Just got home ...

[JLcribber]

Buckle up and hold on. The ride has not even begun.

 

[Pipsqueak]

Beautiful, I wish I could have a cockatoo.

 

[camelotshadow]

Toos are not for the faint of heart but may be for the hard of hearing...

 

[Tyrion]

Shhhh....I don't hear anything ....I wonder how long this is going to last ...I want to reward this silence but I don't want to get him started by going in my room to do it ...what does a person do ...well he is suppose to be getting ready for bed so I better not go in ...how do you reward silence anyway ..I have never had this problem before ..Lagatha calls in the morning and at night and Tyrion just talks allot ...any suggestions on how to reward silence without rallying up the troops :handup:

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Only go in the room when he's being quiet, unless it's sleep time. Seeing you is probably reward enough, but you can also offer a little treat. Do it as often as you can when he is being quiet, and never go in when he is screaming.

 

[iamwhoiam]

If the room is dark try not to go in there and wake him up. You can work on the screaming tomorrow by going into the room when he is quiet, talking to him and giving him a treat.

 

[Tyrion]

So Harley was up at 7am this morning ready willing and able to scream ..it started with some small talk ..hello ..hello ...Harley ..peek a boo ..so I started talking back to him from my bes ...but when that didnt get what he wanted the screaming started ..so I ignored it for as long as I could and then uncovered him and put his light on and started my day ...he is so cute I couldnt hold it against him but I need to find him a darker cover I think ...I got Tyrion and Lagatha up and fed them then I fed Harley and he dove into his morning chop so I dont think feeding him a new diet is going to be a problem ..I put my mom on bird detail while Im at work ...only go in when hes quiet and give him a treat and ignore the screaming ..I hope she is up to it ..lol...just got her first report ...as soon as she walked in to the room he started screaming ..lol..I told her to turn around and walk right back out ...next time she is going to try a treat if she gets to his cage before he starts screaming ...lol...Im going to rewatch Goodbird Inc webinar on Screaming tonight to get all the info I can ..I have a feeling its going to be a long 30 days I hope we can all stand it

 

[WeasleyLover]

Welcome home Harley!!! He is such a cutie!

Ah, the joys of cockatoos!

 

[Laura729]

Congrats - Harley is adorable!! Can't wait to hear how everything went today!

My goffin LOVES Avian Stainless toys (from @Deejo) and I often hear him jingling away in the mornings (which distracts from most screaming), and he also has been "fighting" recently with one of his newer AS toys whenever he seems mad about having to go in his cage for bedtime (also a good distraction from screaming).

 

[Tyrion]

Well mom got a silent reward into him today ..she has the door open just a lil bit so he doesnt know she is coming and got the treat to him before he started screaming ..then he started screaming just as she left ..she said its going to be a long month

 

[iamwhoiam]

Patience is VERY important and consistency with not acknowledging the screaming. Sad to say I don't always follow my advice and sometimes I have to tell the 'toos to "Stop it" although I don't go in the room to do that. Sometimes that works but I don't recommend it. However, they are not frequent screamers and generally just scream in the AM and then at night when it's time to go to bed (Cody if I don't turn the light off soon enough) or after I turn the light off for bedtime (generally Keno). They will also scream if Shannon, YNA, starts yelling "NO" and "HELP". Keno likes to be a monitor/tattletale and she will scream when one of the birds is out of the cage when he/she is not supposed to be out. That's a good thing, though, IMO.

 

[Tyrion]

Oh the screaming goes on and on and on ....don't get me wrong there are breaks every now and then and thats when I go in and check on him but then he starts screaming again right in my face ...tomorrow I'm going to make him some shredding toys and see if that helps ....plus he will be out of his cage for a few hours ...the good news is he will try any food I put in front of him and loves all of it and he is very affectionate when he isn't screaming his head off ...I feel bad for the lil guy ..that he feels the need to scream like that to be heard ....I wish there was more I could do for him

 

[WallyLoopey]

Hmmm..
Introduce him to some sort of foraging..try to quit just placing food in there freely. Start easy by just covering it up, then make it harder.
When you leave he actually has something to do then besides scream. Food is a huge motivator.
Just take out the food bowl in general and make everything foragable.

Good luck

 

[JLcribber]

Give these articles a read. Lot's of good insight. The first article is just the basics. The second article will teach you many things about screaming especially about cockatoos. Absorb it. Understand it and you'll be an expert in no time.

