cockatiel getting me evicted- in dire need of help

[eugenene]

Hi all,

I'm writing this because I'm at my wits end. Please let me explain the situation:
I've had my cockatiel Eugene for almost 2 years now. Everything went great and he was a very sweet boy until I moved places in september. He started screaming excessively and showing more aggressive behaviour. At first I thought it was just the huge change of moving places that was causing this, as I read cockatiels aren't too good with change. However, as time went on, it kept getting worse. He will scream anywhere. In his cage, on my shoulder, in his tree, anywhere in the room. It really seems to come out of nowhere most of the time. It seems to be way worse during the day. As soon as it gets dark the screaming lessens.
Over the past 3 months I've gotten multiple complaints from neighbours, with eventually my landlord telling me that if the screaming doesn't stop I'll have to either get rid of him or move out (which would cost me a few hundred bucks for administration costs which I don't have right now).
Biting has also been a big issue, although not as much as I can often anticipate it by reading his body language. However, my partner gets attacked occasionally whenever he's here and Eugene is loose.
I've been trying to manage the screaming by covering up his cage and leaving him in the dark anytime I must leave the house (thankfully I'm home nearly all the time) but I'm not fixing the cause like this and it makes me feel horrible if I'm away for long.
I've tried touch training, giving him toys to keep him busy, fixing his diet, nothing seems to help. I am not sure what to do. I'm thinking it's something hormonal maybe? Can't be puberty because he's over 2 years old? I feel like I'm the cause of all of this.
I don't want to get rid of him because obviously I've committed to taking care of him, but I'm already struggling with my mental health and this is just adding so much to it. I've tried looking into bird trainers near me but haven't found anything yet. Calming supplements (avicalm etc.) aren't available in my country and shipping costs are very high, could it be worth it? Would getting him a friend help so he won't be as fixated on me?
Checking his poopies his health seems good, no plucking and he's at a good weight.

I really love him but can't take this anymore. Please, if someone has any experience with this kind of behaviour, what did you try to fix it? Has anything like this happened to anyone else? I'm open for any advice or insights.


my little monster ;-;

 

[finchly]

Hello!


I hear you! They can really scream. My guess is insecurity about the move, also I wonder if the cage is now where your bird can't see you or something?

If you search the forum you'll find lots of similar threads. Here's one -- maybe reading it will give you some ideas. Help! Screaming Cockatiel!

 

[MommyBird]

I really liked the link within finchley's suggestion at Cockatiels that Scream, Screaming and cockatiels, what causes screaming, how to prevent screaming, how to stop screaming and excessive vocalization, what is normal and abnormal screaming, when do cockatiels scream, why do cockatiels scream, parrots and pet birds that scream.
Read that closely.
Since it started when you moved I wonder if there is now something near the cage that is scary, or if the cage placement is scary, like now being able to see out a window or down a hallway? They can get very upset sometimes if you do something like even move a book or shoe from where it was.

Go for a walk with him and touch things and see his reaction to items. remove them or tell him it's OK. With my Hahns I had to make certain things be the "bad guy" and I'd give an alarm call myself at them, then make baby talk about other things and say 'it's OK' . So now instead of being afraid of everything he will let me know when there's a FedEx truck, a deer eating my garden, or a bug on the ceiling which I must get. Just an idea, I'm not sure if it will work for anyone else, and be careful what you decide to be 'bad'. But I figure going for a walk and asking him to tell you what is scary can't hurt.

Some of it does sound hormonal so I would try ensuring 14 hours of DARK at night for 2 weeks to try to break that. It could be that in your new place there is too much light from outside or the TV.

 

[Lady Jane]

Please take some time to read and understand this writing by an excellent parrot behavior consultant.

Your Screaming Parrot and You

I posted a short survey on Facebook several weeks ago, asking readers to express interest in one of three future webinar topics. I was surprised to find that almost as many people asked for a webin…

blogpamelaclarkonline.com

 

[eugenene]

Hello!


I hear you! They can really scream. My guess is insecurity about the move, also I wonder if the cage is now where your bird can't see you or something?

If you search the forum you'll find lots of similar threads. Here's one -- maybe reading it will give you some ideas. Help! Screaming Cockatiel!

Thanks!
They can scream like crazy! Haha
I live in a very small studio of about 16-18m2, and his cage is next to my desk. So I’m practically always in his sight.
I’ll definitely read it through. In my panic I didnt really go through other posts about similar issues well enough, sorry ;-;

 

[eugenene]

I really liked the link within finchley's suggestion at Cockatiels that Scream, Screaming and cockatiels, what causes screaming, how to prevent screaming, how to stop screaming and excessive vocalization, what is normal and abnormal screaming, when do cockatiels scream, why do cockatiels scream, parrots and pet birds that scream.
Read that closely.
Since it started when you moved I wonder if there is now something near the cage that is scary, or if the cage placement is scary, like now being able to see out a window or down a hallway? They can get very upset sometimes if you do something like even move a book or shoe from where it was.

Go for a walk with him and touch things and see his reaction to items. remove them or tell him it's OK. With my Hahns I had to make certain things be the "bad guy" and I'd give an alarm call myself at them, then make baby talk about other things and say 'it's OK' . So now instead of being afraid of everything he will let me know when there's a FedEx truck, a deer eating my garden, or a bug on the ceiling which I must get. Just an idea, I'm not sure if it will work for anyone else, and be careful what you decide to be 'bad'. But I figure going for a walk and asking him to tell you what is scary can't hurt.

