How not to reward bad behavior

[BeeFernandez22]

Maverick has been with me for almost a month now and has trained me pretty darn well already. He is not very much into playing with his toys in his cage and when I am home, spends most of his time on his basket or play stand. There are times, however, when I am home and he is not able to be out. Lately he has developed a little habit of squawking EXTREMELY loud when he is in his cage and I am home, or even if I leave the room to get something while he is on his basket. Being that he is only 5 months old, I know it is important not to reinforce this behavior. How should I approach this? This is also an issue when my boyfriend is home and I am not, as he will not allow Eric to get him out of his cage.

[Life is Greyt]

Definitely a situation where it's probably best to ignore him when he's acting like that. If he gets what he wants, out of the cage, then he learns to scream to get what he wants. Sometimes there's nothing we can do about it and they just have to get over it and have to spend time in the cage. Maybe wait out the squawking until he's quiet for a few min, and then go get him as a reward for being quiet. Whenever Chickie makes any noise that I dont like or can't stand I just totally ignore it and dont say anything to her until she moves onto another "better" noise. They are masters at manipulation, though...lol. . Also, I have always been the chosen one with Chickie, but my boyfriend has worked really hard with her so that she will go to both of us. Maybe once Mav is more comfy with your BF he'll realize that he gets to be out of the cage more if he lets him handle him. Just a few ideas. Hopefully people with more experience can help more. Also, as I always say...the expert is always a good source, Georgia.

[CLB]

I would have to agree. Shadow occasionally does the fire alarm screetch. She calls about 3-5 times. We all ignore her....no looking her way, no going to the kitchen for a drink...nothing. After her 3-5 calls, she resorts to a very endearing "hellooo" or an innocent, do you remember me "Hii" At that point I immediately respond with something like "hey Shadow...what would you like?" or or a simple "Hi" back.

 

It is hard to remember that even the slightest response can be perceived as a reward.

 

Good luck as Mav begins to test the waters! I know my days are numbered with my little Zon too. : )

[Morana]

I agree with others. Zak had that problem and he was screaming very loud. I didn't know what to do. The screaming would occur when I would leave the room or even more so when I would go outside of the apartment. Finaly I read something about distracting a bird. I have to say that I also did the ignoring part but it worked only so far for me. So with that strategy when I knew I would leave the apartment I would leave a favorite fruit in Zaks cage which he wouldn't get during the day unless I was going out. Zak got quickly preocupied with his treat so he "forgot" to scream when I go out. Not to asociate his favorite fruit with me leaving I began to put his favorite fruit even when I was home but I would close the cage and go into another room. Sometimses close the cage but stayed in the room. And eventually sometimes I would even leave his cage door open but leave the room so I think he doesn't have a negative association with getting the fruit. And about ignoring.. if I would ignore him he would sometimes scream louder. At that point I would close my door (for him to see) so there wasn't much for him to do. Really soon he realized that good sounds and calling my name would result with me comming or saying something to him. In another words, good sounds=attention

[pikachu]

Whenever Maui whistles/sings, I positively reinforce her and tell her that I love when she sings & that it is very pretty.

Then, when she starts the loud smoke detector sound, I tell her that it is very loud and I ask her to sing something pretty. Believe it or not, it usually does the trick & she switches to the whistling.

Of course, this wasn't an overnight thing. I have been reinforcing the good behavior since she came home.

[Luvparrots]

My zon will make loud noises once in a while. I just assume it is a zon thing and let it go..... until it is annoying and then I just talk to Louie and direct him in a different direction. I usually sing to him and if I think his shrieking is loud and obnoxious you should hear my singing. Louie gets the idea and we both relax in peace and quiet.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

This is how LaborDay went. I had to work 3-1130. I usually get up at 8am, the latest. I decided to sleep another half hour. At 8:05, Sophie was yelling " UP ROM!" I yelled down " not now!" She yelled up ROM.... UP! I told her " soon!" Sunny started squealing at the top of his lungs, Kiki started her " 4pm Amazon squawk". I got up. Opened birdroom, Sophie said " kottchiekootchiekoo!LOL Nancy

[Darwinsmom]

This is how LaborDay went. I had to work 3-1130. I usually get up at 8am, the latest. I decided to sleep another half hour. At 8:05, Sophie was yelling " UP ROM!" I yelled down " not now!" She yelled up ROM.... UP! I told her " soon!" Sunny started squealing at the top of his lungs, Kiki started her " 4pm Amazon squawk". I got up. Opened birdroom, Sophie said " kottchiekootchiekoo!LOL Nancy

 

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too funny!

