We've had our male cockatiel for almost 5 years now, and he's very vocal, loves to sing and make silly noises but we don't mind.
We used to put him in the cupboard under the stairs at around 10pm and get him up about 10am. He's out pretty much all day unless we go out (which is very rarely at the moment for obvious reasons) and he's happy all day, cuddly, flirty, energetic.
Recently however, since almost a year ago, he's started freaking out in the evening. It started at about 9pm but it slowly got earlier. We'll sit down to eat dinner, watch TV or whatever, and he'll be fine for the first couple of hours, eating, preening, sleeping on the TV, the usual, then suddenly, about 7-8pm, he starts screaming, like a panicked scream, and he sits right on the edge of the top of his cage and gets ready to fly. If you go near him, he flies around the room in a panic, like he thinks we're trying to pick him up (our usual ritual for putting him in his cage is to chase him around the room until he gives up, we don't like it but it's the only way we've found that works).
He doesn't stop screaming until we put him to bed. I've thought maybe he's getting tired, but when he's tired, he just grinds his beak and sleeps on my shoulder or on the TV. He definitely doesn't look sleepy. Nothing changes in the room, same lighting, same people, same TV volume. He just suddenly starts freaking out.
It sucks because nothing we try will calm him, other than putting him to bed, but this means he's away in the cupboard in the dark for 14 hours a night. It never used to be this way, he would just be normal and relaxed until bedtime when we'd pick him up while he was just chilling and put him to bed.
Any ideas?
We used to put him in the cupboard under the stairs at around 10pm and get him up about 10am. He's out pretty much all day unless we go out (which is very rarely at the moment for obvious reasons) and he's happy all day, cuddly, flirty, energetic.
Recently however, since almost a year ago, he's started freaking out in the evening. It started at about 9pm but it slowly got earlier. We'll sit down to eat dinner, watch TV or whatever, and he'll be fine for the first couple of hours, eating, preening, sleeping on the TV, the usual, then suddenly, about 7-8pm, he starts screaming, like a panicked scream, and he sits right on the edge of the top of his cage and gets ready to fly. If you go near him, he flies around the room in a panic, like he thinks we're trying to pick him up (our usual ritual for putting him in his cage is to chase him around the room until he gives up, we don't like it but it's the only way we've found that works).
He doesn't stop screaming until we put him to bed. I've thought maybe he's getting tired, but when he's tired, he just grinds his beak and sleeps on my shoulder or on the TV. He definitely doesn't look sleepy. Nothing changes in the room, same lighting, same people, same TV volume. He just suddenly starts freaking out.
It sucks because nothing we try will calm him, other than putting him to bed, but this means he's away in the cupboard in the dark for 14 hours a night. It never used to be this way, he would just be normal and relaxed until bedtime when we'd pick him up while he was just chilling and put him to bed.
Any ideas?
