# my tiel Cookie is driving me CRAZY!!!



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

*crazy screaming tiel*

My little girl Cookie is a screamer! I am having serious problems with her screaming, as she will not be quiet! She screams mostly in the morning when she's most active. I usually put her cage near the window so she can play on the windowsill and she loves that spot. But she gets way too excited when she sees other birds outside and starts calling out to them. But sometimes she screams even when she's not looking outside. She just looks at me and screams nonstop. I don't know what to do! I've tried:
- completely ignoring her when she screams, for about 1 week. (did not work)
- covering her cage when she screams (did not work- as soon as she gets out she screams again)
- waiting until she is quiet, going over and talking to her (didn't work, as soon as I leave she starts screaming again)

I am clueless as what to try next! I am afraid that my little guy will learn this bad behavior from her, and he is LOUD! Please help!


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Ok, I am on the brink of insanity. Cookie will not stop screaming!!!! She screams all morning long and it's driving me crazy!!!!!!! I am home this entire week on vacation from work, and I am about to go mental with all her screaming!!

Please help me identify the reason for her screaming. She hears the birds outside in the morning and calls out to them. When I am away from her, she screams. If I give her 15-20 minutes of attention and then leave, she screams. She wants me near her all the time. If I cover her with a blanket, she still screams. I have been very consistent in covering her cage with a blanket, but I don't know if it's helping. They are out of the cage for the whole day walking around, and by the time I get to them, pick them up, and put them back in the cage and cover it, she has already stopped screaming. If anything, I believe that I am reinforcing her screaming because it takes so long to cover the cage!
Is there a more efficient method to do it? Does it sound like she needs more attention, or be away from the noise outside? (we live in an apartment and you can hear the birds outside anywhere you go). I have also tried ignoring her, but she doesn't stop. I have never scolded her for it. Please help, I am going crazy!!!!!!!


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

hm... this is a tricky one. the only thing with dally that worked has been another tiel companion. otherwise when she is by herself she screams something awful. i wish i had better advice for you, but im sharing my experience.


maybe try positive reinforcement? when she is quiet or has quieted down after screaming, give her a reward and praise her for being quiet, but ignore the screaming until she quiets down. praise her when shes been quiet for a few minutes.


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Allie is doing this to me too. She just wants to be with me all the time and she screams if she knows I can hear her. Try whichever method gets her to quit screaming and then go reward her with millet or her favorite treat.


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Cookie already has a companion, a male tiel. Luckily he doesn't scream (yet!!) I have tried ignoring her screams and it didn't work, but I haven't tried rewarding her with a treat. I will try that. Even though Cookie has a companion she still wants me near her at all times. Even when she sees me coming in my car from out the window she screams so much that I can hear her from outside! It's crazy!


----------



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i dont know then, i would try the positive reinforcement


----------



## Sunshine2009 (Dec 29, 2011)

Hmm I'm no expert haha but I know they also scream when they are bored. Maybe next time you clean the cage, rearrange the toys up, and add a new one? Maybe try to take her with you from time to time on your shoulder? I know when my tiels get like that it helps a lot to bring them around with me, change up the cage, etc. Hope that helps some! Gl!


----------



## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

I merged your 2 threads together sinc ethey were asking the same question. Sorry you didn't get any responses from your first thread for 3 days. :blush:


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> I merged your 2 threads together sinc ethey were asking the same question. Sorry you didn't get any responses from your first thread for 3 days. :blush:


Thanks! That's ok, I understand


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Sunshine2009 said:


> Hmm I'm no expert haha but I know they also scream when they are bored. Maybe next time you clean the cage, rearrange the toys up, and add a new one? Maybe try to take her with you from time to time on your shoulder? I know when my tiels get like that it helps a lot to bring them around with me, change up the cage, etc. Hope that helps some! Gl!


Ok, so I noticed that when she stops screaming and I bring both tiels to the kitchen with me, she stops screaming and seems to enjoy being near me. BUT, I can't take her alone, because she also will not stay apart from her mate. Her mate is not completely tame yet, he only steps up on a ladder, so it's hard to take them both anywhere because her mate freaks out. But I was successful in bringing them both into the kitchen. Cookie loves being on my shoulder, but her mate calls out to her and she flies back to him immediately. I didn't know about the boredom thing. I have some new toys that I haven't introduced yet, so I will put them in the cage and rearrange the older ones (which are only 2 weeks old). She is such a busy bird when she's out of the cage, it's hard to know how else I can entertain her. She has a play gym, I bought a majesty palm plant for her and she loves it, she walks around my entire living room, she goes up on my curtain and perches up there during her naps....She's a very active and busy bird. It's really hard figuring out why she would be unhappy/bored...


----------



## Sunshine2009 (Dec 29, 2011)

Aww that is tricky! Sounds like she can't make up her mind! She clearly wants to be with you but also her mate haha. Yeah I had 2 tiels in Europe, got the second one partly due to my female, Sunshine, screaming all the time and me having to be busy with the kdis all the time (when we got her I only had one child...now 3!) And it helped but she still would scream and go back to her mate on my shouder so I can sympathise with that! Sounds like you have plenty of toys. She just sounds really smart, therefore more easily bored? Just a thought, though not easy! I'd say work with taming the other tiel, and then it'll be easier to bring them both with you. Once the other is tamer then perhaps too she'll settle down more. GL!!