[BeeFernandez22]

This is how LaborDay went. I had to work 3-1130. I usually get up at 8am, the latest. I decided to sleep another half hour. At 8:05, Sophie was yelling " UP ROM!" I yelled down " not now!" She yelled up ROM.... UP! I told her " soon!" Sunny started squealing at the top of his lungs, Kiki started her " 4pm Amazon squawk". I got up. Opened birdroom, Sophie said " kottchiekootchiekoo!LOL Nancy

 

Hahahaha!! I swear they are little alarm clocks!!

[Darwinsmom]

These guys are flock animals, he wants to be with you and his call is a scream right now, which is HIGHLY annoying. I have a guy a few weeks younger than yours and he started the same thing. You MUST ignore him when he is doing this. If he screams, tell him goodbye in a firm voice and walk away. I say "too loud, goodbye" and leave. When he is quiet for a bit of time I come back, tell him good boy and give him attention. As soon as he screams I do the same thing, same voice, same phrase, and walk away and ignore him. When he is quiet I reward with attention. If he makes pleasant chirping or whistling noises (which he is just starting to try out) that I want to encourage as a contact call I will respond and call out to him and tell him "good whistle, good boy". He will learn to associate his screaming with the reaction he doesnt want, which is you ignoring or leaving him. He will figure out quiet behaviour earns him attention and a pleasant noise will reward him with verbal reassurance that you are near by, which is important to a flock animal. It only took Darwin a few days to figure this out. He occasionally screams but I walk away and he stops almost immediately. Remember to never, ever approach him or make contact if he is screaming. If Darwin started to squawk when I approached then I said good bye again and walked away until he was quiet and then I re-approached.

 

If he's bonding to you rather than your BF you need to have your bf take him from the cage and pass him to you. You need to be consistent in this so that he learns that allowing your BF to handle him gets him his reward, which is being with you. After he's gotten to the point of allowing your BF to handle him or pick him up from his cage you can substitute the reward (getting to you) every few times with another high value reward like a favorite nut or treat so that he learns your BF = lots of good things. if your BF is hesitant about picking him up, he will sense this. I suggest trying a hand held perch and seeing if that will be acceptable to him rather than an unsteady hand. If your BF is not scared of him and has a steady hand then its just a matter of being consistent, but never force him. He will learn the only way out of his cage is through your BF. I also recommend you do some research on target training, which makes it much easier to get them to go to other people.

 

Both of these techniques employ Applied Behaviour Analysis. There is a massive amount of research about ABA on the net if you're interested in reading about it. Its being used with great success to modify behaviours in parrots and it works incredibly well. Here are a few links to get you started if you're interested:

 

http://www.behaviorworks.org/

 

http://featheredangels.wordpress.com/positive-reinforcement-and-training/articles-on-applied-behavior-analysis-by-bev-penny/guidelines-to-understanding-applied-behavior-analysis-for-parrot-people-by-bev-penny/

 

If you'd like more info, links or articles just pm me.

[BeeFernandez22]

Thank you SO much for all of the info, guys! I figured this was similar to the crying toddler approach and that I should ignore him but then I read that reinforcing their contact calls is important so I wasn't sure what to do. I can't wait to get home from work to check out those links! I also purchased the Barron's Guide to a Well Behaved Parrot last night on Amazon because I know there are more behavior incidents that will come up as he keeps testing the waters! He is such a little manipulator because he knows I am a sucker haha... He does try to bite Eric every time he goes into his cage. I told him that he needed to just continue to try but after Mav bit him once pretty good, he is very hesitant with him and I know Maverick picks up on that and uses it to his advantage. Eeek.

[Darwinsmom]

Well sure, Mav bit, Eric retreated, Mav won. He"ll continue to do this every single time he wants his own way. He's 5 months old, if you let him away with that now, you're doomed to live with the monster you create. I have lots of links, articles, groups and info if you want it, just pm me and email addy to send it to. there are some fabulous resources out there. I believe Sarasota is also a fan of ABA, and her bird was a biter too so maybe you can ask her for ideas as well.

 

P.S. if you have an ereader or a way to read epub files I also have the Understanding Applied Behavior Anaylsis An Introduction to ABA and I can send it to you. Its obviously for humans, as all psych books are but the principles are identical and it helps understand the ABCs of ABA and is the foundation book they use for teaching the course for birds.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Darwinsmom