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Help! Lorikeet doesn't stop screaming!! Tried everything!

Zeke&tiki

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Jess Potter
hi guys!
I'm a new member and I'm urgently seeking some advice from people who have successfully been able to get their bird to stop screaming.

I've spent so much time and money trying to get my little guy to stop screaming and nothing has worked, and I feel like I'm at the crisis point now.

I have a DNA sexed made scaly breasted lorikeet, named Zeke (about 1.5 yrs now) who has severe need for constant attention.
I use to be home 5 days a week, I always had him out of the cage as to avoid him screaming at me .... Now I work full time and the screaming issue is so much worse.
He still comes out every evening for about 2 hours and has regular toy rotations, fresh fruit, veg and Lori wet and dry everyday.

We even bought new cages to try, different locations in the house, putting him by window to talk to outside lorries, his cage is always covered on 3 sides, and after much thought I even went and bought another DNA sexed male lorikeet as a companion. The second lorikeet was kept in a seperate cage right up against zekes' they were getting along (didn't help with zekes screaming but) so after a while I let them meet/touch etc and Zeke established dominance but they didn't fight, so over a few weeks they are now in the same large cage together without issue.

So great, he has a friend now who I named Tiki - he should start to bond with this bird and quiet down. NOPE!! He ignores Tiki (who is amazing and quiet) and just screams no different from before!!

The screaming is non stop loud, he will go for a good hour or more before taking a short break if he knows you are home. He listens for your footsteps in the house and as soon as he knows your there it starts!! So morning, night and weekends if I don't want him out I have to be silent, if I don't want to bear screaming, before giving in and putting him in a dark place.

At night we have to put him in the back bedroom with blinds shut, dark cover so there is no light. This is the only way we can sleep past 5am - because he doesn't make normal happy bird wake up noice at first light he just screams to wake you up, then your greeted with 'Hello, hello' from one very excited bird.
When in the dark room and he is being quiet Often I get him out and take him in for a shower, then give him some apple etc while making up his foods for the day, but he has to be ON YOUR HEAD OR IN YOUR FACE while he is out of the cage, you can't just sit him on the play stand (not even one second) as he flys over as soon as you go to walk away. Then he gets popped back in cage (goes in without any issues) with all of his foods, then I put him by a window and proceed to get ready for work....but he is screaming again :(

The only way to stop him screaming while in his cage is to cover him and make the cage dark. Which is horrible and I feel really crap for doing that. Unfortunately I have resorted to doing this (once I put food, and him if I had time to get him out, in the cage) until the moments leading up to when I leave for work...then I roll the cage back out to a window. So as you can imagine a fair chunk of my morning is dedicated to managing the bird for my own sanity.

When talking about nights and weekends I try Having him in quiet common areas, but if your not right in front of the cage he screams and it echoes through the house. I try the window, just screams which pisses off the neighbours, I try in a quiet room, he just screams and screams till you lose your shizz after an hour and come in to cover him. He will be quiet sometimes when he is in a quiet room, however I have to be as silent as a mouse.

I don't scream back to him as it makes it worse (very occasionally I lose my shizz and scream back), I give him ample amounts of different textured toys, foods he likes and baths. He is happy to play with toys if I'm watching him (within 1 meter of cage, and loves to eat his food when you put it in cage - he is quiet then for about 5 mins until our walk away) He is lice sprayed, has no health issues, super glossy, gets attention for a few hours every night and sometimes in the morning, even got 3 new cages to see if that would help and now has a new friend.

He is only happy when he is out of cage ON me, doing his tricks and eating while I'm near him. He sees me as his bonded mate but I can't keep this up.

I'm really at a breaking point as he is so georgeous and sweet, but his constant need for attention is killing me. I feel I had tried everything and I don't know what to try/do next.

His wings are not clipped as I like him to be able to have a little fly when he comes out, however I am considering clipping them in a bid to force him to stay on his forever changing play stand when out of his cage, which is loaded with different berries, fruits, toys, branches etc. he's not scared of anything, very hand raised with lots of dance moves, good speech and has a massive personality.

Please help if you can!!!
 

Begone

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gets attention for a few hours every night and sometimes in the morning
He is your loved one, he wants you near 24/7. A few hours isn't enough. That is the reason why he is screaming. He miss you. Sad.
He is only happy when he is out of cage ON me,
You do know that this is normal? Of course he want to be with you.
I'm really at a breaking point as he is so georgeous and sweet, but his constant need for attention is killing me.
You must give him tools if you not can handle that he need your attention.

My advice. No cage! Give him a room and give him someone he can bond to. Someone that is their for him 24/7.
He sees me as his bonded mate but I can't keep this up.
That is why I think that you always should have birds in pair. No birds should ever need to scream to get attention, and no birds should ever be forced to live alone.
 