----------



## SyddyBird (May 17, 2012)

I'm far from an expert, but I noticed when I give Sydney a ton of attention for a few days in a row, he will become 'needy' and scream alot. Though not as bad as Cookie. Then only way I break the cycle is by giving him less attention. It's hard to ignore them, because if we are home, he knows he is allowed out of the cage. So, if he is in a screaming phase, I try to lump all of my errands up, and be gone a large portion of the day for a day or two. It seems like he 'resets' himself and is better off. Not saying you should leave him alone, but that is what usually works for me.

Also, when I am in another room for awhile, I bring his playgym on the floor, somewhere he can see me, then spread a few toys on the floor, and he seems to keep occupied as long as he knows I am nearby. Maybe you can bring Cookie's mate into the room by a ladder, and place him near the playgym with Cookie?


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Sunshine2009 said:


> Aww that is tricky! Sounds like she can't make up her mind! She clearly wants to be with you but also her mate haha. Yeah I had 2 tiels in Europe, got the second one partly due to my female, Sunshine, screaming all the time and me having to be busy with the kdis all the time (when we got her I only had one child...now 3!) And it helped but she still would scream and go back to her mate on my shouder so I can sympathise with that! Sounds like you have plenty of toys. She just sounds really smart, therefore more easily bored? Just a thought, though not easy! I'd say work with taming the other tiel, and then it'll be easier to bring them both with you. Once the other is tamer then perhaps too she'll settle down more. GL!!


Thanks for the advice. Yes, I'm trying to tame the other tiel. It's been difficult because he bites very hard! But I'm getting there! I think I will try harder to tame him like you said, maybe once he's tamed I'll have better luck taking them both around the house with me and this will help Cookie get more attention/stop the screaming.


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

SyddyBird said:


> I'm far from an expert, but I noticed when I give Sydney a ton of attention for a few days in a row, he will become 'needy' and scream alot. Though not as bad as Cookie. Then only way I break the cycle is by giving him less attention. It's hard to ignore them, because if we are home, he knows he is allowed out of the cage. So, if he is in a screaming phase, I try to lump all of my errands up, and be gone a large portion of the day for a day or two. It seems like he 'resets' himself and is better off. Not saying you should leave him alone, but that is what usually works for me.
> 
> Also, when I am in another room for awhile, I bring his playgym on the floor, somewhere he can see me, then spread a few toys on the floor, and he seems to keep occupied as long as he knows I am nearby. Maybe you can bring Cookie's mate into the room by a ladder, and place him near the playgym with Cookie?



Thanks, great advice! I'm also just ignoring her when she screams nonstop for a long period of time. I tried the play gym thing and it works! They both sat quietly on the play gym on my kitchen table


----------



## SyddyBird (May 17, 2012)

CookieTiel said:


> Thanks, great advice! I'm also just ignoring her when she screams nonstop for a long period of time. I tried the play gym thing and it works! They both sat quietly on the play gym on my kitchen table


Awesome!
I'm glad my tricks could help. I know it can be hard to annoy the screaming, and I give in. Plus I live in an apartment and don't want complaints.


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Ok, so today I tried a new approach with Cookie. When I uncovered her cage and gave her and mer mate their breakfast, I didn't leave them alone to eat like I normally do. I stood by and talked to them, because I figured that if I stay with them from the beginning of the day, Cookie won't have a chance to scream. But when I was talking to her, she heard the birds outside and started screaming, calling out to them. I ignored her and left. She stopped screaming and continued to eat, and then when she noticed that I was far away she started calling out to me and doing tricks on top of the cage to get my attention. I'm starting to think: if she screams to call out the birds outside, is that considered bad behavior, or is she just acting based on her instincts? If it's just her instincts, can I still train her not to scream when she hears other birds outside? 

(omg this is so funny, a sparrow sat near my window outside, and Cookie went very close to the window calling the sparrow, but he completely ignored her. She totally wanted to socialize with him!)


----------



## tarnijanee (Jun 25, 2012)

Today I have my first complaint from a neighbor concerning the constant screaming from my cockatiel. I live in a complex so everyone is on top of each other.
I've had my bird for 7-8 years, about 3 years ago I bought her another bird and her relationship with me diminished but she still screams when i'm not in sight.

Unfortunately it's gotten worse over the last 6 months, to the point where covering her cage up does nothing. Her and her mate constantly have fresh vegetables daily, seed blocks, fresh water and seed daily. As well as plenty of toys to play with. Also moving their cage outside does nothing either. Even being in her sight most of the time now does nothing to calm her screaming.

I don't know what to do with her, I'm worried that my landlord may say something if my neighbors continue to complain. I understand why they're frustrated because It's extremely difficult for me as well as i have her in my house.

Please give me any advice you may have, am in urgent need of help!


----------



## CookieTiel (Feb 6, 2012)

Update: I followed the advices given here. Everyday I put the 2 tiels on their playgym and put them playgym on the kitchen table, and talked to them while I did what I had to do. Cookie was very interested and seemed to enjoy being there. When playing on her own, she would scream sometimes, but when she stopped screaming I gave her treats and she was quiet for a while after that. Overall, the screaming decreased, although she still does it now and then, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before!
One interesting thing: She is angry at me! She does not want my attention anymore. Everytime I get near her she runs away. When I try to touch her she hisses at me. She only screams when she hears the birds outside now, and doesn't seem to care AT ALL about me. I am wondering if I failed to meet some of her needs during her screaming phase, and if she's mad at me for that. She is so hard to understand!


----------



## SyddyBird (May 17, 2012)

I have no clue on this one, I have only one tiel, but maybe she is bonding more with her mate, or she is hormonal? Sydney went through a hormonal cranky phase when he fell in love with his food dish. Now he loves banans, (not sure where that came from) and doesn't want any attention when a banana is in sight. But again, the experts may be able to give you real advice.


----------

