MY blue and Gold is making me pull my hair out!!! HELP!

[hhop]

Hello every one,

I have a year and a half old blue and gold. I have had her since she hatched. She was hand fed and is spoiled as all I don't know what. She has developed this really nasty screaming habit. I can not even use the restroom without her flipping out. If I am not holding her or in her sight, she yells at the top of her lungs until I return. I have recently had to move and we moved from a big house to a small apartment. I thought that was the problem. I know it stressed her out but it has been five months now. I have tried to ignore her. I have tried to reward her when she is quiet, most of the time she throws the treat back at me. She is Rotten! I can not keep her covered for the rest of her life. She gets new toys every week and all kinds of goodies. She has a java tree playstand but I can not put her on it any more because she screams the second i let her up there. she used to love it. Any advice would be greatly apprieciated. I am at my witts end. My husband told me if she doesnt stop this I have to rehome her and I dont think I can part with her. I know how bad it is for them and I love her so much. I just do not know what else to do. Thanks!

 

[AVM]

Have you tried to replace her screaming with words? like "hello" or "whatchadoing"?? My cousin's birds used to scream when they wanted her attention so she taught them to say "whatchadoing" and she would give them lots of attention when they said that. And eventually it replaced the screaming.

 

[mtdoramike]

This is where most folks make the mistake of spoiling their birds by holding them all the time and responding to them when they scream. At first it is sooooo sweet to think that they miss you so much that they will scream to get you to come back to them. But what once was sweet is now an annoying habit.

I feel for you, Macaws can be very loud and moving into a small apartment is going to be a problem sooner than later with the screaming. I use a time out sheet for my birds when they get too roudy. It usually works. I also use a squirt bottle when they are a bit to noisy just to let them know to calm down a bit. When all else fails, I will give them a bath. That will usually calm them down for a bit.

Have you taken him to the vet to see if there is a medical issue?

 

[suebee]

as said above teach her to say words but its not gonna reduce noise level but be a little nicer


i'm probably wrong, but i see her as a baby still
have a telly on in room, this seems to work for nut, she does not watch it, but i think she feels less lonely cos there is sound in the room

its really tricky and can take some time to get her to stop

but if you start with a set time for play etc, and at other times reduce all interactions with her, this has also worked for nut

she was out of her cage, nearly all day, now she is caged and has about 2/3hours of out of cage time, she knows that during the day, even when we are home, she is in her main cage, she still grumbles about that, but since we have got into this routine, and it took about a month for the biting and attacks to stop, and the screaming has reduced to a mini minute tantrum

i make sure she has things in her cage that she likes, rotate toys and food bowls and things she can still destroy

but as long as she has her main meal with us, i don't think she minds?? as she goes into her sleep cage herself for it

its harder then raising children, having a parrot, but its all worth it