# Screaming 'Tiel! Training or Rehoming? Experienced owners advice needed!



## shadow (Feb 22, 2009)

Ok, so after some serious tallking we have decided we're struggling with Midge. She's getting on for a year old and is sooooooo noisy. We've tried to remedy this by spending time with her and letting her out more which caused even more issues as she screamed more when she was in her cage from morning until night, however long she had been out that day and she got very possesive over 'Mr Shadow', following him everywhere and not behaving for me at all if he was out. Sheer defiance is all I got from her. 

Secondly we got her a friend but he was noisier than her, she wasn't bothered by him at all and was still glued to 'Mr Shadow' so he was rehomed again.

We are now back down to one bird. We have tried covering her wih her night cover or ignoring her when she screams but to no avail. She has got some _stamina_ and a stubborn streak and will happily scream for hours! Short sharp shrieks that sound just like 'Oi, Oi, Oi' varied with long winded squeals that go right through our double glazing and I'm sure are peeing off the neighbours. She even screams when the night cover is over her now. 
When she's out of her cage it seems she is doing everything she can to provoke a reaction. She has a playgym and we give her various toys but she loses interest after a few minutes and moves onto chewing something she _knows gets a reaction such as the tealights, Christmas tree, clothes, jewellery or the hairs on the back of 'Mr Shadow's' neck. It becomes a game then of chewing, being told off or moved and then back to chewing. 
At times, even getting her back in her cage has reduced me to tears of frustration as she will literally play a chase game with you flying from one side of the room to the other so you can't get her to step up up on your hand. Or she will step up, but then fly off just as you get to her cage and give the command for 'in'. We have resorted to squirting her with water when she is doing or chewing something she shouldn't be, but I stopped that as I didn't want her to get confused between bath time and being told off.
She's a very clever bird who understands basic commands such as 'up', 'in', 'out', 'off', 'no' and will tease and play with our 3 cats!
We are literally at a loss of what to do with her. We love her to bits but her behaviour is so rebellious it's pushing us to our limits. We are both thinking long term and are planning on trying for a baby in the next few months. We aren't sure how we are going to be able to cope with Midge behaving like this and a child/pregnancy. Or if her noise is going to keep the baby awake, or even if we are going to have the time that Midge so obviously needs.

So, my question is - is there anything we can do to make Midge happier and stop all this ear splitting shriekeing and destructive beaviour, or would it be kinder for everyone concerned to find her a new home with someone that can give her 24/7 companionship? And if that is the case, what would be the best way to go about rehoming her? I don't want to just stick her in the paper and wave her off with any old tom, dick or harry. If we are going to have to admit defeat and give her up I want the peace of mind of knowing she is going to a loving experienced home where she will get the attention she needs._


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## Mythara (Apr 9, 2009)

Well, hold is she? It sounds like she's just hitting puberty and is testing her boundaries to the limit and it sounds like she's winning. First off, if you can't control her and she's flying away when it's time to go in, I would clip her wings. It will give you more control over her, and they will grow in again soon. 

Next, you need to set up a routine. The time she gets up in the morning, the time she comes out and goes back in her cage, the time she goes to bed, everything. And stick to it. This way she'll learn the routine and will get to know when she gets to come out and when she doesn't. Make sure she gets dark and quiet (no TV's etc) for 10 - 12 hours every night, and a quiet time in the middle of the day is also beneficial for them - just like toddlers.

Take everything she can't have, out of her environment and don't wear jewellery around her. Consider having a set of clothes that she can chew. Keep foot toy and shreddables everywhere for her. Some people even make "bird jewellery" like necklaces with small parts for birds to chew.

The noise you've let her get away with, and even encouraged her to make, by letting her out when she screamed and paying attention to her. Even covering the cage is giving her attention. The routine should help with this, but you're also going to have to ignore her. Give her certain times she can be noisy - like our two are allowed to scream welcome to me when I get home from work. Don't react to her at all when she's noisy other times. My two know it's time to be quiet after about five minutes and if they aren't quiet, I turn my back and they stop. As soon as she's quiet give her attention and praise. You need to teach her that quiet birds get attention and noisy birds get nothing.

She also needs something to do that can keep her occupied. Find toys that she really enjoys playing. Foraging is an amazing way to enrich her life too, and it really helps with behavioural problems. It gives her a job to do, and a way to keep herself occupied. I've written a few articles on my blog about foraging, and how to teach a bird to forage, and my blog is full of the foraging toys I've made and bought for our birds. Most cost less than a couple of pounds to make once you have a basic supply of parts. I'm sure it would do her a lot of good.

