Remember To Reward The GOOD Behavior!

I just want you to know. I love what I am learning to do with your program. I had bought three young birds for Christmas without realizing what I was getting into. I bought your video program and although I am too busy to train as often as you suggest, I am working with the cockatiel because it is the older bird @ 13 months now. The other two parrotlets are @ 5 months old and since I do not have enough time, I move their cages to another room while I work with the cockatiel. This was a bird that tried to destroy itself by throwing itself at the side of the cage every time you opened the cage door. I am so happy that I am now able to get her to walk across my finger to touch the point of my chopstick. It took several days before I was able to get the bird to stand on its perch when the door was open, but I did the clicker reward routine through the bars first for several days, then when I opened the door, all he wanted was to touch the stick for the reward. . My husband was very worried that we would not have fun with this bird like we did with our last one. He actually wanted me to return the bird. But now he is visiting with it every morning and every evening when he gets home from work. Thank You. I am so happy

It works with children too!!!!!

I agree with this it works for me and has made some huge changes…

My blue front Amazon Max is quick to bite when he’s excited. Actually he really doesn’t need to be excited he just likes to bite. One day I went to but him on my arm & he ran up my arm & bit me on the neck so fast it took a few minutes for me to realize he bit me. What makes them do that?

Hi Chet
I have a citrus crested cookatoo who is very friendly with everone even strangers i was the birds best friend until one day he would not get back in his cage and i was chasing him around for 10 minutes trying to catch it. since that day he is still friendly with everyone else but will not come anywhere near me its been 6 months what can i do

Neo my Amazon is at “that time of the year” and sure enough she has started to scream, what makes it worse is that we have a male Amazon a couple of houses away, and yes!!! they talk to one another. However, when she has stopped screaming (which I always ignore) I wait a while and then reward her with a walnut that I have cracked, she sits on a perch trying to get the pulp out of the shell. The other thing that I have noticed is that her claws seem to grow at a rapid rate at this time of the year, I always have them clipped around mid-April, which is usually after she has laid the second clutch of eggs – we had seven last year.

thanks you ,i satifi your suggetion i, ll try my parrot

My cockatieles ying and yang are also at this stage I have always rewarded the
good behavour with grate results a treat gose a long way

Pyro my Sun Conure screams a lot, a typical thing for Sun Conures. But it drives me crazy sometimes when I wake up in the morning and he’s screaming so loud, the neighbours can even hear him… I have tried to reward him when he was quiet, but when I let him out of his cage, he would start screaming again. How can I stop this behaviour, or make it less? We already tried a naughty-box. It’s a recycle-bin with holes in it. Whenever he’s naughty or screams a lot, we first warn him by showing the box. If he still continues to scream we put him in the naughty-box for 5 minutes. But I have the idea that he doesn’t know what he is doing wrong…

Pyro my Sun Conure screams a lot, a typical thing for Sun Conures. But it drives me crazy sometimes when I wake up in the morning and he’s screaming so loud, the neighbours can even hear him… I have tried to reward him when he was quiet, but when I let him out of his cage, he would start screaming again. How can I stop this behaviour, or make it less? We already tried a naughty-box. It’s a recycle-bin with holes in it. Whenever he’s naughty or screams a lot, we first warn him by showing the box. If he still continues to scream we put him in the naughty-box for 5 minutes. But I have the idea that he doesn’t know what he is doing wrong….

Thanks for the reminder – a good article.

My 10 mth old Green check conrue “Bailey” does well with this method on screaming but now bits really hard my fingers neck or ear when he wants something or when he is playing on his back in my hand (which seems to be his new favorite) he will turn his head and grab a small piece of skin and leave me with blood blisters. I love playing with him and having him around but not this new bitting. Before he would bearly grab my finger to get my attention. I have started putting him in a time out but I’m afraid of creating a new problem with the cage & time out. I have only had him for four months and he already has a 20 word vocabulary but does not know what the words mean. His new phrase “bailey bits” thanks to my husband.

I need to try that. My African Grey , Gracie, has developed a screeching noice that stings your ears. I beliEve its for attention to let her out. She knows we will cover the cage if she continues, but she does it anyway.

