# constantly screaming :(



## tiel newbie (Sep 30, 2008)

Hi. I got a tiel on the 16th of August and have been having a lot of problems with him since. He refuses to become at all tame and lately(within the past week or so) has been flock calling non-stop ALL DAY LONG. I'm wondering what I can do, since he is honestly starting to drive me insane with the constant calling.

-His cage is around(unsure specifics!) 32"X21"X35"
-He has about 10 toys in it, and 4 on top. Preening ones, a shiny bell, shredding ones, wooden blocks/twigs to chew on, a ball that is made of rope ball that has fibers inside for him to pull out, a bird kabob(yucca wood) and has a sand perch, 3 wooden branches(one stripped wood of some sort, one manzanita and one fir, plus a couple of ropes.
-he gets fresh water 2x daily and fresh food(seed mix until he tames down then I was going to work on pellets. he gets veggies but so far is ignoring them) is always available in his bowl.
-If he's IN his cage and the door is open, he stays in. If he is OUT of his cage and the door is open he stays out. No matter how long things stay that way.
-I've been TRYING to tame him since I got him, but am not getting anywhere with him.
-he IS clipped. When I got him he got loose and was banging into all of the walls hard enough to knock himself to the ground, fly back up and keep doing it over and over.
-when I first got him, I was sitting in the same room as he was in and just ignoring him for at least a few hours a day so he could get used to me being near him before I started to try to tame him.

I started by putting a stick of millet over his food dish. It was gone really quickly. So I tried giving him a stick, a full, nearly 10" long stick, by holding one end and offering him the other end and he runs from it. Still(so I tried just giving him enough food for the day and trying before I gave him breakfast. No go, so I started filling his bowl again). Tried giving him a smaller bit. Nope. Tried getting him out and offering it. Nope. If anything and he's out and I try to give him some he hisses and strikes at it. If I try to get him on me in his cage he usually runs. If I can get him he uses me to walk somewhere else and go away. If I take him OUT of his cage, he tries to get back to it and if he does just runs from me. If I take him away from view of his cage he'll sit and sulk on me(head down, crest pinned to his head) for a while until he gets hungry, THEN he takes millet from me. But if I try to keep him with me that long and then take him in view of his cage he flies back to it and runs when I try to get near him again.

With the screaming. It is a constant, all day long flock call. So I walk into the room(I know you aren't supposed to, but he will literally go on and on for the entire 8+ hours that the sun is up with the same 1-2 pitch whistle only stopping when he eats or wants to attack a toy out of frustration, NOT singing) and he hides. Try to give him millet. Nope. Try to get him out and he doesn't want to. Get him out, put him on top of his cage and leave. He starts to call again. Go back in the room, he runs away from me. Try to give him millet. He refuses. Try to get him to step up(he will willingly sometimes, and won't try to at all other times) and he either doesn't and keeps running from me or will and flies straight back to the cage from me. Tonight he was in an "I don't wanna" mood and when I tried to get him to step up he bit ME hard enough that he drew blood. And then ran around the cage until I ended up getting frustrated and more than a bit angry and gave up. Came back into my room and a few minutes later he started to call again. Went in and covered him(another thing I know you aren't supposed to do, but I was about ready to take his cage outside and leave him for a couple of hours) since he refused to come near me STILL and a few minutes later(and until the sun went down) he was calling AGAIN. About the only way I've found to keep him from doing it within a few minutes again is to make him step up and put him in/out of his cage depending on where he was before, and even then he's usually back to it again within a half hour.

What can I do? Within the past week some personal problems have come up that are stressing me out, and his attitude is starting to wear thin as a result. So far the only way he'll sit on me for more than half a minute or so is if I am dead still and he can't see his cage, and that was already beginning to slightly frustrate me, but now with his new habit, not only am I starting to stress, but my roommates are starting to get fed up with him as well(besides the thought that I live in an apartment and can't BELIEVE that no one has complained to the management about his constant yelling. You can hear him through all of our walls, so I can only assume the neighbours can hear him too!). Not to mention that I was already starting to feel like I am failing him because in nearly a month and a half he'll only step up once in a while and will only accept food from me if he's been without it for a few hours and away from his house. If he's off of it(on another cage that I use as a playstand) it is the same way. He's off in his own little world and doesn't want to be near me. Most of the time if I even LOOK at him he backs up(I've never hit his cage, I've never thrown anything at him, I've never sprayed him with something when he's yelling, I've never yelled at him and neither have either of my roommates) if he sees me doing it. 

Is there ANY way to quiet him down? When I was looking into getting a small parrot, a lot of people recommended tiels saying that once they adjust that they are more or less quiet, that they only call a few minutes a day(like my conure, who is about half as loud as he is when she gets going, will hush after a few minutes without any response and ONLY calls to me when I'm out of the room) and that the rest of the time that they are making noise that they are doing a quieter song to themselves/their flock. Was I just influenced by a bunch of rabid tiel lovers, or did I just happen to find an anti-social tiel, or when I was told that they were "quiet" was that comparing them to the cockatoos that they didn't say they also owned?