As far as rehoming goes, if you do feel you have to rehome her, you'll need to find someone with experience with behavioural problems, as parrots with problems like this often spend a lot of time being passed from one home to another as the owners can't cope with the screaming. If you have the patience and really work through her issues she should become a wonderful family pet for you.

Who is 'Mr Shadow'?

Here's another article on screaming: http://www.24parrot.com/Excessive-Screaming-Alw_screaming/


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## shadow (Feb 22, 2009)

Thanks so much for your advice Mythara 

'Mr Shadow' is my OH! lol!

I think the routine thing would definitely help. My OH hasn't helped as he's basically spoiled her and let her do whatever she wants whereas I've been the one laying down the ground rules which has been very frustrating. She is learning though. 

Basically I completely agree with everything you say and will show this post to 'Mr Shadow’ when he comes home. He was loathe to spend money on toys for her as they tend to be more expensive, but she definitely needs shredding/chewing activities. I will look into the foraging activities for her and see what we can come up with. I don't think either of us realised that a 'Tiel could be so demanding as when we were researching before we got one everywhere said they were good starter birds. As we were looking at getting a Parrot someday and had no bird keeping experience between us we thought this would be a good start. I never knew it would need so much time devoting to it! Silly me for that. I kept rats for years and rearranged my whole house/life for them to give them an enriched life with toys, free ranging time and one on one attention. I never imagined a bird would take the same kind of work! But, hey, we're willing to do it for Midge. I've been preaching to 'Mr shadow' for the last few weeks about how an animal is for life and that we 'are forever responsible for that which we have tamed' etc etc and I firmly believe that. So the thought of having to have Midge rehomed is a hard one to swallow. We owe it to her to do the best we can for her.

Okay, I'm trying not to ramble too much so I'll just get on with it.
So far she understands that the kitchen is out of bounds as it's unhygienic when she poops all over the surfaces, especially when I am cooking. The problem recently has been 'Mr Shadow' letting Midge out when he comes home from work and then her following him to the kitchen while he is talking to me and Midge being allowed to run amok. Recently I have put my foot down and he has been moving her out as well as me and she now understands what 'OUT' means. she is never allowed in the kitchen.
She is quiet and settled in the evenings and through the night and only wakes up when her night cover is lifted when we get up and come downstairs. So that's good.
She has a home made Playgym which she does seem to enjoy when she's not distracted by other things to chew. It has a climbing trellis, ladder, perches, toys and a bundle of loose string which she loves to chew. I will speak to 'Mr Shadow' about getting some nibbly bits to put on there to attract her attention and praise/reward her for using it. I will move the tealights and hide the remote controls!
As for the screaming and free ranging time - I work varied shifts so setting specific times of day for her can be difficult. My OH works the same hours Monday to Friday and she has cottoned on to that. She will start calling as soon as she hears his car on the drive. 
Perhaps the fairest way to do it would be to give her 5-10 minutes of fuss and talking to when either one of us comes home, but leave her coming out times to when my OH is at home so it's more structured? Or should we let her out whenever either of us is home? To clarify - Mr Shadow works 12-8pm Monday to Friday. Midge usually comes out for an hour or so before he goes to work and then again for a few hours when he gets home. Weekends we have 'discussed' as Midge wasn't being let out in the day but he was in plain view of her which I think confused her and so ensued a huge bout of screaming and demanding, hanging on the cage bars and pacing. Would it be fairer to let her out at weekends so she associates my OH with out time or keep it to specific times each day regardless of whether he's there or not? As for me, I work all kinds of hours on all kinds of days which could get confusing for Midge.
When she does start screaming the house down I calmly walk over to the cage and say nothing, simply pull her night cover down and eave her for 10 minutes or until she's settled again. A bit like putting a child on the naughty step. Then I uncover her, saying nothing to her and carry on with what I was doing. And so repeat every time she starts hollering. 'Mr Shadow' tended to let her out at this point just to quiet her down so she was getting mixed messages. We have 'agreed' (under duress on his part) to take the same tactic so hopefully that should be a bit more structured for her. Should we be making a big fuss of her when we uncover her again to praise her for being quiet?
As for the wing clipping, I've always taken the belief that was a bit cruel (I can feel your hackles rising already so I'll explain). I’m a firm believer in letting an animal exhibit their natural behaviour as much as possible and I'm a bit unsure about wing clipping. The first thing Midge does when she comes out of her cage is go for a big long fly and wing stretch around the house. Would clipping her wings and depriving her of that not make her depressed in any way? I can see that it would make her easier to manage form our point of view for a while. We could work on the 'IN' or 'HOME' command for a few weeks. If we did, how long would the feathers take to grow back and Midge regain her full flight ability again?

