faradvian
New member
Hello! I'm Peyton & I'm 20 years old. I own a yellow-sided conure named Turtle and he is about 4 years old now. My sister originally bought him for herself, but once he took a liking to me, I basically gained ownership of him and all of his responsibilities quickly fell onto me. I still live with my mother, sister, brother, and my mother's bird-hating boyfriend. To put it simply, I'm the only one in the entire house who likes Turtle and takes care of him and spends time with him. Any time he screams to be let out or plays with his toys, other people in the house yell at him to be quiet, and, if I'm not home during the day, will cover his cage and turn off all the lights, leaving him in the dark until I get home.
To preface, he has upwards of 18 toys in his big cage that was just recently rearranged, he has no access to mirrors (other than his stainless steel bowls which he, unfortunately, uses as a mirror sometimes), he gets veggies, pellets and other healthy snacks, most of his day is spent outside of his cage & in my room, which he no longer seems content with and screeches to be let elsewhere. He goes to bed at sundown and wakes up 2 or so hours after sunrise (around 7-8 a.m.), and his cage gets covered at night. His sleep is more disturbed than I would like it to be, as the people in my house are extremely ignorant and don't seem to care about me or my bird's sleep schedule, despite me explaining to them the importance of him getting 10-12 hours of sleep every night.
I'll admit he's definitely been WAY louder than he usually is, which I'm sure can be attributed to the season & his hormones. But he constantly wants to venture downstairs (his cage is upstairs) and see people. Whenever he hears the door open or close, someone talking, someone cough, etc., he starts screeching at the top of his lungs, basically begging to go downstairs and see what's going on. I would normally have no problem with him going downstairs, but the main issue is my mother's boyfriend. He has threatened to drown my bird, snap his neck, and do other terrible things. Because of this, I do NOT let Turtle downstairs under any circumstances when he is home.
I'm sure the easy fix to this would be me moving his cage downstairs, which I would be fine with doing, but his cage would have to be next to the kitchen (we live in a small townhouse), which is a big no-no. My mother & her boyfriend also smoke in the garage, so I don't want my bird inhaling that nasty crap if he's downstairs. His cage used to be downstairs, but he was still loud then, as he would constantly want to go upstairs and see people there.
I desperately need advice on how to deal with this situation. I have no help from my sister or my mom. The only other person my bird likes is my boyfriend, and he works upwards of 40 hours a week and does not live with me, so he can only see him once or twice a week. I plan on moving out with my boyfriend in the near future (hopefully within the next 10 - 12 months, once the cost of housing decreases in Ontario, fingers crossed), but until then, I need to know how to deal with him constantly screaming and how to accommodate him so he can just be happy.
To preface, he has upwards of 18 toys in his big cage that was just recently rearranged, he has no access to mirrors (other than his stainless steel bowls which he, unfortunately, uses as a mirror sometimes), he gets veggies, pellets and other healthy snacks, most of his day is spent outside of his cage & in my room, which he no longer seems content with and screeches to be let elsewhere. He goes to bed at sundown and wakes up 2 or so hours after sunrise (around 7-8 a.m.), and his cage gets covered at night. His sleep is more disturbed than I would like it to be, as the people in my house are extremely ignorant and don't seem to care about me or my bird's sleep schedule, despite me explaining to them the importance of him getting 10-12 hours of sleep every night.
I'll admit he's definitely been WAY louder than he usually is, which I'm sure can be attributed to the season & his hormones. But he constantly wants to venture downstairs (his cage is upstairs) and see people. Whenever he hears the door open or close, someone talking, someone cough, etc., he starts screeching at the top of his lungs, basically begging to go downstairs and see what's going on. I would normally have no problem with him going downstairs, but the main issue is my mother's boyfriend. He has threatened to drown my bird, snap his neck, and do other terrible things. Because of this, I do NOT let Turtle downstairs under any circumstances when he is home.
I'm sure the easy fix to this would be me moving his cage downstairs, which I would be fine with doing, but his cage would have to be next to the kitchen (we live in a small townhouse), which is a big no-no. My mother & her boyfriend also smoke in the garage, so I don't want my bird inhaling that nasty crap if he's downstairs. His cage used to be downstairs, but he was still loud then, as he would constantly want to go upstairs and see people there.
I desperately need advice on how to deal with this situation. I have no help from my sister or my mom. The only other person my bird likes is my boyfriend, and he works upwards of 40 hours a week and does not live with me, so he can only see him once or twice a week. I plan on moving out with my boyfriend in the near future (hopefully within the next 10 - 12 months, once the cost of housing decreases in Ontario, fingers crossed), but until then, I need to know how to deal with him constantly screaming and how to accommodate him so he can just be happy.