I'm nearing my wits end. I don't know what to do with him. My conure is great. She likes to play with me and sit with/on me. And I figured I could handle a second bird in the house, especially in another couple of weeks when he's out of QT and I don't need to go to 2 rooms to clean cages and feed in the morning and at night. Would getting him a friend help, or make it worse(I've read in a few places online that once people got a second bird of the same species, their first one got quieter, even if they were not friends with each other, though with the budgies I had when I was a kid it was the opposite. The first one was like my tiel is and would scream all day because she didn't want to be around people, so my parents bought a second one. They fought all the time at first, which was a lot louder, and then once they got used to each other they tried to out-chatter each other until my parents got sick of the noise and gave them away)? Besides locking him in a closet all day where it is dark(and cruel to him!) so he is quiet, is there anything else I can do to get him to quiet down?


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Being out of QT might make all the difference in the world. As I read your post I thought maybe the enviroment wasn't calm enough for him but then you said he was in a separate room so it sounds like he could be lonley. You sound as if you are getting very frustrated. I know this may sound silly but one of the best things you could do is spend time in the room with your bird and read to him. Stuff like childrens books and bedtime stories. The idea being that your vioce would be calm and people tend to read childrens books with the kind of voice you use when you talk to a baby. It will sound interesting to your bird and he will get used to having you around. Don't insist that he sit on you or let you hold him just let him come to you on his own terms. Believe me you will be so happy the day your bird decides that you are OK with him. Try to move slowly and speak softly and tuck some millet behind your ear. Just kidding about the ear but carry something yummy and eventually you will be irresistable!!


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## elijahfan (Jul 28, 2008)

paitents and dont try and change the bird change yourself, they will come round to you , time and patients i offer jojo sunflower seeds through the bar


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## Plukie (Aug 26, 2007)

elijahfan said:


> paitents and dont try and change the bird change yourself, they will come round to you , time and patients i offer jojo sunflower seeds through the bar



That is absolutely spot on!!! You have to change yourself! 

Do what SweetSue has said, it is all down to time and patience. Don't try and rush him, he will do things in his own time, but it certainly sounds like he is lonely to me. Hopefully, once he is out of QT, then he will change and be able to join in with everybody a bit more.


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## PtsRPpl2 (Sep 22, 2008)

I've had the same problem and they're right - patience and don't try to force the tiel. It took me a month before mine would step up to my hand instead of to a dowel first. I was soooo frustrated - and I think that affected her. I was told to only act calm around her, not to force her to do anything she didn't want to do, offer millet in the hand when she would step up on her own as a reward, talk to her all the time, take her out and spend lots of time with her (even if she's on the cage or on a gym, etc.), and most of all - be patient. I was about to give up and now she is SO much better. I've tried to be patient and not force her to do something and that has helped my relationship with her amazingly!! I agree about the QT but maybe till then a tv or radio might help? Mine is usually only loud when she wants attention or she is not pleased about something - like it's past her bedtime and she's letting me know!  Good luck, and don't worry - she'll be loving you in no time!!


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## tiel newbie (Sep 30, 2008)

I always have a classical station playing, and I've tried reading to him. I don't mind having a pet that isn't tame as long as he is happy and can entertain himself. It is the noise that is getting to me. I like the noises they make when they're happy, and can tune out a few minutes a day of flock calling/screaming, but when it is an 8+ hour drone every day it gets old fast. 

Plus my roommates(moving isn't an option, we all signed the same lease and the only way I can leave, including if I get evicted by my roommates over the noise, is if I keep paying rent for here, and I just don't make enough to do that!) are starting to get flat out fed up with him. The one has been making veiled threats to give him to a pet store while I'm at work and the other one just stays out of the apartment on her days off and then when I get home screams at me because she had wanted to relax on her days off and can't because of my bird. I NEED something to do that will work fast. I don't care if it makes him the world's best pet or if it just makes him not scream constantly during the day, I just need something to lower the noise level a few notches.

My QT room is next to my room(where my conure is) and I try to spend just as much time with him as I do my conure(at least 2 hours a day with each bird). When he started the yelling I tried spending more time with him(which got the conure angry with me) so he could get used to me quicker and not feel the need to scream, and even when I was just in the room talking to him he's been getting worse since I've been trying to spend more time with him. I don't know if my roommates have been doing anything to him(I asked and they said no, plus neither of them messes with my conure, or ever has, so I don't see the reason they would start now) when he starts to get on their nerves, or if he just doesn't like me, but the longer he is here the worse his screaming has gotten(he used to only call a few minutes a day and warble to himself most of the rest of it) and he's been getting progressively less tame and progressively more loud.


