How to stop bad behavior (screaming) before it gets 'Too bad!

[LunaLove]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum! I've been meaning to join for awhile now, so now is as good of a time as any

We've had our Goffins, Luna for two years now. She has been a blast, has learned dozens of words and phrases, and is a part of the family as much as a human toddler

Anyway, recently her behavior has gotten pretty icky. You see, my wife had to leave her job, and she now stays here full time. I work from home, so I'm always here as well. And Luna has gotten used to our constant presence. It's gotten to the point where she'll call for us (a loud squaaawk) even when we leave the room for 30 seconds. She'll also squawk when we're in the room and don't give her attention.

In trying to minimize this, we leave the room when she screams and we won't re-enter the room until she behaves. This has turned into us saying a gentle "No" as we walk away. She knows this "no" means that she has to behave, so she'll scream and immediately say "I love you!" anticipating us saying walking away.

We also try covering her cage when she screams repeatedly. So she turns to a bunch of "I love yous" to get us to uncover it. I just realized this is like a game to her... because our walking away/re-entering/covering/uncovering is all involvement in her world, and I fear that she's screaming just to get attention. We THINK we are training her, but she may be training us!

What do you guys think? What would you do in this scenario? Thanks so much for reading, and I'm happy to finally be a part of this community!

 

[GaleriaGila]

I think you're wonderfully analytical and ambitious... you'll find lots of like-minded company here (as you probably already know).
I have been a complete failure at managing the Rickeybird's behavior, so I'll not even try to advise you there.
One thing I will suggest... light management, if possible. Especially if your darling is hitting her hormones! Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.
Good luck!

 

[fayah]

I had a rescue 'too who was the same way. Spoiled rotten because his previous foster was home 24/7 whereas I had a less consistent schedule.

I think it's really important that you find him good toys to keep him occupied while you are gone instead of just expecting him to be silent/bored while you are otherwise occupied. For my bird, he had a cardboard box with some holes he loved to expand, a small mirror he liked to stare at and push in/out of his box, and lots and lots of chew toys! (Bird kabobs were like birdie crack to my birds!)

I usually entice my bird to play before I leave. Once he starts chewing or clicking his beak at his mirror, he forgets alllll about me and I sneak off.

 

[itzjbean]

Cockatoos are so tricky in this way...in the wild they live in flocks and are constantly in contact with each other and do everything together. So if you think of it that way, that she sees the two of you as her flock, then her behavior becomes a little bit more understandable. But it doesn't make it any less irritating. I have no cockatoo experience so I'm sorry I cannot help on that front.

All birds kept as pets should learn from a young age to be independent, because life happens. We can't be there for them all the time, 24/7. Unfortunately, cockatoos can be synonymous with Velco (like our Doberman!) in that they demand attention, and in a lot of ways they are so much like toddlers. So, I think the best way to go about this would be to try to get her better at playing independently.

Does she have a stand or where does she spend all of her time while you are all at home? Perhaps you can develop a new routine with her -- let her out in the morning for exercise, play time and breakfast, then have a specific time (mid-morning?) put her in her cage for a n hour or two so you can do other things, get work done, clean, run errands, and give her plenty of toys ready to be chewed up so she knows that this is her time to be alone and play by herself. Just like a human toddler who is given toys and has a specific nap schedule, kids do well with routine just like birds. I would do this a couple times a day, mid morning and mid-afternoon, so she develops the ability to play by herself. and maybe will stop screaming. I hope this helps a little, if at all.

 

[LunaLove]

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

I think you're wonderfully analytical and ambitious... you'll find lots of like-minded company here (as you probably already know).

I am very analytical, sometimes overly so. I'm glad there's like-minded people here!

I think it's really important that you find him good toys to keep him occupied while you are gone instead of just expecting him to be silent/bored while you are otherwise occupied.

This is huge. We buy toys at the bird store and then my wife makes her toys - my wife is into crafting, and she'll spend hours making these very complicated toys for her to play with. They keep her entertained for hours, but after awhile they'll be destroyed, so we use the remnants to make new toys.

One thing we learned, Luna loves novelty - new things - but she gets bored and wants something new very fast. When she's involved in a new toy, she'll be like an ADHD toddler fixated on a shiny, in her own world. This gives us hope she's not entirely dependent on our presence

Also, we have a wifi webcam recorder (just got it recently!) that streams to our phones when we're away. We find that when we leave the house (and she knows we're gone) she plays contently or perches the entire time. She's not screaming for us or anything.

It's when she KNOWS we're home and not giving her attention that she causes the most mischief.

All birds kept as pets should learn from a young age to be independent, because life happens.

