My cockatoo screams every day and I'm slowly losing my mind

[Asumata]

My Sulfur Crested Cockatoo named Cami is a very good bird when I'm with him. Compared to my other birds, he absolutely LOVES me... But that may be the problem. Every time I leave the room / go out of sight he will scream constantly until I come back into the room. We already had to move him from the living room into my own room because my parents couldn't deal with the screaming any more. It usually hasn't bothered me too much as most of the time I'm in my room and he's quiet but lately it's been very stressful.

I've tried to correct the behavior first by waiting for him to get quiet when I left my room and then coming in to say "Hi" but it didn't seem to work. Also it was very annoying as I'd have to wait upwards of a half an hour just to go back to my room. I then tried covering the cage so he couldn't see me when he screamed and waited until he was quiet to take the cover off. This didn't seem to work either as he would listen for me to come in and just scream if he didn't hear me.

I'm not really sure what else to do but I feel like I have to try something because I'm beginning to lose my mind. My other Budgie and Sun Conure do not have this problem, I'm looking for any advice.

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining! You are not alone, screaming is one of the most difficult behaviors to modify.

Cami is bonded to you and sees you as his best friend. When you leave he seeks companionship and has learned screaming brings attention - he does not much care whether it is positive or negative. Is his cage inviting with a selection of toys? Teaching a parrot to self-entertain is a great way to reduce separation anxiety. Give him a reward when you approach for reasons other than screaming. Don't reward immediately after a screaming session as he will be negatively conditioned.

Other contributors include insufficient sleep, a less than ideal diet, and on occasion hormones.

This thread was started by one of our most respected and experienced members. Great advice inside: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48649-screaming-behavior-mods.html

 

[Lacewing]

While I am not a Cockatoo owner I have studied this issue. Apparantly screaming is a frequent thing for this species, especially at night. Some things to look at are : this behavior is exacerbated in breading season which it is right now, is this bird getting 12 hours of sleep?, if you go back in the room you are rewarding the behavior, is there soft lighting left on during the night?, if you cover the cage I suggest either no cover or only a partial cover. Let someone else put this bird to bed at night so he does not see you leave the room all the while knowing what is about to happen. Does you bird have toys that will challenge his abilities such as puzzles or stainless steel objects with nuts and bolts for play? Understand that this is a common problem for Cockatoo owners is going to help you.

 

[chris-md]

Sounds like a line of sight screamer. You were on the right track in rewarding silence, but sometimes a simple "hi" returning isn't enough. Come screaming with his favorite treat.

Also, are you able to post pictures of him in his cage? This will provide a lot of information.

Also, how often does he get to come out, and for how long?

 

[SailBoat]

We are a fully flighted, free roaming home for our DYH Amazon. I am not recommending this lifestyle for other owners. That said, I do recommend one of the most important parts of what we do and that is the near constant communication that is a requirement of what we do.

Parrots in their natural range are in near constant communication with each other. Humans tend not to participate at the same level and this can also added to your Too screaming! In addition, scream gets your Too the attention wanted.

Please follow the advice of Birdman666 and the others above.

Also, remember to 'Socialize' your Too. Your Too should and want to go to any member of your family and any trusted guest that is visiting your home. One of the common games should be "Pass the Birdie." And, like games to strength the Socializing aspect of your Too's daily activities.

In addition, your Too needs to develop self-entertaning tools to keep him active when the family or you are not around! Thats involves toys to make into small pieces and also foraging toys to keep the mind occupied!

 

[JustineBird]

Justine Did this to me a few months after I got her home. When I was upstairs in my room she would start to scream for me. When I had her in my room and walked around the wall corner to the closet she would run all over the bed and scream for me or yell out hello and not stop until I peaked around the corner.

She still does this sometimes. I think its just a call for attention. Try to finagle some interactions with association. Like put it in the cage and go out of sight, if it starts to make noise speak from the distance but dont walk in and show that you are there.

Maybe say hey and ask do you want me back with you? Then if she mumbles come back and give it a treat. Maybe walk out like you are going somewhere and wait to see if it makes noises. come back in after a few minutes and pick it up then cuddle.

Try in moderation or play hiding games. The more you get it interested in games and knowing that it is not good to scream when you are home or when you are out. Over time it could work..

For Justine I think that phase is over but still occasionally will scream but when she is around me or my family, she does not scream.. only says.. Hello or I love you..

 

[emyoung858]

As hard as it sounds, the advice that was given to me was to completely ignore it, sometimes I will be in the same room and maybe I'm not looking or communicating with her and she'll scream but I don't look up, don't go near her and I basically pretend like I didn't hear it. If I go in another room and she screams (almost always) I go about what I'm doing, then when she starts to say hello and talk nicely I'll respond back, and give her alittle pet or hold her for a bit, she screamed for a minute when I went upstairs just now but it didn't make me go back downstairs, it's just a matter of letting them know that their noise isn't going to give them attention and positive behavior will, just like a child. My too rarely screams now but the only type I give attention to are her playful happy screams when she's singing or dancing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Asumata]

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining! You are not alone, screaming is one of the most difficult behaviors to modify.