Screaming 101

Cockatoo vocalizations by Sam Foster

 

[Heather F]

Those are fantastic articles, John, especially the three part one in the second link. Thanks for sharing! Even though I don't have "problem noise" birds it's good information to have.

 

[Tyrion]

Thank you so much for the great reads John its really helped me understand more where the screaming is coming from ...I made a nice shredding toy for him and he took to it right away ...let him out for a few hours but he really wasn't interested in being out to much just liked the option ....tried him on his new play gym but he was scared of it so that didn't go well ... the screaming hasn't been bad today ( knocking on wood ) he has been making other noises instead which I have been rewarding ... things have been going well other then that ..he steps up well and has only given me a couple of warning bites when I was trying to move him off my shoulder so I think thats good ...so all and all I think we are making progress

 

[Tyrion]

Hey wasnt there suppose to be a honeymoon period where I got a quiet loving special bird ..not a screaming devil ....or is the honeymoon period going to start once he is out of quarantine ...I know I said the screaming was less yesterday but I think I miss spoke cuz last night he made up for all of yesterday ...and started in right this morning but took a break to eat breakfast ...I dont know if we are going to last the 30 days ...my daughters room is right across from my room and she is already willing to break quarantine for the sake of her needing to study ...I try to explain to her that we cant and she said I will pay any vet bills that arise from doing it ...lol....I try so hard to reward all his other noises and it seemed to work but then he would just scream ...I know we are only a few days in but holy moly can he scream ..I feel so bad for him cuz Lagatha calls back to him which just makes him scream louder ....I have watched Goodbirds webinar on screaming twice incase I missed something and reread Johns papers again incase I missed something and I feel Im doing everything right ...I guess this is just going to take time and allot of it ....but he seems to be more manic everyday I was wondering if its the size of the cage cuz its pretty small compared to the size of cage he should be in but I just cant get his reg. cage in my room it wont fit through the door ...I thought more out of cage time would help with that but he seems scared of out of cage time right now ....I just dont know how to make him happy right now ....I know maybe there just isnt a way to since things are so new for him and he just has to get use to the routine ....if anyone has any ideas to help this lil guy I am open to it cuz I dont want to break quarantine for the sake of my family but if I cant get his screaming under control I might have to or my daughter will be moving out

 

[WallyLoopey]

So sorry to hear this Annette. Did you do like I suggested and try hiding the food? If you still want to use bowls, get multiple tiny bowls and hang them all over the cage-high, low, close to corners. Not under a perch that can be pooped on obviously.
Only put a tiny amount in each bowl so that he has to go to the next. Cover the bowls with a little paper..for dry food you can mix in inedible things (like birdie bagels and finger traps) so the he has to actually search for the food.
Basically you need to occupy him so he doesn't scream, and food is one way to get him moving. The only thing that should be easily accessible in my opinion is the water bowl. If he won't play with his toys hide almonds in them to encourage investigating. You can also put things on top of his cage for him to pull through.
Good luck

 

[iamwhoiam]

When it comes down to it you just need to be patient. He is calling for what he is familiar with and he is unsure of his new environment. He probably also wants attention. Do you know anything about his past history and why he was relinquished? Maybe you posted that but I don't remember.
I would recommend that your daughter get ear plugs or use some earbuds and listen to music.
Can you leave a radio on in the room that Harley is in? Does he have any problem solving toys that perhaps might interest him and keep him busy?
Foragewise Rings of Fortune by Nature's Instinct: Foraging bird toys at Drs. Foster & Smith
Amazon.com : Nature's Instinct Foragewise Parrot's Treasure for Conures, Amazons, Macaws, and Similar Birds. : Pet Toys : Pet Supplies (This one is easy.)

Give him nuts in shells such as walnuts and actually wrap them in paper or hide them under something so that he not only has to remove the shell but also has to find the nut or remove the paper around it to get to it.
Check out the parrot enrichment foraging blocks. I think Danita sells them.

Another link about screaming:
Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: Stop your Parrot from Screaming for Attention

Dr. Friedman uses Applied Behavior Analysis for working with behaviors but I can't find her website any more. I took her course and it was helpful to some extent.
Here are some general ideas:
Guidelines to understanding Applied Behavior Analysis for Parrot People by Bev Penny | Feathered Angels

 

[DQTimnehs]

Well, unfortunately, breaking quarantine may not solve the issue, so you might do it for nothing and put your other birds at risk. I think he just needs to settle in and hopefully he will before the QT is up and if not, after. Do you spend one on one time with him for a while each day? If you make it at the same time, at least he will know when to expect your attention. A radio might help as others have suggested.