I am the owner of a Catalina Macaw “Neiko”, whom I’ve owned for the past eleven years. I got him when he was only a year old, and he has the worst attitude! He loves me very much and is very loyal to me, but he bites EVERYONE else. He squawks all of the time whenever anyone comes over the house to visit, and if I try to socialize him he will snap at me! I’ve been forced to put him in a seperate room when I have company! He chews up whatever he can get his beak on, and recently he was the cause of the destruction of my boyfriend’s music recording equipment. I love my bird, and I will never get rid of him, but I really need some help. How can I turn these behaviors around????? PLEASE HELP

Excellent article will definately try same method on my Goffins “Crackerbird” and Amazon “Josephine” I feel terrible not realising that but going to try it now…again thank you

@Pauline:

Your Pyro sounds like my Goffins(Tanimbar) Cockatoo Luna when he’s super hormonal. I used to get so frustrated w/ all the noise, primarily because I worry about disturbing the neighbors!

For the past couple of [annual] hormone cycles when he just goes nuts, I’ve tried a variety of things that distract him for a while. A new “tear-up” toy as often as he needs it (during these times they go really fast, esp. w/ males since they do the nesting); he REALLY likes to chew on ice so I plop a cube in his water dish almost hourly (if I’m home); and if he’s just too wound up I close the blinds in his room and put on his near-black cage cover for a nap. Finally, as much as I can w/o letting him take over all my “me” time, I give all the affection and play I can. He loves being pet on his head, cheeks, wings, and back, and kisses on the head and cheek, so I give him lots o’ love which seems to ease his frustration when compared to previous years. Also, I now know to be aware of his level of unrest when playing though – he sometimes gets rough and even “bitey” if overly stimulated and can land an unintended nick to my finger. He hears me say “ow, no” and immediately comes and gives an apology kiss, but better to just avoid altogether.

I understand your frustration…hopefully something helped.

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Good article…thanks

This is Don and i have a umbrella cockatoo and is really jealous and goes crazy when my wife or anyone comes near me what can i do to overcome the crazy squaking when this happens

Lexus, an umbrella cockatoo loves to wake us up barking like a little poodle. I have learned that after a time he will start screaming, so I have learned if I respond by whistling, speaking, or going to the cage before he starts screaming, he doesn’t go there. By responding he also has learned how to talk and whistle. It’s kind of like our way of saying hello in the morning. He also likes to go into screaming early evening. I do the same and now he is beginning to talk instead of screaming. Lexus has really taught me how bright these birds are.

I’m so thankful, my African Grey, T-Bone, doesn’t scream. He does however imitate the two Bichon puppies, doorbell, car alarm, phone rings, and anything else he finds interesting! He’s a great bird, but has a slight mean streak, at times.

Nicky ,my newest, a goldcapped conure is the loudest screamer ever! I have discovered in getting to know her that in her getting out for play time and trick training has quieted her tremendously! I can’t thank you enough for the knowledge that you have shared with us and our feathered friends!!! I have a variety of birds the bulk of which are rescues and your information has been a BLESSING to me and my birds!!! I look forward to your emails ALWAYS! GOD BLESS YOU!!!!! Love you guys

I love you guys and all you have done for me and my conure. He’s the quietest, most well behaved boy – except when strangers enter the room for about five minutes (then he’s sweet) – in the world. However; I have a very ‘special’ Cockatiel… And I have done this technique many many times… Reward when quiet… reward when quiet… sing together, whistle, etc… The only issue is he has a few mental issues. Singing leads to screaming… Leads to back in the cage… Leads to more screaming when mommy walks away… Leads to two hours of screaming while mommy waits for silence to come back and reward him with something DIFFERENT that he likes, not the same thing so he’s not bored or uninterested. He never bites, when I cover my hand over his head he starts a mating call, when I offer him his favorite treat when he sings to reward him, he screams at me or just stands on the treat and keeps singing. He cannot sing one song, he mixes them. Rarely he will have a part of the Imperial March perfectly, without mixing it. But he can’t seem to do it otherwise. He refuses rewards or hates them when he’s being good. So I figure his reward is time with me. But he still SCREAMS in the middle of his songs for no reason. Then goes back to singing. I have had a vet tell me that this seems as if he has a mental issue, and wanted me to bring him in to see her. How do you train a mentally challenged bird? I can’t even clicker train him to touch a stick. He touches the stick, then when I try to reward him, he keeps chasing the bloody stick, not interested in the food, then screams at the stick and flies around. I wish you had a segment on ‘Special’ birds…

thankyouthankyouthankyou.

