New baby in the house help!!!

[Candygirl7]

Looking for some advice. I’ve got an 18 year old male.
My daughter lives with me and she had a baby 2 months ago.
In the last month, my Jardine has been squawking constantly. He won’t stop. He’s always been such a quiet, calm, and happy bird.
He’s good with bedtime and you don’t hear a peep from him when he’s covered up.
But in the last month he squawks at all hours of the night and day. Whenever he hears the baby making noise whatsoever. Fussing/crying etc.

At first during the day, I would let him be on me when I was holding baby so he would know that this baby is part of our family. He was very loving, making kiss noises, saying I love you, talking very sweet and saying “baby” all the time.

But. Then I noticed him spreading his wings like he probably would over his own young. After some research I found out that human babies can stimulate the same response in parrots as their own babies.

The last few weeks he’s become aggressive with everyone else in the house (never been an aggressive bird at all) including me (he’s my bird and bonded with me). It’s almost like he thinks the baby belongs to him now.

Anyway…. It’s enough that baby is making noise all the time but now with the bird squawking at all hours of the night, I’m not getting any sleep and I don’t know what to do.
I took him to the local bird shelter for birdie daycare for a week, hoping that would help him reset a bit. Brought him home yesterday and it’s the same.
The moment baby makes noise he does too and it won’t stop.

What do I do? I don’t want to rehome him. He’s my baby. But I can’t not get any sleep or have a house full of screaming and squawking constantly either. (He screams loud like a human too)

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading!

 

[Sarahmoluccan]

I'm sorry you're having trouble. That's sounds stressful. Where's his cage located? Is it possible to move it to a quieter place in your home?

 

[Nostromo]

Oof, that sounds brutal.

First off I think that, as a mother of a young child myself, 2 months after baby is a time of huge disruption and upheaval for both humans and animals. Your bird is very likely picking up on all the different emotions, changes to routines, exhaustion, etc etc. I say all that just to say that time alone may help this situation settle down. 2 months is right in the thick of new baby adjustments. Even a couple months from now, things may be very different.

That being said, you can't be having your bird screaming constantly at night for months on end. That's untenable. I'd put him in a travel cage and put him somewhere at night where you can't hear him, if that's possible. Have him out and enjoying life with the family during the day, but at night, solitary confinement at least until things settle down a little more. Is there a laundry room where he could go at night? An office? Even a closet? Somewhere with good enough ventilation and he can go in a carrier each night and you can have a few closed doors between him and your bedrooms.

Another thing is maybe to get some white noise and fans and things near his cage to help mute the sound of the baby's cries, or maybe some music or something. He's not necessarily protecting the baby, I would think... he's probably responding A) to the baby's screams as though it's another bird screaming; birds loves to scream along with their flock and B) responding aggressively because of all the change and upheaval of a new baby.

I'd focus on occupying his mind, settling his routine, and keeping things as quiet and calm around him as you can. So things like foraging toys and puzzles with pieces of nuts hidden in them to work his little brain, some calming music, dimmer lights, speaking softly around him and keeping hustle & bustle to a minimum. Lower the calorie content of his food a little, so for instance if he's eating primarily pellets I might start offering more vegetables to eat, especially skewers that he can chew up and munch, and slightly less pellets, just to reduce hormonal behavior. Be sure you're not petting him or stimulating him to engage in hormonal behavior. Lots of spray baths.

And, finally, ear plugs!

Good luck. I really do think that things will settle down with time. For one thing, your new baby won't be crying nearly as much in just a month or two, and your bird will get more and more adjusted. Imagine what it's like from his perspective - this new being screaming in the house! How thrilling and how disturbing! It's no wonder he's screaming along too. That's just instinct for them. The louder the household is, the louder the bird. He'll settle down with time.

If the weather is right, it might be nice to put him outside sometimes during the day in a travel cage. He gets sunshine and stimulation, and you get a break from him. I put my birds out when they're screaming too much. Let them go annoy the neighbors instead!

 

[Candygirl7]

I will also add that he is constantly shushing us and telling us to shut up.
Before baby came he likes a quiet house.
I’ve been sitting in my living room and the house has been silent for the last hour yet his loud squawks have been shrill and persistent.
I don’t know what his deal is!

Our place is super small. I have thought about a fan but his cage is quite large and in the living area of our suite so this wouldn’t be helpful at night when we are trying to use the living room or just be in the main area.

I also thought about moving him into my bedroom at night as it’s on the other end of the suite and I sleep with a loud fan… but I also sleep with the window open and like a cold room…. So not sure if a travel cage with a blanket over it would still have him being too cold.
He’s such a social guy and likes to be wherever the family is. He’s never in his cage unless it’s bedtime. He otherwise has free roam of the house and has always been such a good bird.
I feel like the noise is stressing him out and also making him jealous because someone else is getting my attention.
But I also spent 4 hours with him last night giving him love and treats and he was still upset first thing this morning when we all got up and he heard noise.
I’m running out of patience with this bird. I love him to bits and I’m pretty intuitive with him and how he’s feeling/what he needs but I am completely stumped and at my wits end. If we had a bigger house I could absolutely isolate him in a different area and maybe he’d be better but I don’t have that option right now. So it’s learn how to all coexist in a 2 bedroom basement suite.

 

[Zilga]

Seconding earplugs for everyone and moving him as far as you can. Unless you're keeping your room ridiculously cold and he's not in a draft, he should be okay - areas where Jardines live in the wild can get into the 50s at night.

The upside of this being a baby problem is that, horrible as it is, the baby period is pretty short, so mitigating until you're out of the constant crying phase is probably doable. I am a huge fan of noise canceling headphones and white noise - it takes the edge off so you can still think. (My daughter was an unsleeper.)