How to stop a behavior that happens when I leave?

[Tule]

Tule, my little Timneh cutie, is two. The whole time I've had him (since he was maybe 4 months), when I leave the room he's in, he cries for me. It's a loud whistle/chirp/scream. It hasn't been too much of a problem, aside from breaking my heart when I have to go , but now I live in an apartment and with my boyfriend.

 

So, I actually have two problems - Training Tule and training my boyfriend.. The first is how I can get Tule to stop or at least lessen this behavior, he will cry for a long time.. if I take a shower, he doesn't stop until I get out. I have been able to stop it for the most part when going to bed, I will cover his cage and make sure it's dark in the room for at least 30 minutes before I leave to the bedroom so he's all settled in. Otherwise... I don't know what to do. I try not to go to him while he's doing it so I don't encourage it, if I do enter the room while he's still doing it I won't acknowledge him until he has settled down for a few minutes.

 

The second is, when I leave the apartment, my boyfriend stays. He has a really hard time with Tule's noises because they are very loud, and they hurt his ears. It's also not very good because now we have so many neighbors in such a confined place. My boyfriend has a hard time understanding the mentality of Greys, although I have tried to explain to him. I've told him it may take months until Tule stops this and other unwanted behavior, and he is skeptical that it will ever stop at all.

 

I'm at a loss at this point. I hate to hear Tule crying, and I hate to hear my boyfriend being upset about it. Is there anything else I can do? I'm going to be getting a job soon and will have to be gone. My boyfriend works from home, so he's around it all the time.

 

Please help, and thank you.

Ellie.

[Cupid]

IMO, you should ask your BF to start trying to bond to Tule so the bird can be happy when your out. Plus since he's home all day, the bird can be free and happy with him there. I know that not everyones a bird lover, but (if he doesnt hate Tule and try to bite Tules head off), maybe BF should prove his devotion and give it a shot for you.

[Tule]

I think so, too. He just told me a few minutes ago that while I was out grocery shopping, he said "Hey Tule, I'm here." and Tule looked at him, then stopped screaming. He said he "kept making his sad sound" which is sooo sad, but it's better than before.

[Cupid]

It can work Tule can be his friend too!!! at least bf is considering giving it a shot which is great news!

[Tule]

Yeah. There are other times where it's harder to deal with. Like this morning, I came home after spending the night away watching someone's house. My boyfriend had a friend over (he's sleeping on the couch). I wanted to go back to sleep with the bf, but if I do Tule will be loud and wake everyone up. They are much less tolerant of te noise than I am.

[Pi_1]

I taught our Grey a substitute noise for the "come back" screech. When she would do it I would tell her to "cheep cheep" (obviously you can pick any words or sound you want). I would tell her a few times when she would screech, then ignore the screeches but come immediately when she "cheeped". She now "cheeps" when she wants me to come over (or just asks me in words) and rarely screeches. Worked well for us........