I have a Green Cheeked Amazon and his is usually a good boy. but every time I’m in the kitchen doing anything he goes into a raging scream fest. I put in on a parch in another room so he quiets down. When I bring him back out, he is OK for a while. But soon as I go back in the kitchen he goes crazy. I only reward (with treats or head scratchies) when he is being good! I have tried and tried to condition him with no luck. Any ideas? He is now 16, I’m hoping he will grow out of this behavior!

This is just the opposite of the no drama reward rule for screaming. DO give drama rewards when they don’t. BTW any bird that doesn’t have some loud scream time as a normal part of their day is sick, dead or a stuffed bird. My BC Macaw Ray screamed sun up to sun down when he came some years ago. We encouraged talking, tricks, games, singing and rewarded alternative behavior with drama. He is a superior talker and even drama rewards himself with a “good job yay!” When he does something he knows we like. He still screams occasionally each day when hungry, excited, frustrated or when the other birds scream but then he is not a stuffed bird. No toy maker would make anything that loud Ha

I have a blue and gold that likes men better .Once in a while he likes me. He was not a baby when we got him around a year and a half old. He is around two and a half years at this time, we think. At times he gets very moody . Some times he lets me pet him for a short time then trys to bite me and when he is full he is very nasty .He takes food from my hand no problem.I am the one that feeds him and plays with him too . what a talker .We bought him at a store that someone brought him back.I do like the bird.We have other birds that love us very much ,if I take sammy out, he asks to come out too. They sit by each other .He will scream if I take sammy out of the room he is in. Hope u can help thank u.

i have a 14 month old grey. he was hand reared and up until recently i could do anything with him he used to sit on my shoulder and watch tv. now if i go to handle him he either screams or bites me, yet my wife who was always frightened of him can now stroke him and touch him. he also has started screaming more which i try to ignore then praise him when he stops. i am doing the basics of feeding him with his best treats when he does something good but he still wont let me handle him. is there truth in the saying that male birds go for females and vice versa?

In response to Angeline: There’s likely nothing mentally wrong with your Tiel. My 3 year old male Tiel will sometimes take to blurting out a scream now and then; sometimes it’s while he’s whistling to me and sometimes it’s when I’m whistling back to him – It’s probably his way of showing excitement and I just ignore it and he usually stops; but sometimes if he goes on a bit too long with that kind of behaviour (I put it down to a blast of the old hormones), I will put him back in his cage and ignore him, then when he’s quiet again, I’ll praise him and give his head a scratch or let him out again. This usually works well. Just remember, what humans think might be abnormal behaviour, could well be perfectly normal in the bird-world! We all have our moody days… Good luck!

I have a conure and love him a lot . He lets me know if anyone is close to the house .I put him on a large purch out side his cage with snacks in it and at one end have a soft toy for him then I do my dishes and come back and he is sleeping under his soft toy.They like to be part of the family so they are like a watch dog. You might have to put him in a place where he cant see a lot of movement.My conure is my door bell. know one can go by without me knowing .If my husband caries anything out of the house he tells him to put it down with his loud noise. If he walks by him with it in front of him and the bird cant see it he is fine.They like to let u know what is going on in your house.We turned it into a game by showing him something then hiding it ,and thats how we got control of the noise.

Thank you. I will have to remember this. Kachina, my Yellow Collared Macaw, has been screeching more lately. I’m not quite sure why. I think it may have something to do with the fact that I have added a bit more seeds, nuts and dried fruits to her daily mix of pellets (from Chet’s site), and she’s been eating those first and then starts in when all that’s left is the pellets. Whoops! my fault. Usually she’s much better than that. Back to the cut backs. Although some times I can reduce the noise by singing with her. She seems to respond to my voice, even if I’m in the other room and she can’t see me.

