A phase?

[Ducatimom]

I've noticed something that Ducati does and I was wondering if this is something that will get better over time as he gets more comfortable or something I to train him to do/not do.

It started with every time I get up and go in another room he starts screaming. No amount of just ignoring it until he gets quite then giving him a treat seems to help. He has his good days where he's not as loud as other days. I know that's just part of his nature as well, but there's another little piece of the puzzle.

Because he seems to get mad at me when I leave the room or even get off the couch I started taking him with me every where I go so he's a part of what's going on. I wasn't doing it before because of the dogs, but they're all a little more comfortable with each other so I can now without worrying too much. Anyways, he'll stay with me for a little while then fly back to his cage and yell at me. Is it something he's trying to tell me like he wants/doesn't want something? Is he just not quite comfortable yet? He doesn't seem to care when my husband goes to another room. How do you train him to make a slightly softer sound or a special sound when he's calling to you?

 

[Dinosrawr]

You're reinforcing his behaviour by coming back to him every time he flock calls you. My conure does the same thing, but I REFUSE to enter the room if she's shrieking for me. If I do happen to enter the room because I absolutely must, I completely ignore her.

You can definitely train a different flock call by not responding to shrieks and calling back with something else, or replying with a sound they already know that isn't so ear piercing. I have Avery doing a little "ribbit" sound with me when I leave. She does it inbetween shrieks, and if she starts only "ribbiting", then I come back in and say hello. Her shrieks are less and fewer, so it's still a work in process. I know a lot of conure owners who have taught theirs to whistle in place of the shrieking flock call. It's just all about positively reinforcing one sound over another.

As for the flying back to the cage and yelling at you, it sounds like he's telling you he feels safer by his cage and expects you near it to be safe as well. Or something along those lines. Avery has two different shrieks - the ear piercing flock call, and the ever annoying "why aren't you looking at me 24/7?" shriek/squawk. I won't give her attention if she does either. Hopefully someone else who has trained a whistle will chime in, too.

 

[Ducatimom]

Thanks! I started ignoring his shrieks this past week. I take a step back in the room when he's stopped screaming for a couple of seconds and stop once he starts up again. Once I get to where he can see me and he shrieks I turn around and ignore him again.

Did you do the ribbit response right after Avery screamed/shrieked or after she was quiet for a couple of seconds (same as with entering the room)?

The flock call doesn't bother me near as much. I would be fine if he just did that one. I get the "why are you not sitting right here paying attention to me 24/7" shrieks. He makes little hiccup chirps every now and then. Sounds like he's squeaking so we'll call back to him saying "squeak" when he makes those noises or really anything other than scream.

 

[Dinosrawr]

I do it after she's been quiet, otherwise I worry I'm just making a response to the shriek itself. When I enter the room I say, "hello baby!" To which she happily replies, "what's up baby?". It's quite adorable, haha!

 

[Dinosrawr]

Oh! And just as a side note - whenever I say to Avery (and Shiko), "I'll be right back, I love you!" and then shut the door, she rarely calls after me.

 

[Ducatimom]

That's adorable! Today the little turd figured out that he can just fly to me if my back's turned and I'm ignoring him lol. Like "Ha! Try and ignore me now mom!" but it's the first time he's flown to me from his cage so I'll take it.

 

[JasmineGCC]

When I leave the room I say 'see you later' and my GCC Jasmine replies 'see you later' back so she knows I'll be coming back soon. If I'm in another part of the house and she does her flock call, I'll shout 'hello Jasmine' and then we exchange a couple more 'hello's' and she's content. The moment i enter the room, I give her a pine nut treat and then she's happy. She dies have a noisy ball toy that makes sounds and if she bangs that she wants attention (much better than screeching) and I dash over to give a pine nut.

 

[Ducatimom]

We're trying the whistling thing right now. He was not happy when I was bagging up his chop yesterday because I was at the table where he couldn't see me. Every now and then he wouldn't really whistle but would somewhat make the same sound pattern. Just a high, low whistle. I'd give him a whistle when he did that. I think he's starting to get it. He still screams but he's making that sound pattern more frequently.