Cami is bonded to you and sees you as his best friend. When you leave he seeks companionship and has learned screaming brings attention - he does not much care whether it is positive or negative. Is his cage inviting with a selection of toys? Teaching a parrot to self-entertain is a great way to reduce separation anxiety. Give him a reward when you approach for reasons other than screaming. Don't reward immediately after a screaming session as he will be negatively conditioned.

Other contributors include insufficient sleep, a less than ideal diet, and on occasion hormones.

This thread was started by one of our most respected and experienced members. Great advice inside: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48649-screaming-behavior-mods.html

Cami has lots of toys to play with and when I'm busy and working at my computer he does tend to himself and I can hear him chewing and making noises. The person that I take him to in order to get his wings and beak trimmed makes blends of food for his birds and others and picked out the food for him. Should be plenty of nutrients for him. He might not be getting enough sleep, I didn't think about that... I usually stay up late so this could be a big factor. As far as hormones go I'm not sure. The person I mentioned before did say he might have a problem with his hormones because his beak grows abnormally fast, but not sure if there are any other problems. I did read that post before I just don't think he cares about being covered as long as he can tell I'm in the room.

 

[Asumata]

Sounds like a line of sight screamer. You were on the right track in rewarding silence, but sometimes a simple "hi" returning isn't enough. Come screaming with his favorite treat.

Also, are you able to post pictures of him in his cage? This will provide a lot of information.

Also, how often does he get to come out, and for how long?

I usually keep the cage open all the time unless he screams. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to get a picture of his cage if it might help.

 

[Asumata]

We are a fully flighted, free roaming home for our DYH Amazon. I am not recommending this lifestyle for other owners. That said, I do recommend one of the most important parts of what we do and that is the near constant communication that is a requirement of what we do.

Parrots in their natural range are in near constant communication with each other. Humans tend not to participate at the same level and this can also added to your Too screaming! In addition, scream gets your Too the attention wanted.

Please follow the advice of Birdman666 and the others above.

Also, remember to 'Socialize' your Too. Your Too should and want to go to any member of your family and any trusted guest that is visiting your home. One of the common games should be "Pass the Birdie." And, like games to strength the Socializing aspect of your Too's daily activities.

In addition, your Too needs to develop self-entertaning tools to keep him active when the family or you are not around! Thats involves toys to make into small pieces and also foraging toys to keep the mind occupied!

I'd love to have a home where he could roam freely but he'd get eaten by the dog or cat if he were to run around the house. He doesn't play nice with the rest of my family and they are afraid of him. The only other person he will be nice with is my sister. Cami doesn't come off his cage very well and I often have to pry his toes in order to get him to step up. This creates problems if you don't trust him not to bite you.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Growing to fast beaks might be a liver problem.
I'd inquire with your vet.As for the screaming (and we had screamers) I have 3 Toos at the moment.Whats worked for me is a really set schedule.They learn that their going to have their out time the same time everyday.It makes them less insecure.Sounds like now he is so anxious about when he gets to see you.So he has to scream to let you know ☺ Also newspaper loads of newspaper put it in side stuff it on the top and sides.Huge mess but a busy bird .Good luck

 

[Lacewing]

I believe you might find this article helpful:

Parrot Screaming: How to make it stop so you can keep your sanity - Birds And Beaks

 

[Scott]

I believe you might find this article helpful:

Parrot Screaming: How to make it stop so you can keep your sanity - Birds And Beaks

Great article!!

 

[EllenD]

I'll just chime in on the health aspect of this very quickly; while his hormones (meaning sexual hormones) are most likely playing a part in this, and making sure he gets 12-14 hours of sleep every night by covering his cage at an appropriate time even if you're still awake and in the same room with him (don't worry, he'll sleep if he's covered and his cage door is shut) will help tremendously with curbing these sexual hormones, his beak growing abnormally fast has nothing at all to do with sexual hormones, but rather probable liver disease. That being said, one of the factors that often influences screaming in birds, and which we often forget about or ignore, are health and medical issues. When was the last time you had him to his certified avian vet for a wellness exam, blood work, cultures, etc.? He could be sick, in pain, etc. and the screaming is a manifestation of his physical problems. You need to get him to a certified avian vet ASAP for a full exam and lab tests. Mention his beak to the avian vet and the fact that his groomer told you it grows very quickly and you're concerned about the liver disease implications.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[Leo1865]

That is what I have been doing as well. If Chevy starts screaming and I am in the room, I will ignore her or tell her that his not proper behavior and she needs to stop. She may or may not, but I just go back to what I was doing and ignore her. If I am not in the room, I let her go at it and ignore her. I know she wants me to come back to the room. She really only does it at night and if that's the case, she goes back in her cage and goes to bed, I put a sheet over the cage. Nine times out of ten she will stop. It's funny though if when I cover her up and there is a small place at the bottom of the cage she can see out, she will practically lay down with one eye looking out just to see where I am. If she screams, I fix the sheet.

I do also keep a lot of things for them to play with in their cage, one of their favorite treats.... pony beads. They will just sit there and roll them around in their mouth. If when I go and tell her not to behave like, you need to be nice. She will get a bead. I don't do it like a reward, I will offer it to the other birds first and then ask her if she is going to be nice. If she shakes her head up and down she gets the bead. She wants what everyone else is getting.