My roommate.

[conureboys]

My roommate and I moved into our one bedroom apartment together in May of 2018. Around September, we discussed my bringing birds into the mix and she said sure.

Fast forward to recently. My roommate doesn't like the noise Monty my GCC makes (Baldie the BCC is pretty much silent). When I'm out: in class, hanging with friends, or getting food, whatever, she has begun rolling Monty's birdcage into our storage closet, closing the door, and turning off the lights. She's actually begun asking ME to do it for her. I believe this is abusive.

Obviously my first priority is the health and safety of these birds--My lease with her ends this May, but my birds are my lifelong companions.

Any advice here?

 

[Shezbug]

Smack her in........ooops did I type what I was thinking?

I think you need to tell her that under no circumstances is this an alright thing for her to do. She needs to gain some control over her bad abusive and nasty behavior.

 

[Lady Jane]

That is very cruel. No bird, as you know, should be locked in a closet. Either get another roommate or get earplugs. I would not want to be living with anyone that would do that. Actually after the roommate doing this I would never trust her around any animals.

 

[JLcribber]

Get rid of the room mate. After you give them a good smack. The bird is not the problem.

 

[Teckechick]

Ear plugs and head phones work wonders. I would not continue living with her after the lease is up. I would also take the wheels off of the cage so that it can not be moved around easily. Would she harm Monty or throw things at his cage if she can't move it? Does Monty have things to do in his cage while you are out? More toys or foraging items may help with the noise, give him something more to do maybe?

 

[webchirp]

That is cruel. Take the door off that closet if she can't keep her hands to herself. Do you have your own bedroom? Tell her the more she does this, the more he is likely to scream. If you can't get out of the lease and she continues to be a jerk, can you board them with parents or someone?

 

[MnGuy]

Sorry to hear about that.

Either leave early and eat the cost of paying the rest of your lease, or, see if you can buy her out of her lease if she’s willing to move out.

 

[SandraK]

Some of this and a couple of earplugs/noise cancelling headphones. As a last resort, could your fids "go home" if you're afraid of what the roommate will do?

 

[greys4u]

Is she on the lease, if not, kick her to the curb or make a contract and have her sign it. Also, she sounds very bossy.

 

[conureboys]

Thank you all for your support and shared outrage in this--I agree, the bird is not the problem!!

I think upon reading all your replies I will have a talk with her. I have noise cancelling headphones she can borrow. If she refuses to stop doing this I will definitely do what @MnGuy says and try to either pay her to move out of move out myself. She's the one on the lease, so I can probably leave without too many problems.

Again, thank you all for the validation. She kept making it seem like it wasn't a big deal when in reality, it is abuse.

 

[Shezbug]

I am so glad you feel like you are right in the way you are thinking about her behavior because you are! I can not imagine treating any animal like that for any reason at all. She could make the effort to interact with the bird, she could use headphones, she could go out, she could learn to ignore it and gain control of things that she finds annoying, she could discuss how much she finds it intolerable so you could come up with ideas together.....there are so many other things she could do that are acceptable but she chose to treat the bird poorly. I would worry about how much further she would go if she was in a bad mood.
Good luck with what ever you choose to do and good on for you for sticking up for what is right for your bird

 

[SandraK]

Thank you all for your support and shared outrage in this--I agree, the bird is not the problem!!

I think upon reading all your replies I will have a talk with her. I have noise cancelling headphones she can borrow. If she refuses to stop doing this I will definitely do what @MnGuy says and try to either pay her to move out of move out myself. She's the one on the lease, so I can probably leave without too many problems.

Again, thank you all for the validation. She kept making it seem like it wasn't a big deal when in reality, it is abuse.

The question to ask her is: how would she like it if someone put her in the closet and switched off the light? For say, not liking her voice or the colour of her hair?

If you wouldn't do it to a child then you don't do it to ANY companion animals.

 

[faislaq]

If you wouldn't do it to a child then you don't do it to ANY companion animals.

I wouldn't put it past her.

 

[T. gillii]

That's awful!!! Please keep us updated

 

[Leanna]

Is it at all possible that she doesn't realize her behavior is wrong? I once had my brother over for the holidays and I came home after grocery shopping to a completely silent house. I was alarmed, went into the living room and saw the bird cages covered in bed sheets. My brother walked in and calmly said:
"They freaked out when you left, but I looked online and it said covering them in a sheet calms them down."

My brother didn't think that what he was doing was wrong and once I explained he apologized to my birds with walnuts. He also thought my birds would fly straight into windows if they weren't covered. A lot of people don't understand birds or their only experience with birds are Petco and PetSmart birds. Because those birds aren't tame, they assume birds are sort of like fish or reptiles.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard:
"Wow. They let you hold them?