Please help, im in dire need of advice

[Aiden Salas]

I have a 2 year old female cinnamon pearl cockatiel, latley I i feel she has started to distrust me and im not sure why. She spends the enire day screaming over seeming nothing, if im in the room or not. She used to be affectionate at times and was a clam happy bird, but for the last 5-6 months shes progressively been distrusting of me. Wont even let me get near her most of the time. Flys around and screams almost all day. Im not sure what to do. Ive had her sense she was about 3 months old, and have always had issues with her trusting me. I need advice, im on my last line I can't do anymore sleepless nights, and ear piercing mornings. I need any help I can get, the last thing I want is to get rid of her, but im worried this wont pass, and that she is unhappy.

 

[tka]

Can you tell us more about her lifestyle?

Where does she sleep, and for how many hours a night? Do you cover the cage? Is the room where she sleeps quiet and dark or are people moving around, watching TV, talking and socialising etc in it?

What's her diet like? What do you feed her?

Does she have toys? What toys does she have? Does she play with them?

How many hours is she out of her cage?

Who else does she interact with? Do you live on your own or with other people? Do you have other birds? Do you have other pets?

How do you normally interact with her?

Finally, have there been any changes or disruption recently? For example, new people (I don't know how old you are, but perhaps a new friend or partner coming over), different working hours when you're out of the hour, a new toy, less time out of the cage etc.

I don't have any answers for you immediately, but answering my questions can help us work out if there's something going on.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Did anything change in your environment or your schedule? Did something spook her that you know of? Have you had her checked by a vet? Sometimes behavioral changes can be related to something physiological.
As for behavioral issues you can look through these two websites and see if there is any thing that might be helpful:
Welcome to BehaviorWorks.org
Training Parrots | Parrot Training DVDS & Books

 

[Aiden Salas]

Hi, thanks for helping. Nothing drastic has changed. But I do need to be more aware of being quiet in the room. St night i keep a dim light on till i go to bed, which can sometime go till 1-2 in the morning. I do cover the cage with a black sheet. We have 2 cats but they dont interact much, shes likes to them anyways. Sometimes she like to be around them, which makes me think she needs more company. She also spends a lot of time near her mirrors. I try to spend time with her, but shes usually not a fan of hanging out near me when she in her mood. Her diet is a seed pellet blend, but she doesn't eat many pellets usually. I also give her millet often as a reward, or a way to quiet her in the morning.

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

Hi, thanks for helping. Nothing drastic has changed. But I do need to be more aware of being quiet in the room. St night i keep a dim light on till i go to bed, which can sometime go till 1-2 in the morning. I do cover the cage with a black sheet. We have 2 cats but they dont interact much, shes likes to them anyways. Sometimes she like to be around them, which makes me think she needs more company. She also spends a lot of time near her mirrors. I try to spend time with her, but shes usually not a fan of hanging out near me when she in her mood. Her diet is a seed pellet blend, but she doesn't eat many pellets usually. I also give her millet often as a reward, or a way to quiet her in the morning.

I think you may be accidentally rewarding the screams with Millet.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Try taking out the mirrors too. A routine might help. Also how big is her cage? Does she have a lot of foraging toys or time out of her cage? Maybe you can rebuild her trust with training.

 

[Khizz]

Yep, two takeaways so far:
1. Remove the mirrors. These can prevent birds from bonding with you as they think it's another bird.

2. Don't use millet to keep her quiet. Maybe give it her when she is quiet by herself. When Jeff and Mabel are being too loud, I leave the room and don't return till they are quiet. If they make noise again I make a show of leaving, or turning my back on them. When they are quiet I give them attention, praise them and so on. With the noise it sounds like she needs training.

It must be tough to see her so distrusting, but I'm sure you can get her back