For Nikki……
I have always been told and have also read, not to pet your bird under his wings or on his back, especially when he’s hormonal because those are the bird’s erogenous zones and will only excite him more. I hope this helps.

I have a rainbow lorikeet which is an Australian nectar eating parrot (similar size to a cockatiel). His name is Zappa and he is about four years old.
He is also going through Heat at the moment and has snuggled up with an old rolled up bandage and gets very protective over it, he sleeps on it and even tries to feed it. But the problem with this is now he is getting possessive over all of his other toys. If I touch a toy to simply move it around (keep him occupied) he goes nuts at me (this never happened before) and he starts to scream and bite and carry on. So I took his snuggle away and he will scream and carry on until I end up covering him….
covering him used to work. I would do the time-to-age rule and cover him for four minutes and when he was pretty much quiet for four minutes he would get uncovered and praised. This is not working now. He just gets more and more angry. So I have left him too it. I don’t touch the things in his cage unless he is upstairs playing with something else. It is not that I have become afraid of him… I am just aware that he gets really shirty with me if I don’t.
(he has also developed this fear for males. He takes months to get used to them and then one day he will jump on their shoulder and bam he is biting into their face for no reason)…..
I have the tricks dvd from this site, but being in New Zealand the cost of the DVDS themselves and then the shipping works out to be phenomenal for our price exchange.
Any suggestions on how to ween him off his snuggle and how to get him to stop regressing into his angry old self would be helpful.

gosh i make him sound like the worlds worst behaved parrot.

I have a really sweet jenday conure. He only screams when he sees someone and will not stop until they take him out of his cage. It’s kind of hard to reward him for not screaming when he only screams when when he sees you because if you try to reward him he sees you and starts screaming. It is also impossible to take him out of the cage every time. I don’t want to move his cage to a room where he will never see anyone unless that is the only souloution. Any suggestions?

I have one Double Yellow Headed Amazon who likes only me. Her first owner was a man and she hates all men. She screams and jutts out at them whenever they come into the room. I tell her “no” and that was a “bad” girl. She still thinks of me only and it is disrupting my home. What can I do to get her to behave when my husband and son are here? The funny thing though, is that when we have a lot of people here, she is quiet until I get her to say her sentences. Then she shuts up again until the friends leave.

My three year old male galah, Floyd, is a real snuggle bunny for most of the year but becomes very aggressive towards me during spring. He was left with a male carer for six weeks recently during spring (in Australia, we’re into summer) and he was really well behaved except when two female galahs were brought into the home for a few days and he bit his carer. He is pretty well behaved otherwise, is a great talker, doesn’t scream except when native galahs fly over (he calls them Floydie birds) and can tell me when rainbow lorikeets (Chi Chi birds named after a lorikeet I had) or cockatoos (he calls them cockies) are in the area. I also have a beautifully behaved male rainbow lorikeet who is a joy all the time and a new male budgie. How can I ensure my galah stays sweet during mating season? He obviously wants to show dominance over me but I am a little nervous handling him at this time and tend to leave him in his cage for a few weeks.

Hi Valery,
Every time you take your bird out of the cage or pay any kind of attention to him when he screams, you are teaching him that this is the most successful means of getting what he wants. This is what has been most effective for him, so why should he do anything differently? The solution to the problem is in teaching him that he will not get your attention or out of cage time by screaming. Unfortunately, he will have to “unlearn” this unwanted behavior before you teach him a more acceptable means of communicating his wants. Start by NOT responding in ANY WAY to his demands. Yes, this means you will have to endure his screaming and any resulting tantrums for a time while he learns it is no longer effective. Following this, you will teach him that quiet behavior, or a pleasant call that you can teach him, will get him what he wants.
I understand that it is hard to reward his good behavior when there isn’t any in your presence. The first step is in stopping the screaming so there IS a behavior to reward. Ignore, completely ignore, the bad behavior. I am glad you won’t banish him to solitude while this lesson is learned. Good luck!
Patty

