the screaming until he stops. When he is quiet for a few seconds, (maybe five) go in and give him a treat. If he screams again, turn your back. When Maya first came home, we used to have screaming matches every Saturday, where she would yell whenever I left the room and I would leave the room whenever she yelled. Eventually, she learned that screaming got her ignored, and sweet little noises got her attention. She hasn't really screamed since.
If Captain is strongly bonded to your daughter, it might be worth your wife spending some time with Captain while your daughter is out, talking to him, giving him treats, and beginning to build up a positive relationship. It will take time, but what you're trying to achieve is Captain seeing your wife as a flock friend, not a rival.
I also make an effort to communicate with Maya through little noises, we click at each other and she knows that if she clicks, she's more likely to get a click back than if she screams.
We have also given Maya her own room with a radio and an arcadia light. She is ONLY in this room when we are sleeping or not at home, but it means we have been able to establish a clear ritual of 'we're going now and will be back soon', we turn the radio on, say our goodbyes and close the door. I wouldn't recommend putting birdie in the basement as it may be cold and damp, which can lead to health problems. If you are in and out of the room where the bird is, that is likely to cause distress as they will feel excluded from family activities and will want to know what's going on. The more you can build up mini rituals with Captain, the more comfortable he will feel because he has visual and verbal cues to help him understand what's happening next. Good luck!
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Post by julianna on Apr 1, 2016 14:25:15 GMT -5
Like your little bird my Oscar hates when I am talking to someone else especially if he cannot see me at the time. I have learned that all he needs to do is see what I am doing and it stopped. As far as talking on the phone, as long as he can see me... once again.... then he is okay if I am on the phone.
I know how irritating the screaming can get and there are days when I just want to throw something at him to make him stop... but that would not accomplish anything. There are times when I ask my husband to please whisper to me so that Oscar does not hear me talking... now that is one little bird taking control of my house. Not good!
If the screaming doesn't stop I take him to his cage and tell him to take time out... or take a noozie. That will quiet him for a little while.
My heart goes out to you. Best wishes only
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Post by aaron on Apr 1, 2016 14:28:08 GMT -5
As the others have discussed, it's really important to understand the 'flock' psychology of these animals. In the wild, they stick together, and in captivity, you are their flock. To be involuntarily separate from the flock really goes against their instinctual grain, so to speak, so it's really only natural that they would object. In our home, when Cupcake is awake, she is with one or more of us. Expecting her to be awake, alone, and quiet is essentially too much to ask for a parrot, so we really don't even try. I too work from home sometimes, and Cupcake is a pretty secure bird, so she is generally quietly sitting nearby or on my shoulder... but there are certainly times when I have to apologize to the people I'm on the phone with. It's just part of having a bird in your home.
At any rate, like the others suggested, you want to ignore the screaming as much as possible. Never give the impression that it will get your attention. But be very vigilant for times when Captain IS behaving the way you would like, and SHOWER him with praise on those occasions.
We too have given Cupcake a separate room to sleep in. Sleep quality is important. Twelve hours of uninterrupted darkness away from noise and distractions goes a long way in reducing behavioral issues, especially hormonal ones, so that will help with any sexual rubbing the bird attempts. You are right to immediately put the bird down under those circumstances, although caging may not be necessary. Punitive measures are not generally understood in a productive way by these birds. On that note, resorting to the basement, while I can certainly understand why you would take these measures, will do nothing good for your relationship with the bird in the long term.
They are very perceptive creatures, and they understand where they stand in the flock far more than you would expect... They are seeking connection and a sense of belonging. They will know, at least to some degree, if nobody wants them around or are just putting up with them. While it can be challenging to muster in trying times, genuine enthusiasm while working with them and a real desire to integrate the flock can go a really long way, especially if all flock members are on board. At the very least, you want to feign a happy demeanor when interacting with the bird.
Of course, this can be really hard when the bird is the one behaving in a manner that divides the flock. Our QP, Cupcake, was very defensive/aggressive against my wife and my stepdaughter for quite a while (at least a year). This is a correctable problem, but it takes patience and persistence. One of the most valuable things that worked in our scenario was lots of one-on-one time between my wife and Cupcake while I was at work. Eventually Cupcake realized that my wife was someone she could count on for treats and pleasant interaction, and now she adores her, and is friendly to everyone in the house. It took months to really turn this around, however. It takes a lot of patience. But knowing that it can be solved helps. There are lots of threads on this subject here on the forum if you want to learn more, as it is a very common problem.
The great news is that when you get things right, these little ones can be really wonderful additions to the home. Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!
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