We're still learning this. She's nearing 3-years of age. We're trying our hardest to help her to feel independent. That's why I posted this, because she's still relatively young, and I don't want her to reach "adulthood" (whenever that is) with bad behaviors engrained, difficult to re-train.

Are we doing the right thing by leaving the room or covering her cage when she screams uncontrollably?

Thanks again everyone!

 

[wrench13]

You are so being trained.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining!!

Luna is exhibiting very typical cockatoo behaviors, hence the moniker of "Velcro birds." I have 5 Goffins and have come to realize they either need the company of a flock or highly dedicated families able to spend much time with them.

I believe you have correctly analyzed the root situation, and the observation of "wrench13" is spot-on! Luna craves attention when you are home and has learned screaming brings attention. Since toys are a great distraction, perhaps placing a new and unique one in the cage during her "alone" time will help. When the screaming begins, don't immediately react or else you will simply reinforce the "contact call." (easier said than done!) Perhaps a routine suggested by "itzjbean" may help as well. Consistency is extraordinarily important!

Good luck! Goffins are my favorite parrot species and incredibly wonderful companions!

 

[LunaLove]

Scott, you are like the Goffins Whisperer, I really thank you for your wisdom. I will print it out and hang it up.

So my take from reading these amazing responses is that ... Cockatoos are like publicity "Even bad news is good news - free publicity" meaning ... even bad behavior, and 'attempted' disciplinary responses are free attention. Ahem, pardon that abstract analogy. I hate to admit, but I will humble myself and agree with Wrench that... yes, we are being trained.

We'll stop right away with the cage covering. OR if we do it, I guess we'l do it for a set time-limit.

I think the take-away is consistency, and calm level-headedness. No raised voices. (So hard!!!)

I am still wondering if a very calm and quiet exiting the room when she misbehaves is still a good tactic to employ?

 

[Scott]

Scott, you are like the Goffins Whisperer, I really thank you for your wisdom. I will print it out and hang it up.

So my take from reading these amazing responses is that ... Cockatoos are like publicity "Even bad news is good news - free publicity" meaning ... even bad behavior, and 'attempted' disciplinary responses are free attention. Ahem, pardon that abstract analogy. I hate to admit, but I will humble myself and agree with Wrench that... yes, we are being trained.

We'll stop right away with the cage covering. OR if we do it, I guess we'l do it for a set time-limit.

I think the take-away is consistency, and calm level-headedness. No raised voices. (So hard!!!)

I am still wondering if a very calm and quiet exiting the room when she misbehaves is still a good tactic to employ?

Why thank you, I really love those little toos!

I don't cover cages, but may be a good tool for time-outs, would be curious to learn other member's experiences. Any sort of discipline should be for a short period to ensure they equate the unwanted deed with your immediate response. Anything lengthy probably gets confused with an arbitrary action on your part.

You can't go wrong with attempting the silent and non-dramatic exit! You'll quickly learn if it is successful.

 

[BeatriceC]

If my Oscar is any indication, Goffins are extremely smart and are quick studies. I recently took in a rescue goffins, and he was a screamer at first. I did a lot of different things, but what finally worked was to teach him "inside voice". Once he figured out there was a volume he could use and talk to his heart's content, he stopped the screaming for the most part (sundown is the exception...he screams for about 5 minutes at night, right as the sun is going down and I haven't figured out how to stop that).

 

[LunaLove]

(...) I did a lot of different things, but what finally worked was to teach him "inside voice". Once he figured out there was a volume he could use and talk to his heart's content, he stopped the screaming for the most part (...)

This is exactly what happened. The first 2 weeks we had Luna, I call the "Hell Weeks" because she would not stop screaming both morning and night. 30-90 minutes at a time, nonstop, morning and night. I had so many panic attacks, it was not fun. I thought, "There's nothing we can do ... she hates us, she hates this place ..." The bird shop encouraged us to teach her a word. We talked to her like a human. The first phrase she picked up, "I love you!" We weren't even trying to teach her that. She just heard it enough and started saying it. It was a miracle. She picked up other words, her vocabulary growing exceedingly.

This screaming when we leave the room is pretty new, but since I created this thread, she has improved quite a bit. We leave the room when she screams, and she reverts to so many I Love You's. It's still a game to her, but at least it stops the screaming.

My wife is stockpiling toys, building them hours a time for when we can't be there with her or when we want to go to another room. This entertains her a lot. The biggest takeaway we learned is ... well, not to reach strongly to her screams. She loves reaction. We're keeping our calm.

Even as I type this, she's muttering. "I love you! Play with your bird. Ooooh boy! You! *kiss kiss kiss* I loooOOOoove YOU!" hah. She'll be a brat one minute, and then an angel the next.