My quiet pionus turned into a screamer suddenly

[HeatherD]

My pionus is easily spooked. I've had to calm her through various things where she suddenly gets really on edge, but in the past I have always able to settle her down. For example, one time when she saw a red car out the window, she became absolutely terrified of *all* car sounds, and I had to relocate her cage and spend time reassuring her that everything was fine for weeks.

This time, 3 things happened that spooked her in the space of a few days, and she has gotten so spooled up that she is afraid of EVERYTHING and has been for over a month. When she gets scared of one thing, everything else even slightly scary seems scarier to her, and she just sort of goes off the rails. When it first started it wasn't as bad and I followed the usual process of responding and comforting her only after she calmed down, so that I didn't encourage the screaming behavior. However, this time it's gotten so bad that she's screaming every five minutes (painful-to-ears level of screaming) and sometimes huffing or going into what could maybe be described as "baby mode" where she makes that crying sound that chicks make if they are hungry and want to be fed.

If I turn on running water, she's terrified. If someone walks across the floor upstairs, she's terrified. If the parrotlet chirps abruptly, she thinks there's a disaster and starts blood-curdling screams. Sometimes she just starts screaming when it's quiet and literally nothing is happening. I've tried staying in her sight at all times to reassure her, making sure she has 24/7 access to her favorite toys and treats, redirecting her attention to chew on something, playing youtube videos for her, etc but I just can't seem to find anything that works. She only quiets down if I put her in a dark room with the lights off for a nap, but I can't do that all the time obviously. However, I can't even pick her up or move her anymore when she has an extended panic attack, because she recently started being cage aggressive when she's upset.

I thought I would be in a house by now, but because of unemployment during covid and the current housing situation, I'm still in an apartment and currently working from home. So far my neighbors and coworkers have been understanding, but I'm really scared that I'll have to rehome her and I just keep breaking down about it.

I'm experienced with birds and have a past history of being able to calm down screamers, but it's not working in this case so I feel like maybe I'm overlooking something because it's stressing me out so much. Figured I'd post here in case anyone had any ideas. Thanks for your help

 

[Mizzely]

Is she near a window or something that may be giving her too much stimuli?

Things I would probably try to do if you haven't already:

Have white noise on, all the time. Whether this is an air purifier, sound machine, or YouTube, something that has a consistent sound may help her, and dull "sudden" sounds.

I would also try to cover part of her cage with a fleece blanket or something, so she has a retreat to go to. This worked really good for my scaredy bird Hahns, especially when she first came to live here.

I hope you figure something out! That is so stressful!

 

[Pixiebeak]

Awwww
No fun
Start some soothing rituals. When it's her Neptune and bed time as she starts to settle play soft soothing music. I like toddler lullabies and Celtics music. But anything you like thst is more droning and calm. After you established thst link over days weeks..then try playing it just at tge start of getting wound up...tge hope is its now linked with times she us calm and will help induce calm.

Start some warm comfort feeds. In the morning and lste afternoon before bedtime. Warm mashed sweet potatoes, or oatmeal, or baby burd formula made thick.

Thise are all from Pamela Clark sbd her parrots and stress article.

 

[tka]

I am well familiar with that ACK ACK ACK scream at close range and I feel your pain!

Can you tell us a bit about your girl? How old is she? A couple of my thoughts are about making her feel more secure in the cage. The flipside to an area feeling more safe and secure is that it also becomes an attractive site for nesting: my hormonal female loves seeking out nice, dark enclosed spaces because she thinks they would make a superb place to nest in. She does get fairly defensive of her nesty spots and doesn't like being shooed out of them.

Where's her cage located? Can you move it so that she feels more protected? Placing it in a corner so a couple of walls appear solid might help; be aware that it also might make her more nesty because it feels more enclosed.

Covering part of the cage can help them feel more secure but again, might encourage nestiness.

Sound might help to reduce the effect if sudden sounds - however, if she's freaking out at the round of running water, then she might find it scary. Is she okay with the sound of an air purifier or enclosed fan in the room? Mine sometimes like to shout along with the TV or music so playing TV or music may or may not help! Similarly, bird sounds tend to make mine cluck, warble and so on; however, you may decide that some warbling, clucking, chirruping, mumbling and so is the price to pay for a more relaxed bird. Your girl might find bird or rainforest recordings reassuring or she might freak out that she can hear birds but cannot see or interact with them.

