am i doing the right thing

[Guest briansmum]

on a morning my cag squaks LOADS and really loudly, i know he is only wanting to come out of his cage for a cuddle and to play but i don't want to be teaching him that this noise will get him what he wants so i've been calming telling him he can come out when he's calmed down and waiting for him to quieten down, which can take up to half an hour. i feel horrble but this 'screaming' needs to stop. am i doing the right thing?

[Guest briansmum]

he's in an unusual mood today, he's doing his little baby squeak like mad and is insisting on being reaaly close to me, like on my shoulder with his face in my hair or on my face. he wouldnt sit on his cage and eat his food i had to bring the food to me so he could sit at the side of me while he ate. is this normal behaviour? sorry if these sound like silly questions, he is my first grey and i'm still getting used his querks. he's flown quite a bit today, could he just be all excited with himself?

[ZoesDad]

Hey Beccy,

Zoe has only recently begun to contact call every morning upon seeing me. I always return her vocalizations to let her know that I can both see and hear her. I have also established a predictable morning routine with her that I think she understands and that works for me too. She seems to settle down within 5-10 minutes afterwards. I think that you should pick out a routine of your own and have your bird get used to it through repetition. Once he is able to predict what will happen, he should be able to calm himself down and be more independent. The trick, I believe, is to do the same thing, in the same way, every morning and to establish the routine early on in the bird's life with you (when he is most impressionable).

Hope this helps.

[Guest briansmum]

thanks zoesdad that's great advice and good to know other birds call on a morning too. i have begun to esatablish a routine i guess i will have to put up with the shouting until he settles into it. i hope the neighbours can't hear him!

[Caspersmum]

Hi Beccy,

 

I think Zoesdad's given you some great advice there. I do the same thing with Casper - when I wake him up in the morning he'll usually whistle when I leave his room to go into the kitchen - we then whistle at eachother until I come to get him out of his cage. He used to sqwauk really loudly, but I seem to have ignored it out of him - you're right to just ignore what you don't like, because if you give him any response you're just reinforcing it - when I first got Casper he'd sqwauk really loudly, then scream 'SHUT UP'. Although it sounds quite funny, it's really pretty sad, and shows that his previous owners just didn't understand bird behaviour.

 

On your other point, I know parrots can get really clingy when they're babies. I think you need to ask yourself if this is acceptable in the long-run - do you want him to be so clingy, or will there come a time when you're going to want him to be more independent? If it's the latter, you need to break him of this habit now, by making him abide by your rules instead of his. Does that make any sense?!

 

Julia

[Guest briansmum]

hi julia

 

yes that makes complete sense and is excellent advice, i think i will need to encourage his independance as it's getting to the point where he flies straight at me when i walk in the room which while it's cute sometimes could end up being dangerous. i need to implement cuddle time into his routine,this way he will learn when it's appropriate and convenient for me for him to to be snuggly and clingy, i love him to bits but i have other tasks to do besides cuddle him all day.. as much as i'd like to. :laugh:

 

it's sad to hear what casper picked up from his previous owners, it's horrible how some people think it's ok to shout at their birds like that. when brian does something naughty like bite a bit hard or try and chew wires i say "no" in a firm voice and remove the object in question. today i just said no and he stopped what he was doing he must be learning

[DweamGoiL]

Mini Me used to be really loud in the morning also and she used to be very resistant to reentering her cage again, but eventually the noise level went down a few tones to contact calls. Now, I take here out of her cage all the while talking to her as she contact calls. I let her stand on the kitching counter as I prepare her breakfast and tell her about what I am planning for my day or about the weather, etc. As I am doing this, she will beg for scritches and tug at my sleeve when she wants my undivided attention.

 

After our morning meeting, I take her back to her cage and she is eager to dig into her yummy breakfast. She doesn't fight me anymore to go in the cage.

[Guest Monique]

It is normal for birds noisy time to be dawn and dusk. Can't say that I know why ... but it is. I can also attest to the little birdies out in my shelterbelt following this pattern of conversation .