Some of it does sound hormonal so I would try ensuring 14 hours of DARK at night for 2 weeks to try to break that. It could be that in your new place there is too much light from outside or the TV.

That’s an amazing insight. His cage now indeed is next to the window, and sometimes the birds outside will scare him. I’ll try finding another place for him, although living in a small space he’ll always be able to see out of the window. I might just keep the curtains a bit more closed.
I’ll definitely try more darkness at night for a few weeks. Sadly I think also whats making it worse is that I need to stay up late for studies (vet meds is insane haha) and he often wakes up because of me. So the uninterrupted 12 hours of sleep is definitely not something he gets. Sadly this is not something I can do anything about until I move out in summer.
However, in my last place I had the same problem but it didnt cause him to get the screaming behavior.

thank you so much for your advice!!
Very interesting how you taught what things are okay to scream about and what things arent.

 

[eugenene]

Please take some time to read and understand this writing by an excellent parrot behavior consultant.

Your Screaming Parrot and You

I posted a short survey on Facebook several weeks ago, asking readers to express interest in one of three future webinar topics. I was surprised to find that almost as many people asked for a webin…

blogpamelaclarkonline.com

I definitely will thank you!

 

[Ripshod]

It's that season now and he's definitely sexualy mature. Add that to the fact the two of you have a bond. Definitely try the 12-14 hours darkness, if you can't darken the room then darken the cage with a cover of some kind. If the cover is heavy leave the side next to the wall uncovered, it doesn't have to be pitch black in there, in fact it's better to leave a little light so he can see around the cage and to help negate any night frights.

 

[JoJo&Loki]

I’m sorry you are both going through this. It does seem likely either the move itself or something in his new setup is causing it. I hope you find the problem and he goes back to being his happy self soon!

 

[MommyBird]

So the uninterrupted 12 hours of sleep is definitely not something he gets. Sadly this is not something I can do anything about until I move out in summer.
However, in my last place I had the same problem but it didnt cause him to get the screaming behavior.

In your old home he wasn't old enough and it wasn't the 'right' time of year for him to go hormonal and scream.
If you have to buy a small travel cage and make that be a sleeping cage you can put into a darker place, it is worth thinking about doing.
That 14 hours dark can make the difference you need.

 

[eugenene]

In your old home he wasn't old enough and it wasn't the 'right' time of year for him to go hormonal and scream.
If you have to buy a small travel cage and make that be a sleeping cage you can put into a darker place, it is worth thinking about doing.
That 14 hours dark can make the difference you need.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this! The only other room in my studio I have is the bathroom. I will just take out my toothbrush etc and put him in there in his travel cage so he gets a good night’s sleep. I’ll just have to hold my pee haha

 

[eugenene]

I’m sorry you are both going through this. It does seem likely either the move itself or something in his new setup is causing it. I hope you find the problem and he goes back to being his happy self soon!

thank you so much! Thats really sweet ^^

 

[eugenene]

It's that season now and he's definitely sexualy mature. Add that to the fact the two of you have a bond. Definitely try the 12-14 hours darkness, if you can't darken the room then darken the cage with a cover of some kind. If the cover is heavy leave the side next to the wall uncovered, it doesn't have to be pitch black in there, in fact it's better to leave a little light so he can see around the cage and to help negate any night frights.

I will! He has gotten night frights before and it always makes me so sad. Thank you so much for your advice!

 

[MommyBird]

and one more thing .....since he's attacking your partner, take all actions against hormones:
Never give him any scratches except on the head. Touching under the wings, on the back, tail are a big no-no!
we share this site a lot so maybe you've read it. but worth a read if you haven't:
Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

 

[eugenene]

and one more thing .....since he's attacking your partner, take all actions against hormones:
Never give him any scratches except on the head. Touching under the wings, on the back, tail are a big no-no!
we share this site a lot so maybe you've read it. but worth a read if you haven't:
Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

Don’t worry, I wouldn’t even be able to! He has a horrible fright for hands and if I accidentally go down his neck a bit too far he will attack/bite my finger. Only thing he’ll accept is scratches on his head.
It’s been like this since I got him so I wonder if it’s because the people who brought him up grabbed him often to put him back in his cage. I haven’t been able to fix this yet but I haven’t been on top of it too much since there’s almost never a need to grab him except for cutting nails/small accidents.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Your little bird is so adorable! I really hope you can figure it out!

 

[Sodapop&Co.]

I can't tell you much but if might be worth thinking about getting him a friend. I can't tell you positively if that would solve your issues or if it might even make it worse but if you have a lonely bird it's to be expected that he'll be yelling a lot.

 

[eugenene]

Your little bird is so adorable! I really hope you can figure it out!

Thank you!!

 

[eugenene]

I can't tell you much but if might be worth thinking about getting him a friend. I can't tell you positively if that would solve your issues or if it might even make it worse but if you have a lonely bird it's to be expected that he'll be yelling a lot.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot tbh. I might look into it better when I’ve moved places in summer. Right now I don’t have any space for an extra cage if things don’t work out :/

 

[sunnysmom]

Is there anyway you can try to sound proof the room he's in a bit until the screaming gets more under control? (And he is super cute.)