# Confused By Constant Unhappy Birdy Noises



## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Hello again everyone 
I've been posting here and there about my cockatiel Coda. I got him about a week a go, and so far he has made a lot of progress, interacting with me, leaving the cage independently, and stepping up almost 100% of the time when asked. 

I'm a little confused though, Coda's been almost constantly making this weird screeching noise, it sounds like an unpleasant noise, like a beg or a complaint, but he's been doing it constantly. In the cage, out of the cage, millet, no millet. It does seem to get slightly more frequent if i'm doing something he doesn't like (like trying to make him put up with scritches), but it also seems to happening randomly and constantly. Anyone have any insight on this?

Here's a really poor (sorry :/) quality video of the noises so that you all have a better idea of what it sounds like. It sounds less like a hiss in real life (at one point it the video's audio sounds like a full on hiss, I think it's just the poor quality microphone on my phone)...but other then that it's pretty accurate. 
 :youtube


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

That is a baby begging noise. How old is he? He may not be fully weaned.

Does he eat and drink well, and have normal droppings? Do you have a gram scale so you can weigh him and make sure he is maintaining his weight? If he has regressed, he may need to go back to someone who can hand feed him a while longer.


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## xoxsarahxox (Dec 13, 2010)

Yes that sounds like the baby wanting fed noise but more chirpy. He may be making the noise for attention or comfort from you, but if hes not eating well on his own he may have regressed as Enigma said. Very dark( like black) droppings can be an indication of not eating enough. 

Regression

If your bird is 8 weeks and older and was completely weaned and you brought it home and suddenly you have a bird bobbing its head, begging with a sound that sounds like radio/TV static and refusing to eat on its own, your bird has regressed and may need to be handfed or at least supplement fed. Supplementing a feeding is giving a feeding or two for comfort as the bird felt comfort from being handfed and feels insecure in its new environment.

Taken From, http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=26995


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Oh dear. He seems to be eating and drinking well, and goes crazy every time we let him at millet. His droppings vary a lot though, which has been slightly concerning me for awhile, but I thought it might just still be the new bird jitters. Should I post a picture...?


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Yes, pictures are always helpful. Also, how old is he?


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

The place I got him from said he was probably somewhere around 12 weeks, which is the assumption i've been working off of, but it could be anywhere from 8-12.


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Photo of some recent droppings from the last day and a half or so. Droppings look a bit darker then this under normal lighting, this is under a weak flash. http://flickr.com/gp/retroshatter/R8Jo7S


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## CourtyWilli (Feb 15, 2012)

Our birds droppings look like that sometimes too, now you got me wondering.


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## Shotoetoe (May 1, 2011)

I'm not even close to experienced like most people here, but I personally wouldn't be too concerned about it.

We've had two very young birds like that ourselves. They were fully weaned, eating and drinking independently, but still making those sounds.
It really depends, if he was handraised like ours, it might just be that the bird associated his noise with someone coming to give him attention.

Heck, our pearled lutino Aleena did this for months, and she's still pretty whiny when we're around, only to draw us to her and cuddle. She still does baby croaking when we do. She's perfectly healthy and independant, but she learned that she gets attention by doing this.


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

The noise that the baby makes when he sounds like he's begging IS begging for food. My cockatiel made a similar sound when he was unweaned. It sounded to me similar to 'peas', more like 'pweeze'. So, when I made baby formula I called it 'peas'.

Please give him some baby formula. They don't fully wean until they're 3 to 4 months old. A just-weaned baby who is put in a new home will need baby formula for at least 2 weeks. It helps him to adjust. It also helps you to train him. He'll see you as a provider and be much less uncomfortable in his new home.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

I'll leave it to more knowledgeable people to talk about the droppings issue.

If he isn't managing to eat enough on his own he will need to be handfed baby-style. But sometimes handfed baby birds will beg just because they're feeling a little insecure and want the comfort of being fed by somebody. If this is the reason he's begging, holding some food in your hand for him to eat will help satisfy the need. He will grow out of it before long so you aren't setting yourself up for a lifetime of baby-style begging.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I took your pix's and made notes on them. Click for a larger view.

In looking at the pix's of your droppings your baby is not eating and drinking enough on his own. If it goes on there is a very big risk of it getting a secondary (from stress to the body of not enough nutrients/hydration) bacterial and/or yeast infections.

From the sounds of your bird it may be a baby that has relapsed, or was not 100% weaned when sold. If this goes on for another day or so...from looking at the droppings there is risk of renal/kidney failure, or GI Stasis (which means no movement in the intestines.) 

If you can talk to the person that you got the bird from to show you how to handfeed to get some nutrients into him that would be great. 

Or go to a vet, ask the vet to do Subcutaneous fluid therapy to hydrate the bird....this is very very important because the urates (white part) of the droppings are very flattened , thin and chalky/gritty looking. If it gets much worse there is a good chance of kidney failure.

And also ask the vet, to show you how to handfeed. While there the vet can do a gram stain to check to see if there is an overgrowth of bacteria or yeast in the feces (poop)


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Interesting, I definitely see him eating and drinking, albeit more eating then drinking. I put some more millet in his cage, since that's a sure thing with him. 

Is there anyway I can hydrate him myself/do some supplemental feedings? How much does the average cockatiel eat/drink a day? Where can I get/how would I make cockatiel formula?


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

And now he's just sitting in his cage beak grinding at me...


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I looked uo Roseville and there are couple PetsMarts in your town. You will need this: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755122&lmdn=Brand

And buy a couple syringes: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147223


You can go to Youtube and there should be some videos on hand-feeding cockatiels.

And this link may be helpful: http://talkcockatiels.com/showthread.php?t=18189

The article is long...so what you can do is go to the top of the forum and on the menu bar is thread tools. Select view printable version and print it out. User a highlighter to highlight key info in the article.


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Alright, thank you. From what i'm understanding, since he's eating other food he would only need about 1-2cc's of formula? Also do I need to get a thermometer to test for exact temperature?

I feel like if there's a problem with his intake it's probably more dehydration then lack of food. Could I maybe just try giving him some lukewarm water with a syringe?

Sorry, i'm totally new to this and pretty nervous. Also on a pretty limited budget, which is why i'm trying not to jump to any conclusions about any of this. Is it normal for a bird like this to mostly beg only when I'm around and messing with him, and be pretty chirpy or silent the rest of the time? I've been sitting next to his cage for about an hour and he's hardly made a peep...mostly playing with his toys, munching on millet and preening himself...I guess i'm a bit doubtful that he's actually starving to death if the begging is only getting less insistance and seems to come and go with whim, instead of becoming more and more constant. But again, I am a noob and I don't really know.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Susanne, I think you meant to post a link to the handfeeding formula and got the pellets instead. here's the formula:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753607

Since the bird is eating on his own to some degree, would offering warm, wet oatmeal on a spoon be an adequate way to provide hydration and a few extra calories? Assuming that he's willing to eat this instead of handfeeding formula.


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## fireflyfiasco (Feb 8, 2012)

Will oatmeal work? I'll try that if it does.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Susanne (srtiels) is the expert so you need to get her opinion. But you can try the oatmeal right now if you want to, it can't do any harm. You want a temperature where it feels warm but not hot when you touch it with your lower lip (a sensitive part of the body). Stir it up a lot before you test the temperature so the temp is uniform throughout - you don't want it to be warm on the top and hot further down.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

You can use a digital thermometer used for human babies.


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## JennyLynn (Feb 13, 2012)

Thanks for the info, mine was doing this noise earlier and I was wondering what it was .


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