Re: Sqwaking Problems

i have a blue front amazon.He also can have squaking episodes. the Amazon mating season is from march to may, gonzo gets a bit nastier and yells more at this time. Also, the time change can mix the birds up. So try covering them when the sun goes down and dont undercover them until you wake up. this helps them sometimes adjust to the time change and if its breeding season, They will rest more at this streesful time in their lives. It work with Gonzo!

Now again you have a different breed these tips may not work and you also have a pair. Another, thing is do you notice they are louder when the noise is louder in the house? or when the tv or radio is on?? Gonzo will get more noiser at these times too. Amazons will cry out to the their mate and get louder if the "FLOCK" gets louder so that their mate can hear them. So lower the noise in the house hold at those times too may help.

I hope these are some tips that may help even though the breeds are different. When i got Gonz, i had a subscription to bird talk magazine it was a savior for me. i suggest reading up on your breed when you can that can help you understand why they do what they do also. Good Luck

Re: Sqwaking Problems

I have never owned a Conure, due to the fact, that I know how loud they can be. However, pet stores do not inform you of this! That is why so many parrots are tossed around to many homes or shelters! I had owned lovies & cockatiels, but had always wanted a parrot. My husband, decided to suprise me, with an 18 year old , Blue Front Amazon. Wow! I was not ready for this guy! He was very hormonal, had lived on a poor diet for most of his life & hated men! I could here him screaming, two streets over, when the windows were open. He masturbated on anything he could, most of the day. I did everything I could from, changing his diet, to covering his cage early in the evening, not giving him warm food, taking his cage away from the window, etc... Nothing worked! I was ready to take him to an Avian Vet to see what might be wrong, then my husband died. I had to sell our home & give up my BFA. I now own a home & have an Eclectus! I did much research & got him through a Breeder, with very good references. That is the way to go! I know years ago, I would have walked in to a pet store & bought a parrot with no knowledge, except what the store told me. Please, if anyone reads this, don't buy through a pet store! Find a breeder, get references & READ, READ! Clare

Re: Sqwaking Problems

i agree with above reader, go to a breeder for a parrot. Gonzo was wild caught--his fear of towel is horrifying. Even 18 years later. Again read up on a parrot if anyone has interest in being an owner/parent. The birds deserve a knowlegable owner.

Re: Sqwaking Problems

Never rely on the knowledge or advice of a pet store employee. Remember, most of these people were just hired off the street after filling out an application for a very low paying job! Most of these people are not experts or even close. A lot are high school kids that need gas money. Although pet store employees may love animals, they are NOT animal professionals!
I cringe almost every time i go into a pet store from hearing bad or untruthful advice being given a customer by a pet store employee! I tend to wait until the customer is alone and give him or her the correct knowledge (i was a licensed wildlife rehaber for several years and also worked as a veterinary assistant). I often find myself correcting pet store employees, who always argue with me even after hearing my long list of credentials. ALWAYS do your own careful research before becoming a pet parent! That is why I have a 16 year old Newt that shouldn't have lived but a couple years - research, research, research!!!

Re: Sqwaking Problems

Got my Double Yellow Head, Double-Breasted Parrot, Sinbad, from a girl who had two parrots and could no longer take care of them. The girl parrot, Refugio, that she decided to keep, had gotten very depressed from being left without human contact for months at a time and tried to pull out her claws. (She almost bled to death but at least my friend woke up and then made some changes in the quality of these two birds life! I then acquired Sinbad and she gave the Refugio to another good home. Parrots just want to be with their flock (that is now YOU) and will call out to them when they are separated from them or lonely. The sqwaking was much less when his needs were met. So my job was to figure out what those needs were.

Have found that by giving Sinbad an enclosed box with an entrance hole and filling it with cardboard flooring and paper he will happily stay in there for hours, shredding away and kicking the shredded paper toward the entrance hole of the box. He is then not destructive in other areas since I have given him his very own destruction-area that we call the "Bat-Cave." I leave brightly colored wooden toys hanging in his covered night cage so he can entertain himself by shredding these if I am not at home. I also can leave him on top of my shower stall which faces a large mirror and he will stay perched there for hours (perhaps because he can see another very handsome bird like himself in the mirror.
Sinbad was easy to potty-train by setting him on the kitchen faucet over the garbage disposal first thing in the morning and saying "Go Potty" then of course he would since he was loaded from the night and when he did I would always say ""What a good boy, Sinbad!" Now, when we are out somewhere, he always let's me know when he has to go potty by saying "Sinbad, By-By" thats the signal he came up with and I have learned to listen to him as he will always let me know. If you talk in simple sentences to your parrot, they will quickly learn to use those words back to you in an appropriate manner. For example, whenever I gave Sinbad a special food treat, I would say "Is that good, Sinbad?" "Do you like that?" and now, whenever I have a special treat that I am eating Sinbad will say to me "Is that good?" and "Do you like that?" :o)

Re: Sqwaking Problems

I have an senegal parrot who screams/squawks 89% of the day
I don't know what to do with him like most I was not informed very well about this young guy I've tried everything with from new cages to toys he gets really aggressive to he's about five years old now I've had him most of that time
HELP!
I don't want to give him up But I can't take the screaming anymore I love him dearly he is my baby boy

Re: Sqwaking Problems

You can also try to ignore the screaming. Many parrots scream because they are patterned/encouraged (unintentionally) to do so. Whenever we react to our parrots, that is considered giving them a drama reward, and they never distinguish between us yelling at them to "shut up" and us yelling TO them to continue. Therefore, when owners yell or otherwise use attention to get their bird to quit screaming, the bird percieves this as you "joining in."

The best way to deal with a screaming parrot is to ignore the bird when she screams, and give attention when she does not. That way, you're using positive reinforcement to alter the parrots' natural instincts & behaviors to make your life easier. But like the vet said, the bottom line is that parrots will scream. If we keep parrots as pets, we have to realize that we get ALL of their natural behaviors; like pooping everywhere (Which would fertilize the ground for the next season, in the wild), the screaming (which is a normal social behavior for parrots to communicate certain emotions), the messy eating (By throwing 80% of the food they pick up in their beaks, they tend to plant the seeds for the next season's crop, in the wild) etc.