If she responds well to voices then you could find a podcast series, radio play or audiobook that features her preferred voice type and no sound effects or weird editing. If she likes soothing male voices then you could try something like this

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/This-Audiobook-Will-Send-You-to-Sleep-Audiobook/B07CTVHBPN

Maybe a small gift for the neighbours would be appreciated.

Good luck!

 

[HeatherD]

Is she near a window or something that may be giving her too much stimuli?

Have white noise on, all the time. Whether this is an air purifier, sound machine, or YouTube, something that has a consistent sound may help her, and dull "sudden" sounds.

There's definitely too much stimuli everywhere in this apartment, compared to where we lived before (I didn't have a choice on moving, and it's surprisingly hard to find an apartment here that allows birds) -- really good idea on the white noise. I live in Seattle where we don't have central air, so you made me realize that I had a super loud A/C unit on constantly through October. She probably got used to that (I feel dumb for not realizing it), so I think I'll leave it on in "fan" mode and see if that helps!

Start some soothing rituals. When it's her Neptune and bed time as she starts to settle play soft soothing music. I like toddler lullabies and Celtics music. But anything you like thst is more droning and calm. After you established thst link over days weeks..then try playing it just at tge start of getting wound up...tge hope is its now linked with times she us calm and will help induce calm.

Start some warm comfort feeds. In the morning and lste afternoon before bedtime. Warm mashed sweet potatoes, or oatmeal, or baby burd formula made thick.

Thise are all from Pamela Clark sbd her parrots and stress article.

Thank you SO MUCH for this advice!!! I held up a dish of warm oatmeal for her to eat and she instantly calmed down, she has been making happy chirps ever since. I'm so relieved, maybe this can be a new way to help her feel safe and comfortable.

Can you tell us a bit about your girl? How old is she?

She is close to 5 years old, so definitely at the point of transition into adult bird, and maybe that's part of the difficulty.

A couple of my thoughts are about making her feel more secure in the cage. The flipside to an area feeling more safe and secure is that it also becomes an attractive site for nesting: my hormonal female loves seeking out nice, dark enclosed spaces because she thinks they would make a superb place to nest in. She does get fairly defensive of her nesty spots and doesn't like being shooed out of them.

Where's her cage located? Can you move it so that she feels more protected? Placing it in a corner so a couple of walls appear solid might help; be aware that it also might make her more nesty because it feels more enclosed.

I've tried a bunch of different places for her cage (even the closet), but in the past she would get insecure and call for me if she couldn't see me. So, her cage is currently strategically positioned so that she can see me at my computer and also in the kitchen, with a blanket across two walls of the cage to give her a little corner where her food bowl is. After reading your reply and thinking about it a bit, I realized that I've definitely been keeping her caged more due to her panic issues, and that might just be making her even more stressed out. I think I'll try putting her cage somewhere a bit more secure per your suggestion, and keep her out on my shoulder for most of the day in case that helps. I was afraid being out of the cage would stress her out even more, but so far it seems to have calmed her down.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! I feel like some of this was obvious and I should have figured it out, but she's already doing so much better than in the entire previous month, just a few hours after reading through this advice. Thanks so much for your help

 

[Mizzely]

Sometimes it just takes a little outside perspective! Hopefully things will continue to improve for both of your sakes!

 

[April]

That's wonderful news! I hope she continues to calm down and not be so nervous. Bless her heart,sending her gentle scritches.

 

[HeatherD]

I've searched this forum before for advice on similar topics that I've had an issue with, so for posterity I figured I'd post here -- it turns out my huge mistake was caging Clover more often. The first few times she was really panicky, I put her back in her cage and it calmed her down. So, I was an overprotective bird mom and just kept putting her back at "home" in her "safe" cage when she was upset and left her there more often to try to keep her calm, even though it ultimately wasn't working.

When I reversed that behavior, she pretty much calmed down completely. As long as she is out of her cage and has access to the whole apartment, she just flies to a different room if she is spooked by a random sound. Now the only time she mega-shrieks is if I close the door to her cage during daytime or shut a door in my apartment, which is kind of heartbreaking. I basically put my bird in Birdie Jail for over a month by accident. She still occasionally starts screaming if the parrotlet does an alarm-chirp or if I turn on the shower, but if I quickly say "Clover it's okay" she stops immediately lol. I'm so happy she's back to normal.

Thank you guys again for all your help!!!

 

[Mizzely]

Oh yay I'm glad you figured it out!