Loud Parakeet Help

[rioandrita]

I have two parakeets, I have had them both for about 3 months. I bought them at a pet store, so I'm not sure their exact age. They are both albino, so I'm also not positive on their genders, but based on their characteristics, I assume that Rio is a boy, and Rita is a girl. Rita is calm and quiet, she chirps quietly a little bit, and she will chirp back and forth with Rio. Rio however, squawks very loudly constantly. He seems like a happy bird, he plays with his toys, he climbs all around the cage. He will chirp loudly, and talk quietly to himself,(which seem like happy sounds) but most of the time he is LOUDLY squawking. Since they are so new/young, they aren't very comfortable with me yet, so I have a hard time believing that he is squawking so loudly for attention. He quiets down when I walk over to his cage, but I'm thinking thats because they are scared of me still. Does anyone have any advice on how I can limit his squawking? Or is this normal for a happy young male parakeet? If something is wrong, or he is wanting something, I would love to know what to do to help him!

 

[fiddlejen]

IF IF you feel that your bird's sounds are fully out of the normal range for a 'keet AND if he seems to be otherwise exhibiting distress also, (or if this is a Sudden new change to his sounds), you may want to have him checked out by an avian vet.

Otherwise, whatever type sounds your bird makes are part of owning a bird and you should Not try to limit their sounds. You could try playing videos of budgie sounds -- or, you could try teaching him to speak human. Or give him lots of music to listen to, which he might like & might attempt to imitate. (Might even succeed!)

IF you've been responding to the unwanted sounds with lots of attention, that Could reinforce them. I'd recommend whistling back or otherwise respondingly (pleasantly and calmly) when you hear noises you prefer.

So in other words, you can increase his repertoire of sounds, and non-respond to the less-preferred sounds. But, you should Not attempt to limit his sounds in any other way.

(BTW, my own experience with my two parakeets is that the male is the more voluble of the two. He likes to make lots of noises. And some parakeets really do have an amazing vocal range. A happy parakeet is likely to be a noisy one.)