Leaving the room to stop the screaming

[rjhammy]

So for the last few weeks, Ash, our 2 year old CAG has been screaming and imitating a fire alarm.

 

We've tried ignoring her, but I just hear her trying hard and screaming louder. We tried leaving the room, and that's not working either. I know this is all about patience... but I'm not sure if it's supposed to get worse before it gets better?

 

Does the "terrible twos" stage really exist?

 

So my actual question is...We have a small place with one bedroom, and the other "room" is the kitchen/living room/dining room. Ash's cage is in the living room. Instead of us leaving the living room, can we put her in the bedroom when she's screaming? I haven't quite thought it all the way through, and wanted to hear back from the board.

 

My other concern is that although we're moving her to another room, I have to pick her up and take her there... and I'm not sure if that's considered "giving her attention."

 

Thanks!

[Luvparrots]

If my grey does something I don't like I just try to distract her or redirect her attention. When my ekkie shrieks I sing to him. Perhaps if you find something to distract Ash and draw her attention away from making alarm sounds and screaming that might help.

[Elvenking]

Yes...this is very unique situational behavior. I wish I could tell you how to solve this one. Because once they learn something, they always know how to do it.

 

That said.

 

I guess if it were me...I'd be trying to teach your grey newer things..and reinforcing it with lots of praise. Just try to move on....it's quite best not to react to the negative things...but I think it has to be complimented with wanted things.

[pearllyn]

As Janet has said, distraction is a good idea. When Alfie is, shall we say, whistling over enthusiastically, I say to her, in a barely audible whisper, "sshhh do it quietly". She immediatly stops what she's doing to listen to what I'm saying and that in itself breaks her concentration, she usually goes on to mimic my whisper and continues quietly - for a while!

As for removing her, you would have to be really sure wether that's the road you want to take. Don't forget these noises are what greys do - chances are you chose to have a grey because of their mimicking abilities. The fire alarm, while annoying to you, is just your grey doing what comes naturally, and is that really something you want to punish her for? While she will never "unlearn" the fire alarm, if she hears it less, she will repeat it less. Alfie whistles Rudolph the rednosed reindeer at christmas time, but it peters out quickly after, and we don't hear it the rest of the year. Just try to burn your dinner less!!:laugh: :laugh: (just kidding!)

If she's screaming excessively and uncharacteristically, there may be a reason for this too, which you would need to investigate further.

The terrible twos most definitely exist! We started ours around 16 months!!

And you're right, picking her up would definitely be considered (certainly by her) to be giving attention!

Good luck with her - if there's no underlying reason for it, the screaming will probly subside in time!

[Greywings]

I think that the distraction method is the best choice with Greys those fast minds will grab a new idea or point of interest. There was a behavioral study done by an American Veterinarian recently that was changing aggressive dog behavior by offering a food reward every time they lunged and attempted a bite. Logically you would think this would only reinforce the biting but instead it changed the aggression into a mannerly more trusting dog. I will try and find the article for you.

[Acappella]

Even when Dorian is stuck on a 'bad' sound, it's still interupted by other noises, so I make sure I keep my back turned and don't respond to the sound I want to get rid of, and then when he makes a different noise, right away I turn around with a big smile and a "good boy", or if there's no time to do that, just echo the nice sound back to him. I'm also lucky that I can do something guarateed to stop all noise. Dorian never makes a sound if the tv is on, so if it's really bad I can turn on the tv for a bit. Is there anything that consistently quiets Ash, other than eating or darkness that wouldn't been seen as either a reward or a punishment, just a neutral disraction?

 

Oh, and in the short term for the sake of your nerves and your hearing, those little foam earplugs work wonders. You can still hear, but they take the edge off harsh sounds. Good luck. He will get tired of this new noise. 'Course, who knows what will replace it:blink: ?

[danmcq]

Yes, the terrible twos are REAL!

 

When A Grey takes on on a streak of repeating a word or phrase. There is nothing you can do about it. My Grey will do that more out of the cage than in it.

 

The way I stop him IF it becomes annoying (It normally does not, but thats us) I give him something else to do, like step up and come over to the couch, a cracker, nut etc. that keeps him busy for a while etc.

 

But, I guarantee you, once he is sitting and bored, he starts rolling out the sound, word or phrase of the day (sometimes several) over and over...

 

I know this does not answer you question regarding moving him or how to get him to stop. But it is my real world response of how I see Dayo vocalizing when he wants and my responses. I don't try to stop him, basically because it does not bother me... I normally have the sound blasting to a movie we're watching which overcomes his vocalizations. :-)

[Jayd]

Let it be...We have 6 doing it at once now.:blink:

 

{Feel-good-0002006E}{Feel-good-0002006E}

[rjhammy]

Thanks All. I knew I wasn't going to get a "magic bullet" answer, but it's nice to know that distractions work. I was afraid of distracting her because she may think of it as attention, rather than distraction.

 

I don't mind the daily noises, chirps and talking... it's the non-stop ear-piercing screaming that makes me just want to run over and spoil her with love and attention to make her stop. (I'm sure if she really tried, she could convince me to hand over my wallet and jewelry!!) :silly:

 

I was trying stuff like dropping a book or squeaking a dog toy, but not looking at her to distract her, but it wasn't working too well. Unfortunately, Ash competes with the tv... so that just makes her louder.

 

I wonder if spoiling the dogs would distract her. Not only will I be ignoring her... I will spoil her arch-nemsis. :evil:

[Luvparrots]

I don't think trying to make your grey jealous is going to help. She might just get louder or attack the dog. Ana Grey will dive bomb my ekkie if she thinks he is getting more attention than her. She is lucky Sully is so laid back and basically ignores her as he is so much bigger and his beak so much larger than hers.

[Xtreme575]

I also use the whisper method. I find that it stops my parrot in his tracks because he is a nosey little beast! He is dying to hear what I'm saying in case it's something else he wants to do!

 

I have also found that just having him in the room, close at hand makes a difference. If I'm in the kitchen, he has to be on his T-stand right next to where I'm working. Homework, same thing, right next to me. Otherwise its, whistle, scream, holler, whistle and repeat. When he's close, he talks to me in a really quiet voice.

[pearllyn]

I suspect a jealous grey on your hands would be a bigger problem.

Seriously, if Ash is doing this screeching non stop, I would be worried there is some underlying problem causing her to behave this way. How long has she been doing it, and for how long at a time?

Alfie started to scream about a year ago, a couple of weeks later she went really quiet, then started to chew her feathers. It turned out to be a mite problem which thankfully is all behind us now. I'm not saying that's what is wrong with Ash though. Just keep an eye.