Bird people??!!

[Remali]

I am at my wit's end. I've had lovebirds and budgies and cockatiels since the 1960's, never had any trouble at all with screaming or screeching. I now have two younger peach faced lovebirds....they are about 2 years old. Anyway, they scream and screech almost non-stop....from before the sun comes up to late at night just before I go to bed, I've never seen anything like it. They don't fight, they get along good, they've been together since I got them when they were babies. I have them in a huge cage so they have a lot of space, and I have toys and mirrors and things in there for them, as well as two seed dishes and two water bowls. Anyway, whenever any of my previous birds got too noisy I would cover them up for a little while and they would quiet right down. But that doesn't work with these two. The racket is just too loud to deal with non-stop all day, and like I said....I have never in my life had birds that carried on so much and for so long. When I cover them up one of them makes a really awful screechy noise and won't stop. Anyway.... I don't know what to do any more. It's even disrupting my sleep now. I don't want to give them up, but I am beginning to think I may have to. I live in a small apartment and there is no other room to put them where they'd be farther away (right now they are in the living room). My other birds would occasionally get loud, and I know all birds do that...but these two pretty much are at it every day, all day, non-stop....from before the sun comes up to after 10:00 p.m.

:doh:

[oursarge]

Oh I feel for you. I don't know what the answer is. Our Senegal is a screamer and I hate it. He doesn't do it all day long though he screams in the a.m. and at night, I guess they are natural calls. He also screams when it's going to rain or snow. The guy we got him from said that some birds are very sensitive to barametric pressure, I guess he's one of them. I was very close to rehoming him, I talked to the bird club person here and she was going to check for another home but when it came down to it I couldn't do it but if he screamed non stop I would be looking for a good home with some bird person because my head can't take all that screaming. When he screams Tyler tells him to Stop it, Stop it STOP! She made that one up herself, if you make a big fuss then I guess they will do it more so when he screams I will open the door and just say "Indy please stop it" in a nice voice but Tyler yells at him! She is a real bossy bird!

Have you been to theperch.net? I think that is the website. It's a board similar to this and the people there know about everything there is to know about birds. They might be able to help you. They have bird sections broken down to the type of bird and usually a description of the birds and their good points and bad. THey helped me alot when I almost got a Cockatoo, after they told me what I needed to hear I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea for me. I still wouldn't mind an Amazon. We'll see, I know someone who has one and might want to rehome it eventually and I would take it if it liked me.

Thing with Indy is that when people talk about their Senegals he doesn't fit what they say about Senegals. He hates women, I think that the woman in his other home abused him. He's very cute and he's funny but he's not friendly like everyone says they are. I talk to him and take care of him and will pet his feet through the cage but I'm scared to death of him because he bit me a few times and once I bled for 3 days. It really hurt. I hope that when Tyler reaches maturity she doesn't get vicioius like he is. He's great with my husband, he loves him but he used to attack me, he doesn't do that any more but he still scares me.

Good luck, I don't know how to stop the screaming, I wish I did but if you try the perch there might be someone there to give you hints or if you wanted to rehome them they might help find a home. They do know so much, some of them are actually over the top. We went to a bird club meeting once and my man looked at me and said "Is it me or were they crazier than horse people?"!!!!! They all have the bird's best interest at heart though so that's a good thing and I know that if we did have to rehome Indy he'd have a good home with one of them. Indy is staying as long as he likes my husband but if he starts where he doesn't then we'd have to find a home he'd be happy in because I can't pick him up if he gets off of his cage and why he can only be out when my man is home.

Good luck. I'm going to go to the Perch and see if they talk about love birds being real noisy. Maybe there is something real simple to make them stop.

[HoustonFarrier]

be glad you don't have macaws...you can hear them for MILES when they decide to scream~!

Steve

[menagerie]

I used to have a Cockatiel I hand raised that was quite the noise maker. From the moment I came home he would call to me at the top of his lungs until I let him out. Then he would follow me around everywhere till it was bedtime. If you had yours from babies I wonder if this may be part of the issue with yours? Maybe they are wanting more ppl time, just thought I would throw that out there. I haven't had birds for a long time now so I'm not to up on my bird ettiquette. :)

[Remali]

lol....macaws.....oh man, and conures too.....they can really screech!

I will try theperch.net, sounds like a good place, thanks oursarge! For now I moved their cage to the other side of the livingroom, they say that sometimes moving the cage helps....and it helped a little bit.... Thing is, they never screeched quite so much before, then I moved here, maybe they don't like the new place?!

[oursarge]

Birds don't always like change and I have heard that sometimes moving a cage will help make them happy if they are unhappy or make them unhappy if they are happy! Maybe they are upset about your move. Were they in a more secluded area in your other place? It's hard to say what their issues are, they are such odd creatures, I love them but they are hard to figure out. I hope the perch people can help you. I went on looking for info on screaming love birds but didn't really find any people complaining about them screaming, not like other birds. I love Sun Conures 'til I heard the screaming. I won't be having one of them!

We had a Cockatiel, I really loved that little guy, he just dropped over dead during the night, he was old, I took him in because a friend couldn't keep him because of allergies. I miss him alot but haven't gotten another.

Good Luck!

[Remali]

So far it is going better since I moved them to another part of the livingroom....so maybe that was all I needed to do. In my old place they were in a similar area, but it may have been a bit more open there, and also they were closer to a window there too....so I moved them near a window, but not right in the sunlight, so maybe that will help some. I love my little peachies....but they sure can try my patience when they screech non-stop.

Oh gosh, I always wanted a sun conure too....till I heard one! Whoa! ;) I had a cockatiel years ago, and I just loved her, I hope to get another one someday, they are so sweet.

[Vegashorselady]

I used to have parakeets and love birds. They loved music and would always chirp along. If I practiced my violin or piano or singing in the living room they would screech along with the music. They really seemed to like it. If we played soft classical music at a low volume they would quiet down and just twitter softly with it. This might be a dumb suggestion but, maybe you could play some soft music for yours and see how they react.

[Remali]

Good idea vegashorselday....I do leave the radio on softly for them.....but sometimes it doesn't seem to matter to them. So far today they have been better...maybe they just didn't like the spot I had them in?! lol. But, I agree about the music, it does help!