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Thinking of Rehoming...

MaxTheBird

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4/7/22
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6
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Texas
Hello everyone,
6 months ago, I purchased a 2 month old quaker parrot from a bird shop after over a year of reserching and learning about parrots. Her and I got along very well, and she is currently bonded to me and practically hates everyone else in my family. The problem Im having with her is the screaming. If I leave the room, she will scream, and scream, and scream, even when she is out of her cage. Somtimes, when she is sitting next to me or on my shoulder, she will go into a fit of screaming, and I doubt that is good for anyones ears. When she is in her cage, she ignores the many toys around her, and decides to scream. I try to give her at least two hours of out-of-cage-time a day, but somtimes, with school and work, it is not feasable. I have tried putting different toys in her cage and ignoring her, but nothing seems to work. I love her to bits, but all the screaming is taking a toll on my own health and also driving my family crazy.

In the past few weeks, I've been entertaining the idea of rehomeing her to someone that can take care of her better than I can. It feels like I am betraying her, but I really just want the best for her and I dont think she is as happy as she can be in my care. I am open to any advice you guys have on what I should do.

Thank you
 

Tsukuyomi

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Jackson
I've had a cockatiel bonded with my little quaker since I got them. I think without that he would be too bored/lonely and start picking feathers out since I'm gone with work almost every day.
 

tka

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Are you interested in keeping her, or has it got too much?

If you are willing to work through this, you must break that bond. It is not mentally healthy for our birds to be so bonded to us: we are humans, and cannot give them the relationship that they want. Your bird clearly thinks that you are her mate which is why she wants to be with you all the time, screams when she cannot see you, and hates everyone else in your family.

A mated parrot in the wild will never be apart from their mate. They will preen each other, sleep next to each other, and fly wingtip to wingtip. It is a relationship of profound closeness and intimacy, and we as humans are never going to be able to fulfil those needs. We have relationships with other humans: family, friends and partners. We go to work. We spend time out of the house and away from our birds.

What ends up happening is that the bird's hormones go into overdrive because they believe themselves to have a mate AND they are confused because their mate is not fulfilling their duties. This leads to behaviours like nesting, screaming, feather destruction and so on.

The first thing to do is to stop encouraging physical closeness. Ban her from your shoulder - either in increments or cold turkey. She is no longer allowed to hang out on your shoulder, arm, knee or whatever. Set up perches and playstands where she can hang out, but these should be at least an arm's length away.

The second thing is to give her alternatives to screaming. Chewing toys, foraging activities and target training all keep a bird busy. A busy beak is a quiet beak. Make her forage for her food - a simple way to do this is to add shredded paper to her food bowl so she has to dig around for her food. What toys does she like? Give her more opportunities for play and flight. If she's target trained, work her up to flying between different perches to touch the targeting stick.

If you have the space and can cover the additional expenses, look into getting a same-species companion for her. You should keep them in separate cages unless they indicate that they'd like to share. Even birds who aren't bonded with engage in parallel activities like eating, preening and playing at the same time.

Advice on screaming: https://pamelaclarkonline.com/screaming

Advice on the pair-bond: Avoid the Pair Bond: Social Relationships with Parrots

I hope this does help.
 

MaxTheBird

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4/7/22
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Texas
I read the links, and they were really helpful. I think you're right - Max sees me as a potential mate instead of as a companion. Usually, she enjoys playing with anything that she can tear apart (paper, coffee filters, old notebooks, etc). I made her a pvc pipe playgym a while ago, but since she preferred my shoulder I ended up putting it away. I think that I'll bring that back and put more toys on it to keep her busy.

Thanks!
 

sunnysmom

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Where is her cage located? And when she's by herself do you play music or leave the TV on for her?
 

FeatheredM

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Lots of foraging toys could help too. Nothing is better than winning a treat.
 

MaxTheBird

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@sunnysmom her cage is usually right next to my desk. However, I do move her cage around depending on where I am spending most of my time (dining room when eating, living room when cleaning, study room when working, etc). When I have to leave, I ususally put some extra foraging toys with treats in them and hope that she actually plays with them. I havent tried playing music or turning on the TV.
 

~Drini~

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I will always advocate that birds should have at least one other of their own kind around (if personality permits). They need that bird-bird interaction and it means that they will always have at least one flock mate nearby no matter what the humans' schedules are like. It's not natural for them to be alone.
 
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