Thank you so much for your really helpful advice so far, and there will be some firm candid talking done in our house tonight when 'Mr Shadow' gets home. (Basically I'll be telling him he was wrong and I was right! a woman’s prerogative


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## Mythara (Apr 9, 2009)

As far as wing clipping goes, you shouldn't be taking away her flight. A good clip is one that will still allow her to fly, but not gain height and not fly so fast - essentially it makes it harder work for her. It's also not a permanent thing. Her flight feathers will grow in again in a few months. It really just gives you a bit more control over her, and will stop her just flying off if she doesn't want to do what you're asking. My birds are all flighted, and I do prefer them that way, since there's only two of us in the house, and we don't have to worry about anyone leaving doors open, etc. But when we first got her, Lofty was only interested in getting as high as possible and staying there - this wasn't a fear response at all since she was hand raised, but since we couldn't get her to stay with us, there was no way we were going to be able to bond with her, so we clipped her wings. After about three or four months she was strongly bonded to both of us and loves spending time with us, and her wings grew back in. She may be confused for a couple of days, but she will adjust to it and once she's better behaved, she can be fully flighted again, without the stress to everyone. 

It might be best to go off 'Mr Shadow's' (lol, totally didn't click with your username but I was on my way to bed!) schedule to give Midge an easier chance of working it out. You schedule doesn't have to be the same at the weekend as during the week, but do keep it as close to the same as you can - For example, Monday - Friday, our two get up at eight when I go to work. The bf feeds them, etc (he's a student, so his routine varies). I come hom around five and the birds come out. They go home for their tea around 8.00 - 8.30 and bed time is 10.00 when they get covered. On Fridays, they don't get covered. On Saturday/Sunday morning they start calling when they hear us waking up - around 10, or 11 (lol). They come out and have breakfast upstairs with us, and have about 5 or six hours out if we're not going anywhere. Then they go back in their cage. We treat other holidays like weekends and they do fine. Occasional changes to the routine don't bother them too much, but they are noisier than normal when we get back if we don't stick to the routine.

Definitely make a huge fuss of her any time she's quiet, and only take her out when she is.

For their size, parrots are probably the most expensive pets there are in terms of maintenance. Toys are expensive, and they're really not meant to last with birds, lol. But at least you have a 'tiel - a £5 toy can last them a month, where as a £50 toy can last a macaw a day! Toys are the biggest essential for parrots since they're so intelligent. They're always learning, and their generally compared to small children in levels of intelligence, and you wouldn't leave a small child without toys . Once you get a supply of toys though, rotating them every week or so helps them last, while still keeping them interesting everytime they come back through the rotation. You'll probably make some mistakes choosing toys - everyone does to begin with - but as you learn what Midge likes, you'll buy morre toys she enjoys, and less that she doesn't. It really helps if you make your own toys. I save so much money doing it! The term "starter bird" is very misleading - although 'tiels aren't as demanding as a cockatoo or macaw, they need a lot more attention than most people realise and a high level of dedication. 

Good luck laying down the law!


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## shadow (Feb 22, 2009)

Thankyou and thankyou again! 

'Tiels are surprisingly high maintenance. I've gone right off the idea of a Parrot. We just haven't got the time to give one. I guess Midge is the same though. She can't be stuck in the corner like an ornamental fish tank and needs the stimulation and companionship a child would. OMG, she's naughty enough lol!

I will definately try to follow a routine with her. It makes so much sense, and if she knows where she is and waht to expect then she's less likely to be disruptive. As for toys, where do you get the supplies to make your own? I know you mentioned a website or blog and I will check back in a mo' to see if I can find it for suggestions. 
The wing clipping is a good idea and we will look into that too. It might be just what she needs.
I think you are right too that her age has a lot to do with it. Teenagers! We bought her last August and the shop wasn't able to give us an exact age. Although I reckon she's between 9 months to a year. She has her full tail feathers and she's had a moult. 
I can't thank you enough for your comprehensive advice. I feel so much more hopeful and in control.


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## Mythara (Apr 9, 2009)

I try to list most of the places I get parts in my blog, but most come from, the craft shop, supermarket, www.chinchillas2shop.com , www.24parrot.com , and Pets at Home. Most of them are pretty easy to make - there's plenty in there that just need a few pieces of paper. =)

Feathers and Forage


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