Need Some Serious Advice

[MissTee]

Hello! All it's been a long time since I've been on here. Not that I don't want to be on here just work has been crazy. So I had to move from the house I was renting ( home owner wanted to sell ) back home with my dad till I find a place.

I am looking at moving out but this time to an apartment. I can't afford to rent another home so I have to find an apartment that is within my budget. Where I live there really isn't any town homes or condos.

My question and concern is I plan on taking my Sun Conure Mango with me. But as we all know with Conures they can be loud. She has her good moments and not good ones. I feel like she might do okay noise level wise in apartment but I am scared that someone will complain and I'll have to move again.

Every where I have looked accepts birds, and I was even asked what kind of birds I had and told the guy and he didn't act like it would be a problem.

I'd like to ask you fellow bird parents if you have any advice or suggestions for me. I'm really struggling with this. I can't stay with my dad, love him and appreciate the help but just can't stay here too long. I DO NOT want to give up my Mango. She is my baby.

Thanks Tanya!

 

[Hope]

I would talk to your new neighbors (maybe bring them a small "new neighbor" gift from your conure) and ask them to let you know if the noise becomes an issue. Be upfront and Just explain that your bird becomes excited at times, like maybe when you get home. If a neighbor complains to you, try moving your conure to the other side of the apartment.

Honestly, sun conures aren't considered great apartment birds, though. I would keep an eye out for a cheap house for rent!

 

[MissTee]

That's a good idea, if I find a place then I will try that! No I know trust me. Just life kind of threw me a curve ball. I work in a very specialized field and I have to be really close to work. All the houses in that area are not cheap to rent. So kind of feel stuck and frustrated.

 

[Mizzely]

Keep the bird cage on am inside wall not sharing with a neighbor if possible. And hang up thick blankets on the walls of the room if you can. That helped a lot when we had noise complaints from neighbors.

 

[Karija]

See if any of the apartment complexes you are looking at might seem to be better suited for your situation...
- Do they advertise as being pet friendly or trying to attract dog owners? Might have thicker walls built for barking.
- How many units border yours? Instead of having units on all sides, is it possible to only have one or two units bordering you? This might mean a bottom/top/corner apartment, depending on their layout.
- Try and make sure that the walls that do border where you'll keep your bird don't border with someone's bedroom.

And so forth. Anyway, that's the kind of list/thoughts I used when I was getting an apartment for me and my GCCs. Might see if you can teach a quiet-ish attention grabber to your sun, too - either a quieter contact call for your attention or something. I trained one of my GCCs to ring a bell when she wanted attention instead of screaming, it helped a ton.

 

[MissTee]

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate all the advice! I will try these all! Karija, how did you teach you gcu to use the bell?

 

[Lesley Yeung]

We live in an apartment and I am always expecting a complaint. Luckily, we own so we can't be evicted. But I still don't like to be a nuisance.

Anyway, I can hear Bird from the elevator and outside. So it stands to reason the neighbors would be pretty well aware that we have a bird.

But after 3 years, we have had no complaints. I ask neighbour casually in the elevator about possible noise complaints and no one has any idea I have a bird. They know my husband does because he takes Bird with him on short trips. But unless they put 2&2 together, they just look puzzled.

I think that their noise doesn't travel well. And the time of day they are awake isn't quiet to begin with.

I live in a wood structured building which allows sound to travel pretty well. Like the bass in music or loud voices or heavy stepping. But no one hears Bird.

I'd be extra nice to my neighbors and keep an open line of communucation. Either in person or a note under their doors. Most people don't want to mess with the lives of a nice neighbor. Even if your sunny is noisey, it's only during the day. Maybe inquire about toddlers/babies near by, if you think it prudent.

I doubt you will have trouble. Just make sure to make the first move.

 

[DoubleTake]

I have three needy suns and own a 3 story town house with shared walls. Lived here for a year and I think the walls are thick enough to drown out some if the noise since my neighbors have never complained.

Like others have stated, make sure to have the bird area away from living room/bedroom walls.

 

[BrianB]

I've found that ambient noise helps keep mine calm. I would put an Echo Dot by their cage and have it play background noise like a gentle rain or nature sounds. That really seemed to help. I also discovered they liked instrumental jazz. I don't normally mind the chattering noises they make, but my ears have a low tolerance for the screaming.

 

[Karija]

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate all the advice! I will try these all! Karija, how did you teach you gcu to use the bell?

I'm not the best trainer, so there are probably better ways to do it, but just reinforcing the behavior. The old girl was blind, so I'd ring the bell whenever I came over to talk to her or take her out, so she started doing the same to get me. I had to ignore a lot of screams, though, and then give her a fair bit of praise when she was quiet. It clicked for her and she started doing that to get my attention. Only problem we had was when she wanted the attention of the other GCC and not me

I've currently got a loud male GCC. We're working on him using his words to get my attention and/or out of the cage instead of yelling. If he yells, I'll ignore it, and when he's quiet if he responds to one of his phrases then I'll give him attention/out. I'd do the bell, but he loses all sense of rationality around bells and goes into super hulk attack mode around them, so that's not happening.

 

[finchly]

We recently searched for a condo to buy and went through the same thing. You can purchase actual sound proofing panels and hang them. Someone else already suggested putting the bird on an outside wall. Our realtor contacted us after months of no contact and suggested a pet friendly area where almost everyone had at least 2 pets. This would have been a great choice. By then I'd decided I didn't want to give any pets up so we are remodeling and staying in our house.
Years ago my best friend found a rental that was the entire top floor of a lady's house, who didn't care what kind of pets she had up there!
Don't give up.the right thing will come along.

 

[Lesley Yeung]

Ringing a bell for attention!! My goodness. What a great idea. I am going to try that with Bird. He might be a good candidate because he is cool with spending time with himself. He gets annoyed on weekends if my hysband is home because he gets too much attention. So the bell could benefit Bird and Michael.

 

[camelotshadow]

A sun is going to be heard. It all depends on the neighbors tolerance.
Some are just not wanting to hear birds & even if the current neighbors are fine with it what happens if a new one moves in in a year or two & finds the noise intolerable & calls the management & complains?

I wish you well with this...

 

[MissTee]

Thank you everyone!!!!!! Great advise!!! Will defiantly take these all into to consideration. I bought sound proofing panels. Mango is a diva at times and just screams so I am prepared. Not going to give her up. She is my feather baby! HUGS