[LiFeTrip]

Hello everybody !

We have my two girls since 2 months. At first they were calm for 2 weeks. Then they screamed for an entire week all morning from 8AM to 3PM.

We read about cockatiel and we decided to put them to sleep from 10PM to 10AM with a dark cover for the cage.

We also tried : moving all toys and cage setup when we clean it, letting them go out from 3PM to 10PM (Cage door is open).

For 3 weeks, they were angels, we thought we had find the way to keep them occupied and happy.

But this week it has started again. They scream and scream. They stay near our side of the cage and scream together, wheter we answer or not they don't care. They stop a 2PM and they don't make a sound after this all the time they get to play outside up until nighttime.

We can't just let them roam around in the day, we got work at home. Why are they screaming ? What can we do ?

They live in a 2 1/2' by 3' cage that is 5' high. There was always 3 toys inside the cage with clean water and food (they don't eat anything but seeds). Last weekend we bought 50$ worth of toys and we put them in their cage in case it was boredom. There is always some background noise on the TV and they are in the living room with us.

Here is This morning video. That is not their worst screaming (it is almost 3 times as loud), it seems if I pull up my phone they stop their ear-shattering screams and I dont want to stand there filming them for an hour.

Out last resort (that we have been using for a week), is to roll the cage in the kitchen where it is darker and they dont see us. That stops them but that is not what we want, we want them with us in the living room. They also keep looking at us while screaming and we asks ourself if they need something.

Nothing has changed since the time they were calm, we don't understand why their behavior changed (can it be their first molt ? Their young age ?). It feels like we had 3 times more cockatiel, the first two where calm but feared us. Then we had the screaming pest that were curious with us but wouldn't let us get near. Now the yellow one is able to get on our fingers to eat millet and the other one lost all progress we made recently for some reason. All of these changes from one day to another without any changes to our routine.

Any Ideas ?

 

[Daytontiel]

I feel your two cockatiels want to out of cage once seeing you. That explains, if they did not see you as cage in kitchen, they will not scream. Since you want to see them in your living room. One option is to use bird stand.

 

[LiFeTrip]

I have a small playground I put on a table in front of the cage where they can observe us. My girlfriend fears that if we start letting them out in the morning they will constantly ask for this in the futur and they will scream when we aren't here (this is an appartment, we have neighbors).

Also they are very excited in the morning, they won't just stay on their playground, they will start chewing on furniture and walk all around the place and they will need constant watch as my appartment isn't totally "cockatiel-proof".

I will try this tomorrow morning to see if it stop the ear-destroying screams.
How long until a cockatiel take something for granted do you think ?

 

[Daytontiel]

I have a small playground I put on a table in front of the cage where they can observe us. My girlfriend fears that if we start letting them out in the morning they will constantly ask for this in the futur and they will scream when we aren't here (this is an appartment, we have neighbors).

I think you're right about this. They definite will ask more out cage time. Cockatiels can learn step up in a few minutes. They are smart bird, will form a new habit in a few days

I don't get why you want to put bird cage in living room. Are you expecting to see them during the day? Seeing them means play time for your cockatiels now.

 

[Tishrickards]

I know you said that they get louder, but I found their ‘chatting’ very enjoyable. Ours is similar. Several years ago I accepted a pair of lovebirds from a person who was going crazy with their noise. She said she ‘couldn’t think straight’. I enjoyed their chit chat, and figured they just had settled down for me. I guess it depends on your noise tolerance. (I do run a daycare, lol)

 

[adelpks]

Do they start their noise a soon as they see you? What happens if you are out of the room? I ask because it may be possible to train them to be a little quieter. it will take some time to get them to realise it and dedication from you because they are like children and will take advantage of any opportunity but if you leave the room every time they start making noise they might get the hint that noise will not give them what they want. Of course at first this will be very disruptive to you but if you are consistent whenever they are in the cage it may work as they should learn quickly that to have you around means being quiet. This will only work for attention seeking noise however. Cockatiels can have a tendency to make a lot of noise - not screeching- but still chattering, talking and singing a lot of the time, they are vocal birds.
If they don't stop when you leave the room, then I'm not sure what's best. When my cockatiel wouldn't stop screeching I found a vet locally who could give me some behavioral tips to understand him and train him. If you live in Adelaide South Australia, I can recommend them.