Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Moderator: Mods

Post Reply
smallworld
Posts: 296
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by smallworld »

Hey everybody!

I've had this baby IRN for a few months now. He came to me 6 months after he was born. The breeder had him in an outdoor flightcage along with the rest of his family. I'm not new to birds though this is new territory for me. I've always wanted but never had an IRN before. So here's the deal with greenie (his nickname). Since about the middle of February, the sun has been coming out earlier n earlier. So he is awake at a little past 6. Along with this, our little greenie has started a new screaming habit. He screams at the top of his lungs. I thought okay, maybe he is hungry and I wake up earlier n leave some food for him. He only eats fresh food so there is no use leaving something at night for him. My wife and I go to sleep usually around 1am and we'd like to be waking up at around 7.30 or 8 am but not 6. However, giving him some food and talking to him has not been working.

So i thought okay, he wants company. And I wake up, leave him food and talk to him. But that doesnt work either. If i fall asleep on the couch or leave the room to make coffee, then he starts screaming again.There is another parakeet in the room too. He is a red crowned parakeet and well has barely ever screamed. However if greenie screams long enough, then he chimes in too.

We even tried separating them and keeping them in two different rooms for about 3 days but that just didnt work. Sometimes, he just screams for nothing, even when he is walking about the floor or just playing around. That's fine with me, just as long as its not 6am in the morning and the neighbours are still asleep. We live in an apartment and we have extremely friendly and tolerent neighbours but the IRN scream is so high pitched that early in the morning its about the only thing you hear. I just dont want to wear out their patience.

I've watched tonnes of videos on youtube about training IRNs and read alot of webpages even before I bought him. I know that he isnt really a quiet bird and I really like the IRN's in general. We spend alot of time trying to train him everyday but it doesn't work either. He loves strawberries, sunflower seeds and oh he loves red apples. He would take the treats from us but only when he is required not do something. He is clipped so he does sit on my shoulder, while I walk around the house. Actually he really likes that and he sort of preens my hair. He would do 'kiss kiss'. Thats what we call it. Where he takes the treat from our lips. Sometimes when there is no treat and we say kiss kiss and put our lips near his beak, then he just softly nibbles the upper lip for a second. Once he did lick my upper lip and I was surprised how much saliva he has.

Well ok the thing is, he doesnt do anything when we want him to. He only takes the seeds from us because the other bird got some seeds and now he wants some too. Or if he just wants seeds or a different kind of fruit that day, then he takes the treats from us. But no matter what you do, he never even tries to perform a trick. If he knows you are trying to get him to do something, he just turns around and walks away.

He did used to step up but for the past 3 days its been a problem. He has a large cage to himself which we bought about a week ago. He is so content with it, that even when the top n doors are open he rarely wants to leave. If he leaves, then he just wants to take a shower or go to the window or play on the tree but it hasnt happened that much now. The first day or two with the cage, he stepped up but gradually its gotten less. Now he just backs away. When i say 'greenie whats wrong?' then he just stares at me.

I really love this bird (secretly slightly even more than other birds we've kept). But i need to stop this morning screaming and i dont want him to be so stubborn. I would also like to try to see him mimmick sounds or somethin but whistling n talkin hasnt worked so far. Maybe its too early or he is just not interested :) We dont cover his cage because the room we keep them in has 3 big windows and I believe that he should get his fair share of natural sunlight. However, if the screaming goes on, we just might have to do that...
Shane7285
Posts: 151
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 7:18 pm
Location: Sunshine Coast, QLD

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by Shane7285 »

Hi there

first of all, welcome to the forum.

Do you cover his cage when you put him to bed? What treat do you use? Normally if you find the right thing, they will do anything you want them to, you just need to get the right treat and use the right technique.

Also, are the sunflower seeds a treat? I have heard in some cases these can make them aggressive. They are also really fatty seeds, so I only use them as treats for training.

Regards

Shane
Image
smallworld
Posts: 296
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by smallworld »

Hi, thanks for your reply.
No i said above, we never cover their cages because we want them to get natural sunlight. We never turn lights on in their room either at night. We give them roasted, non salted, unpeeled sunflower seeds about twice a week. Because its winter, I think the fat is a little needed :) Other treats are, strawberries n red apples. Green kiwi is ok too but he doesnt prefer it.
julie
Moderator
Posts: 2248
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:07 am
Location: nsw australia

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by julie »

The screaming/calling in the morning would be from being an aviary bird originally. Im not sure exactly how to stop it but will look into it for you and see what I can find.
TikkaLu
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:13 pm
Location: Dallas,TX

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by TikkaLu »

I would agree that covering the cage for approx 12 hours should give both you and the bird the right amount of sleep. The screaming is simply a natural repose, flock calls at dusk and dawn, that you should not try to eliminate rather, modify (hence covering the cage and creating your own dawn when you are ready to wake). Another idea is to have 'noisy' times during the day where you sing with your birds and encourage them to use their voices, maybe during the obvious times, when you uncover them in a.m. and as dusk approaches in p.m. This may sound kind of crazy but encouraging noise at appropriate times may help to decrease noise at inappropriate times. I would discourage any type of recognition when the bird is screaming at inappropriate times, trying to comfort or feed, as it may only encourage the behavior. Instead reward/praise them when they are quiet or displaying desired behaviors, such as talking once that starts.
smallworld
Posts: 296
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by smallworld »

Thanks julie for your reply. I didnt think about that but it makes sense (about the aviary).

TikkaLu yeah we decided that covering his cage was our only option. So sunrise for him is at about 7 to 7.15am :wink: We dont really care if he screams during the day. Because he's a bird and a little screaming is alrite. Thanks for your reply

On another note, my wife said is actually nicer to wake up to our screaming bird than our alarm clock! :lol:
julie
Moderator
Posts: 2248
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 2:07 am
Location: nsw australia

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by julie »

Are you able to make the whole room dark till an appropriate time for him to be making a racket?
I noticed my two house boys are pretty quiet until I get up and open up the blinds, sometimes they call the aviary birds and Mika makes smoke alarm sounds and they both yell at the dogs if they bark but they generally are quiet until light starts coming in.

He may need to be taught other more pleasant sounds to get him out of calling for his flock. Try playing some vids on here or youtube vids of ringnecks talking .
smallworld
Posts: 296
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Screaming & Stubborn headed :)

Post by smallworld »

Hi julie good to hear from you again.

The thing is, a determining factor for their internal clocks is daylight. So the amount of daylight and what time the sun rises tells the birds if its going to be spring and winter etc etc. So I do not like covering their cages or making their room unnaturally dark. The curtains in the living room for the birds are only a thin lace. So daylight penetrates quite clearly. Also once it starts to get dark, we dont turn the lights on if we have to go in there. Therefore, I do not want to darken the whole room or even cover Echo's cage. He gets up screaming so early because the days are getting longer now, as spring is coming :D I'd prefer if he got used to not calling the flock like all our other birds. For now though, covering seems to be the only thing that helps.

Haha about videos, have you seen Tajj on youtube or Tajj 2. Oh god that is really a funny bird. 'Greeenieee!' Haha oh we watch that one over n over again with Echo. Once he got a little irritated and attacked the LCD monitor.

Nevertheless thank you for your reply :)
Post Reply