tucaman amazon

[gabe espinoza]

i have a tucaman amazon, his name is benny and he is about three years old. i purchased him at a pet store. he was one of two parrotts that survived a fire where alot of animals passed. he loves being out of his cage, hes really would rather be out of his cage than inside at any time. hes mainly cloeset to me and no one else. i did not do alot of self educationg on how to take care of him and im afraid i may have contibuted to his present behavior problems( as i see it)
i understand he is intelligent and really needs alot of interaction with me . i wopuld even go as far to say he sees me as a mate.

problem- i live a busy life and somedays may only have three hours to give him. it seems lately that i have been really busy and when i walk out of the room he screams at the top of his lungs. recently i have tried to say shhhh, calm down or be quiet and he seems to get even more mad. god forbid i try to take off his perch in the living room and take back downstairs to put back in his cage, this gets his wings flapping and attempts at biting me, im frustrated, and i dont want to get rid of him, but could use some advice, thanks Gabe

 

[parrotqueen]

Hi Gabe, welcome to the forum.

It's good that you realize how much attention he needs, and that you are willing to give it to him. And it is also good that you are willing to accept that you might be contributing to his behavioural issues, I've heard of many parrot owners who just assume that it's the parrot's fault.

Three hours is a great amount of time, especially if most of it is your undivided attention. Supply him with lots of toys, the more shreddable and durable the better. He should entertain himself well if given the chance.

And as for the screaming, that is something that I used to deal with too. You can't shush them, or tell them to be quiet, this teaches them that screaming gets them attention. Whether it be negative attention or positive, it is still attention to him. What I did was, I would sit on a nearby couch, facing a completely different direction and totally ignoring him. If he was quiet, even for two or three seconds; I came and talked to him and told him how great he was. After days of consistent training, it worked like a charm. He is now a very quiet little bird.

Note: If his screams are ear-piercing and unbearable, sit in a nearby room instead. The walls should keep the noise lower. You should leave the door open just so that you can hear whether or not he has calmed down yet.

I hope this helps!

 

[antoinette]

Hi and welcome to a great forum.
Parrotqueen has basically covered your queries.
3 hours with the bird, is that daily or weekly?
A bird needs lots of interaction, love and attention.
When you are home, even if you are busy, let him be nearby you. Just talk to him, give him as much attention as you can.
Good luck

 

[Spiritbird]

Hi and welcome. You have been given very good advice. I will give you a little background so you can understand why your bird is screaming. In nature birds make contact calls to keep in touch with eachother "Are you there" "Are you OK" In your home the bird makes contact calls to see where the human is located. If the human is not answering the bird may think the human is injured or dead. It can also mean that danger is near and he may get harmed by a predator. It may also induce a fear that the bird has been abandoned. So you can understand why they call out. It is instinctual. It becomes a learned behavior when the human rewards the screaming by yelling at the bird or punishing the bird in some way. One thing it seems you are doing - when bird screams make a quiet sound that you do not mind hearing. Do this each time you hear the scream and eventually the bird will get the idea. It may take sometime so be persistent. Don't forget to reward the good behavior with a treat.

 

[Mel]

Hi Gabe, Good on you for looking at fixing the problem. Great advise given by the others. Apart from providing lots of toys as suggested if I'm out for long periods I leave the TV or radio on so the house isn't so quiet and put the cage near a window (Shadow seems to love it there). You could also try to put his cage in the main living area so your parrot feels part of the family (I know this can be difficult if he is noisy).

My last Parrot was a screecher, I would talk in a calm quiet voice when he screamed but not talk to him directly, just talk while I was doing whatever I was doing, this seemed to calm him down, when he stopped screaming I'd give him some attention, he quickly learned to "chatter" quietly instead of screeching. Be consistant. I do agree though don't give them any attention when doing unwanted behaviour, I read a story about an Amazon that used to scream and then tell himself off.

Don't stress if he does scream a little - esp dawn and dusk. This is a natural part of parrot behaviour.