Won't shut up!

[JJcotw]

I have two lovebirds, which I got seperate from one another, about 3 weeks ago. They have a huge parrot cage, and lots of toys. But for some reason, Kiwi will NOT be quiet -- even for a second -- during the day.

These are not happy chirping noises. It is a variety of screetching and screaming noises. When he screams it is ear piercing. I can literally feel my eardrums shaking.

I live in an apartment, and the other day there were notices posted about pets, and people's right to peace and quiet in their homes, and that disruptive people will be evicted immediately. I am worried about losing our apartment.

The only good thing about the situation right now, is that at night they are still quiet.

I have tried reading all different kinds of material on bird screetching and nothing seems to apply/work. The only advice I have gotten so far is that I need to discover why he is screetching, and take care of the problem, or that he is probably screetching for attention, and I should make sure while he screetches that I ignore him so that I don't reinforce the behaviour.

But honestly he screetches whether I'm there or not. He does stop for about 5 seconds when I enter the room... but then starts again. He stops if I go up and talk to him... but I'm not supposed to do that because it reinforces the behaviour....

Does anyone know anything else that I can try? I know that there are things that get him all excited - loud noises, running water, walking back and forth in front of him, bright light, cooking (???), the television.... but what the heck? He still screams, just not as loud!

I am honestly at my wits end.
Can someone help me?

[kimsbirds]

Since you say you only got the birds about 3 weeks ago, I would think that the likely reason for screaming is that your screamer does not feel "safe", or he is feeling rather lost, ie: screeching locates his flock.
Make sure you provide a quiet corner against at least one wall for his cage. Also make sure you do not have them in a round cage, as this gives them no feeling of security. If the cage is by a window, perhaps there are other predatory birds or cats/dogs in his vision.
Make sure they are receiving 12-13 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, healthy foods and fresh water, and lots of interactive toys ie: leather strips, wooden blocks, shreddables, and perches that are located high up in the cage.
Do you have any other pets in the home? Perhaps you could leave a radio or CD on for them at a moderate level during the day hours?
Let us know a bit more about their environment and routine, and maybe someone else can put out some more ideas for you to consider...

[Pips mom]

I agree, when we first got Pip he was very noisey for at least a few weeks! I read alot of posts where new birds were being quiet----well, I guess they all react differently because Pip was SO loud! After he adjusted, he became quieter, little by little though, it didn't happen overnight! He is fine now though, I never have a problem with his noise level anymore, so I think time might be the only answer----hopefully the noise won't cause you any problems with your apartment in the mean time.

[JJcotw]

Well we have three cats (who would have thought that you can be a cat person AND a bird person? But I am) But I don't think Kiwi is afraid of the cats. The cage is one of those large free standing parrot cages, so the cats can't really jump up to look at them, but occassionally they do stand up on their back legs and take a peak. But I have seen Kiwi jump down when they are looking at them, and say hello -- like an inch away from my cats nose! And when we were first introducing the cats to the birds, Kitty put her paw tentatively on the bars of the cage, and Kiwi gave it a gentle poke with his beak.

Of course I am trying to make sure that they don't interact too much, because I have heard of horrible infections from cat germs. But as far as Kiwi fearing the cats, I can't see it.

They get tonnes of sleep at night. I heard that it's good to have their cage where they can see you -- like in the livingroom, which is where we spend most of our time. Their cage is located beside/behind the television where they can't see it, because I know for certain that my husband's video games gets him all crazy. So he plays with the volume down.

There is about 3 feet from the television to the cage, and then 3 feet to the piano, which is against the wall by huge windows, and faces towards the cage. Everything is pushed close to the wall. Maybe I should change the piano and the cage around? But then the light might shine in on them from the window -- or a draft?

One thing I should also mention, is that he wasn't hand fed, and had extremely limited interaction from humans until we got him, and another is that he was raised -- since he was weaned -- with budgies. Now, I have never had budgies, but in pet stores, etc, I have noticed that they make pleasant kind of chirping and buzzing noises. But they also do it all the time. But it's not really a problem because it's a nice noise, not a piercing shriek. Maybe he adapted his calls to be like a budgie, just louder?

If this is so, how would I correct it?

I thought that they had lots of toys, but it doesn't really seem that they do. They have one huge perch that sits about chin level to me, and it goes from one side of their cage to the other, then there is a single large swing, which is at eye level, another perch that is lower and leads to their water dish. Above this perch, there are two toys -- the kind that hang, made of rawhide/leather, and spaced with large pieces of coloured wood, and with a couple knots of that white rope, with a bell at the bottom. They seem to love these toys, they climb them, hang from them, chew them, ring the bell.

About food: I can't seem to get them to eat anything fresh. they weren't fed fresh foods as babies, and they seem uninterested in trying. I've heard that constantly feeding them just seeds is like feeding them McDonald's every day. So I'm weaning them slowly onto pellet food, so that their nutrition is complete. It's going really well, I don't think that it's causing the problems (because he has screetched since the day we got him, and I only started this a week ago)

And I just started leaving the radio on a talk radio station near them, but I haven't seen any changes yet.

Any more ideas????

[spork92]

my lovie is the same way, she seems to go thru phases. She will be quiet for several weeks at a time, won't be social at all, usually when she's laying eggs (she's obessed with eggs) and then she gets really loud for a few weeks and drives me insane to the point where I"m ready to give her away. :mad: just screams and screams and screams. it just gets under your skin its so loud and repetative. I try to just let her out whenever I'm home, she's usually quiet when she leaves her cage. also when she's in her cage, i give her lots of paper to shred, and that occupies her for a while and gives my ears a rest. I've noticed that clothing and the bed covers, towels etc and other fabrics seem to get her all riled up, and she screams even more. I usually move her cage when its time to make the bed or fold laundry. i dont really have much advice for you but I thought maybe you'd feel better knowing you're not alone! just keep telling yourself, he's just being a bird, and try not to get too mad at him. >o