Sweet Louise

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Have you tried behavior modification, pouring on the attention when he is quiet, ignoring when loud? I can see why you are at your breaking point, very hard behavior to live with. Do you know if he screams when you are gone?
 

Zeke&tiki

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Jess Potter
Thanks guys

One month after starting full time work I got him a lorikeet friend so he wasn't lonely and had someone 24/7, but he ignores the new Lori which he shares a cage with :(
(I even took him to meet 5 different lorries and picked the one he liked the most, he was very interested in him, but now since Tiki has settled in, I swear he doesn't even acknowledge him, Tiki doesn't seem to mind and is very chilled)

We gave him his own room at one stage but unfortunately as we are renting it is hard to keep room in good state with him lifting up towels and popping on carpets, so we've had to resort away from that option. This didn't hugely help with screaming either and he would resort to resting in a corner of the room on the carpet, which was rather depressing given that there were about 20 other great places to perch.

What "tools" can you suggest? I'm very keen if you have some!!

We had also tried the behaviour modification, we haven't had much success though, I think because he doesn't stop screaming it's hard to reward him when he is quiet as if he is quiet he starts screaming when he hears you

I've noticed if he's out heaps over the weekend, his behaviour is worse come Monday, so I've been trying really hard to keep similar routine going on weekends, just a tad more time.

I've had them both out for 3 hours this morning, playing with balls, balancing on ropes, chewing different veggies etc and have been fine. I rearranged their cage again too. Unfortunatley When they went back in the cage zeke was happy when my hands in there but then I took hands out and he starts "peep peep peep" then into full ball screaming, whilst Tiki just chews away happily at his veggies.

I understand he wants to be with me 24/7 but unfortunatley I do have to work and I dont have the ability to take him to work, so i got him a friend to take my place

Do you think he will eventually become friends with this new bird? (Had for 1.5 months now)
Do you have any tips on the behaviour training and how to better approach it?
what other tools could i try?

Thanks so much for your fast responses too! Really appreciate it
 

Mizzely

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I've dealt with this a lot with my quaker, Jingo. The biggest thing for him - if people are home, the cage has to be open.

The other Lori is just another bird right now, and may always be. No one can predict how that will go.

My Hahns was also a velcro bird and we had to with teaching "stay" to use the playstand. Start at small distances and slowly make it larger. It may take several weeks.

Here are my tips on dealing with the screaming behavior.

How Small Changes Can Have Big Impacts – Parrot 1-2-3

How I Dealt With a Screaming Bird – Parrot 1-2-3
 

orphansparrow

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Wow. What a really tough situation. I can tell you care for your little guy, but unfortunately he sees you as his mate, and in his world view, mates ARE together 24/7. He's having some major separation anxiety. I think Shawna (above) gave you some good links...

I went through this with Duckie several years ago. It lasted about 4-6 months (can't remember exactly), and it very nearly cost me my roommate who was LOSING his mind over it. Nothing seemed to make her happy, and try as I might, I just had to ride it out.

Have you thought about hiring someone for maybe an hour or two a day while you're at work? Just to sit with him/near him, and give him some form of distraction? I don't know if that would help, but maybe?

What about hormones? I wonder if theres something going on hormonally? Does he get enough sleep? Enough UV rays in the day?
 

Zeke&tiki

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Jess Potter
Thanks everyone for your input, I really appreciate it

I will try these tips over the next, leaving cage door open when home, investigate those links and start trying these ideas.

I think he gets enough sleep and uv each day. I'll certainly monitor this over next few weeks in conjunction with above tips and see how it goes. I believe a bird is meant to have 10 hours sleep???

I know it won't get better overnight and will take a few months, but I hope to see some sort of minor improvement over a week or two.

I'll let you know how it goes!
If anyone else reads this and has some tips please leave a comment, id love to hear from you ❤
Thank you
 

WallyLoopey

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I have a lorikeet and he screams some. I have a macaw who will scream occasionally also. The best thing I have found is to just completely ignore that.
Yep, it’s hard and can be annoying..but ignoring it really is the best thing. Everytime you yell back or react it’s just confirming in his mind that screaming will get you to react in some way. Yelling back to him is almost encouragement.

Ever heard of birdie babble? I’m not sure if they make them anymore but you might can find one on amazon/ebay. Mine loves to chatter to that and just carry on. Any toy that makes noise is a good distraction to them.

Another tip- Only let him out when he is not screaming. You can also try to find ways to fit him into your routine. I know they poop alot, so the easiest way I’ve found to get more time with mine is to put him on the shower floor while I or another family member shower. Of course you have to be extremely careful, but they absolutely love it.

Some birds are just screamers and it may ease down some but I don’t think it will completely stop.
 

Bagpipes

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Idk....have you tried classical music or t.v. on animal plant as company when you're gone.? I do that for my keets & dogs....helps them with separation anxiety and noisy neighbors....
 
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