Hi all. I have had Roco, an adult sun conure, for just over a week now as his previous owners could no longer keep him. He was vey anxious and obviously looking for his owners the first few days I had him but seems to have settled a bit now. One way he showed this anxiety was to scream every time he couldn't sit on me, couldn't see me or was left alone in his cage. I have been working on the screaming and he has become much better about 'speaking' rather than screaming when I enter the room, or he wants attention. I have started establishing contact calls so that he is comfortable when I am in the room but out of sight. My problem however is how to handle him screaming when I am not in 'contact call' distance, i.e. when I am on the other side of the house or outside. As long as he thinks I am gone he eventually settles down with just the odd call, but if he hears me or sees me through the window he screams. If I come closer and start a 'Stop screaming' training session with him he very quickly stops screaming, until I am out of speaking distance again. My concern is that by responding to his screams, even if the response is a training session on not screaming, I am inadvertently teaching him that it is rewarding to scream. But ignoring him doesn't work as he just keeps screaming, literally for hours on end. Taking him with is not always an option. He shows very little interest so far in the toys that came with him or those I have provided, and he doesn't know how to forage, so redirecting him is not yet a workable option. He cage is next those of my White Capped pionus and Pacific parrotlets so he is not left completely alone. Any ideas on how to address this issue or do I hope it goes away as he becomes more comfortable with me and my flock?
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Yes, another screaming conure thread :-)
- Thread starter Hoender
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Is he screaming or contact calling? I would just call back or ignore it if he is screaming. You haven’t had him that long, so it’s too soon to tell if ignoring won’t work after several weeks. By coming to him you are teaching him to scream. If it is contact calling, there is little you can do, but it should subside after he settles in more and knows your routine. Having a loose routine is very helpful when it comes to birds. They like to know what to expect. If it’s contact calling it’s okay to call back or poke your head in some of the time. Hopefully he is just still unsure of his new surroundings and will settle down soon.
Thanks for the feedback, it makes a lot of sense. I would say it is a contact call rather than a scream so I will persevere and hopefully he will feel comfortable on his own soon