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## PtsRPpl2 (Sep 22, 2008)

I completely understand that! Even if you don't want them tamed, the cute sounds they make is always pleasing, like you said. But the screaming...ARGH!! So you've been QTing for a month and a half, right? I know they say from 30 - 90 days but if it's been almost 2, can you go ahead and TRY them in the same room? If not, anyone that would like to keep him until QT is over completely? Is your bird by a window (of course not directly) but near enough to distract him? Is it screaming for attention or screaming b/c he might be unhappy or stressed? I'm sorry, I've never had a screaming tiel that screamed constantly like that so I'm only guessing here?? I know you're roommates can't be happy, as you say, but I hope their attitude isn't affecting him or that they aren't teasing even unexpectedly. My ex husband hated my senegal and my senegal knew it - he screamed constantly when my ex came anywhere near him and always nipped him. Of course, the ex never picked on the bird when I was around but I never know what he did when I wasn't. Not that your roommates are doing anything. I'd be more than happy to help if you lived nearby however I could but I'm not sure what you can do. Hopefully, when QT is over, he'll be happier around your conure. I just worry your conure won't be too happy if he's jealous!  I can't remember - will he sit on your shoulder at all or does he freak out? Mine would give me trouble when I first got her but when she finally stepped up - even though I couldn't pet her AT ALL - she was content to sit on my shoulder while I did things around the house. I don't know if that's an option? I'm sorry I can't be of more help.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

Try reading "Good Night Moon". It will probably calm you both down!


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## Plukie (Aug 26, 2007)

I don't know your situation of course, but you said you spend around 2 hours with him a day.......well, tiels are very sociable and he probably would like to spend more time with you than that. I see you leave a radio on for him, but that's not really the same as interacting with him. Maybe try him in the same room as your other bird now and see what happens, he might just quieten down a bit then.


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## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I was going to suggest ending quarantine too, i only ever do 30 days. I got a rehome cockatiel about 10 months ago and she was a CHRONIC screamer. Quarantine was painful, but once she was around other birds she stopped screaming all together.


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## sweetrsue (Jul 8, 2008)

30 days is plenty. Let him join the family. I bet it will be a huge relief.


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## PtsRPpl2 (Sep 22, 2008)

Please let us know how it goes!!


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## tiel newbie (Sep 30, 2008)

Okay. Moved him into my room last night when I got home from work at about 7. Currently it's 10:25AM, on my day off, I usually wake up for work around 11:30AM, today I was woken up at 7 by him(at least he's now as far away from my roommate's rooms as possible in the apartment), and was not allowed to go back to sleep. Right now he's got a couple of heavy blankets over his cage and I really don't know if he is quiet because there isn't any light going into his cage or because when I was trying to toss the second one over him I tripped into his cage and knocked it into the wall hard enough to shake him and both of his bowls loose from where they were sitting. Usually a pillow over my ears will let me get back to sleep when he was in the other room, but in here he's too loud to do that.

In the other room he had my old rats(don't really do much of anything. Run on their wheel once in a while, other than that they're asleep in a pile most of the time that they aren't out with me) my plants and a window(without much of a view. He could see the nearly dead road we live, a tree and whatever neighbours at the APARTMENT I live at who are walking by, plus his radio). Here he's got my fish tanks(always activity of some sort in them) my conure(who is in a bad mood and sitting on me whining because he usually wakes up around 8, walks onto my bed, and snuggles up next to me to go back to sleep until at least now. and to mention it, I'm not in a great mood either since I usually go to bed late so I can sleep in when my next day is a day off. . .) my computer(I've almost always got a classical station playing) and when I open it for the day will have a window that faces the same way. And me.

How long does him being part of the family usually take to work? My conure has free run of my room any time I am home, since he is well behaved enough to sit on me, his cage or my bed all the time. I started letting him stay out if he wanted to at night when he was waking me up at 8, since when I'd go get him, he'd quit yelling for me, and now that he can go to my bed when he wants to he doesn't even wake me up most of the time when he comes to sleep next to me in the morning. The tiel still won't go out of his cage(and the couple of times Gunny did try to walk to it to see who the new neighbour was he hissed and lunged at him) or at least hasn't so far. I was trying to cover him in the old room when he started to get loud early, but it wasn't having any effect, if anything he'd just start a few minutes later and still be up and going by the time I got in there to uncover him. With Gunny, I've never covered him, and wasn't covering the cage at all when I first got him.


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## PtsRPpl2 (Sep 22, 2008)

I'm sorry - I'm still trying to get the pic of your conure out of my head waking up and then walking to your bed to snuggle and sleep...too cute!! I would hope it wouldn't take too long for your tiel to feel like part of the family but you never know. I hear tales from anywhere from that day to a year to never getting along. I definitely wouldn't leave him out with your conure till you know your conure won't attack him since he has free rein. Hopefully, your tiel will quiet down just being able to see you and your conure and watch the both of you - maybe it will even help tame him when he sees you with your conure! I can't believe the tiel is still loud even with covered - I've never had that problem with any of my birds. Give it a couple of days - hopefully, the tiel will be settled and happy in your new room. But keep the stories coming - I love reading them!


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

Ooh, I feel for your poor rats. Mine give me such pitiful looks of 'make it stop' when Harley cries for attention.

I agree that it seems this really is for the best. I'm sure he'll want to join in the fun with you and your cuddly Conure if he gets enough exposure.


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