New Apartment and Screaming

[mangosaur]

Hi Guys,

I just had to move into a new apartment, and I’m concerned my neighbors might complain about my Halfmoon. There are times when he will just shriek continuously. He has toys and out of cage time, but it sometimes feels like he prefers screaming. I feed him a vegetable chop in the morning with hemp and oats mixed in, but he’ll usually just toss the veggies.

Does anyone have experience with conures in an apartment or suggestions to alleviate the screaming?

 

[BirdG1rl]

It is definitely, in my opinion, the change that has him so aggravated.
@Zara
@webchirp

 

[Teckechick]

Do you have any foraging toys? Those can help keep a beak occupied and busy working instead of screaming.

 

[Wardy]

Will be a massive change for him have you tried playing some music for him

 

[LanaNana]

I suggest training the bird to do things other than scream. Once the bird learns that he gets a click and treat for cute tricks, flying on cue, going to a certain location, making other chirps, etc, then the bird will do those things generally a bit more and other stuff (like constant screaming) at bit less. Also, the more control an animal has over their environment (by being able to interact with you through training to get treats) the less distressed and anxious they are.

 

[Wardy]

Hi Guys,

I just had to move into a new apartment, and I’m concerned my neighbors might complain about my Halfmoon. There are times when he will just shriek continuously. He has toys and out of cage time, but it sometimes feels like he prefers screaming. I feed him a vegetable chop in the morning with hemp and oats mixed in, but he’ll usually just toss the veggies.

Does anyone have experience with conures in an apartment or suggestions to alleviate the screaming?

Might be worthwhile just knocking on your neighbours door and just explain that your bird is being very noisy at the moment as it is a little bit stressed due to the move and this is outside the norm and explain that things will soon settle down.

When your bird is out of the cage create some kind of interactive play where you both get involved make a forraging bowl with your bird then let them enjoy it.
When making there chop let them be with you whilst you make it.
I play football "soccer" with mine they would go near the plastic balls wirh bells inside that i bought for them so i flick the ball they chase and knock back to me.

I added another conure last month and Mojos out of cage time was 50% less than she was used to initially she was noisy i upped my game and tried to make that time more interactive and has worked a treat.

Music is a massive thing i believe i work from home but when i go to work Mojo initialy used to scream and then both Mojo and KiKi screamed, i now have a playlist of music that i play if im working upstairs of music we play when we are with them might be a coincedence but it seems to chill them both out.

 

[mangosaur]

Music doesn’t seem to help with him, he does have foraging toys and we have training sessions together. It seems that he doesn’t want to forage or play with his toys unless I’m around him.

 

[mangosaur]

Here he is finally chewing his yucca block of wood when on my shoulder

 

[Wardy]

Music doesn’t seem to help with him, he does have foraging toys and we have training sessions together. It seems that he doesn’t want to forage or play with his toys unless I’m around him.

some good progress there chewing the yucca wood ( yucca wood was a winning discovery for me they both chew pine now )

dont think of the sessions as training think of them as play sessions you are not trying to train your bird to do something you are trying to encourage them to do something you dont want him to wave or anything like that you want him to spend a hour going through a food bowl with treats in that he needs to spend time working through.

I am becoming a huge fan of nutriberries i have always offered them as treats and in foraging bowls in my girls cages but i am also adding them more in with there food as they need to work a bit to get some food.

 

[Farlie]

Make sure you let him join you during the day such as, sitting on you shoulder while you do the dishes. OR, cleaning the bathroom. OR, cleaning up the bedroom. OR, whatever you do during the day let him watch you on your shoulder.

 

[Birdie Mama]

I was also going to mention to take him on a tour of his new home, for a few days, when you have him out. It may sound silly but this way he will get used to it, and the fact that if you are out of sight, you haven’t actually left him. It also gives them a sense of territory. We have done that with every bird we have ever brought home and have never had any issues with screaming and like you we live in an apt. It worked for us, maybe it can help you, like @Farlie says, bring him with you when you go about your day….

 

[GreenThing]

Big agreement with @Wardy -- it's been important and useful to me to suss out my neighbors and the administrative and maintenance employees at both apartments where I've lived. Even at pet-friendly places, the rules are most of the time written for dogs and cats, full stop. I was told at one place that I could have a bird "as long as it wasn't an exotic pet". Cue my thousand mile stare. It's more important to know 1) who might report you, and how likely it is they will, and 2) who is responsible for enforcing the rules, as the rules are often actually written by totally absent business owners. I am fortunate to have my parents near by, and we all still spend a lot of time together, so I'd never suggest breaking or bending the rules without a back-up plan if the worst should happen (which, in apartment situations, is usually less about rules and more about someone disliking you personally and looking for a vulnerability).

Pretty much everywhere I've lived in FL has 1) families with one or more people who aren't on the lease, 2) banned dog breeds, 3) fish and small pets that aren't allowed by the specific verbiage on the lease (I mean, when you get to the point that the lease wouldn't allow you to have a caterpillar in a jar, I'd feel pretty safe betting no one is going to enforce that).

Again, I'd NEVER recommend someone break a rule without also being prepared for the consequences, but I'm kinda cynical about apartment living.

 

[GreenThing]

Big agreement with @Wardy -- it's been important and useful to me to suss out my neighbors and the administrative and maintenance employees at both apartments where I've lived.

I actually wrote this reply with a different thread in mind but I am still very pro talk to the neighbors! People tend to be more understanding if they can put a face to whatever is happening in an apartment!

 

[Marisa K.]

Will be a massive change for him have you tried playing some music for him

Mine scream like crazy when there's music in the house... But they didn't react to the church choirs coming from across the street lmao.

 

[camelotshadow]

I actually wrote this reply with a different thread in mind but I am still very pro talk to the neighbors! People tend to be more understanding if they can put a face to whatever is happening in an apartment!

Maybe a little gift of cheer or food item (maybe not as they might be concerned about poison )
might help smooth things over or something to go with an introduction & a polite explanation. Not everyone drinks so not sure what is appropriate but the gesture would be nice & if they don;t drink they could offer it to guests.



Maybe even a hello card from your apartment introducing yourself would be nice & less intrusive. Some people wish to keep there distance. Maybe a small gift card enclosed?

ideas

 

[Farlie]

I've also visited with my neighbors to apologize for the racket mine makes and they all said they like it just fine while he sits on my shoulder in the halls of my apartment building. They've all said how beautiful and friendly he is. It's a pleasant inside noise they've all said so I'm good with no worries. You may not be able to share your bird as freely as I do but... Point is, I reached out to my neighbors about it.
The halls are enclosed and when I do laundry I take him with me to the laundry room and some get a glance of him in the hall. It's not something I've tried to suppress but shared it with everybody.