Hi Anna,
The lorikeets are such stunningly beautiful birds. Zappa has just reached sexual maturity, bringing on these new behaviors. It is not a good idea for you to encourage him to be responsive to his hormones during certain seasons of the year. He has become overly territorial and is using his toys for regurgitation. This isn’t abnormal behavior, but it will lead to aggression if allowed to continue unchecked. Please read this post on hormonal parrots: http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/handling-hormonal-birds/. Take him away from his cage and, in his absence, remove the snuggle and any toys he is behaving inappropriately with until the hormones subside. You can return them after the season is over.
It also seems like Zappa may have chosen you as a mate, instead of a more normal relationship of regarding you as a flock member. Do see that you socialize him to a variety of people so that he is able to get along with everyone. Not doing this will result in him biting more people.
I am not surprised that he is becoming angry about being covered for any length of time. This is NOT an effective way to train a behavior, or gain cooperation. It is regarded as punishment by the bird and will only result in resentment. There is nothing positive learned by Zappa when you cover him. Try to deal with him in a more direct manner. Time outs are effective. When he is doing something that is undesired, immediately turn your back to him and walk away for 10 or 20 second. This will let him know that he will lose your attention when he does this. It is also how birds respond to each other when one wishes to send a clear message to another.
Actually, Zappa doesn’t at all sound like a badly behaved parrot. This is pretty normal behavior for hormonally charged birds. If you handle things well this time around, each subsequent time will become easier.
Patty

Oh, yeah, it’s definitely THAT time of the year again, for us all! First the holidays, and then this. My Severe Macaw has been throwing things, opening cabinet doors, dumping things off of the table/counters, then cocking her head, to stare at the wonderous destruction…. (Errr, did it REALLY fall where I wanted it to?!) Then finding her obscure places to “nest”, and just get downright broody! Well, January in general sucks around here, but we get through it somehow… We always have, we always will…. We just have to handle them with kid gloves!

Good info I will try this on my Macaw Cheo 12yrs old
I have question my bird eats her poop from the grills in her cage do you know if this will hurt her or is some thing missing in her diet.?

Yes a really good reminder. Our six year old African Grey who is quite well behaved most of the time (except when she decides to bite my other half) so find it hard to reward her when she is good. However the main problem is there seems to be nothing she likes as a treat. We have tried all sorts of things,but mostly takes it and lets it drop to the bottom of the cage. Have tried nuts, seeds little nibbles of fruit, but only eats when she is hungry it seems!

I would like to train her further but without the reward not sure how to go about it.

Hi Pauline,
Please understand that Pyro will not benefit in any way from the “naughty box”. In order to show a bird that what they are doing is unacceptable, they have to relate their behavior to your response to it. They must get a very clear message saying that what they did caused you to do what you did. It needs to be an immediate thing. Think about all that transpires between his screaming and when he is placed in the box: Pyro screams, he witnesses your frustration, you show him the box (which, given his experience with it, will only cause anger and perhaps escalate the screaming), eventually you pick him up (which is what he likely wanted all along and is probably quiet now), then you put him in a dark space alone for a long five minutes. The thing that happened directly before he was put in the box was that he was quiet and riding on your hand. He can no longer equate it to his screaming. Make sense? For this reason, birds don’t respond to punishment in any good way. It takes too long to arrange for it.
A much more effective, and more humane, way to handle screaming is to do NOTHING AT ALL. Everything a bird does serves a purpose. Screaming takes a lot of energy and a bird is not going to waste his time doing something that has no benefit. When he makes the connection that the screaming does not serve him, he will stop. Remember that even simple eye contact is perceived as attention. Turn your back to Pyro and go about your business and don’t include him in what you are doing until he is quiet, at which time you will lavish him with attention.
Patty

We have 4 parrots in our house! Parrotlet male Tiki, Sun conure male Sunny, Green Cheek male Beaker and a Goffins male Cisco who is a rescue. This is the first spring Sunny has begun to squak loudly (he’s 3) at random times and I ignore it when it happens. The time it happens most is if I am unable to give them their 2 hours of out of cage flight/preening/bath time in the morning. But really the noise doesn’t bother me at all so it’s easy to ignore if I can’t let them out. But it is that time of the year and when our 3 little ones are out and about it’s a hormonal feast to behold. The Parrolet stomps around with his feathers sticking straight up warning the other birds to stay away. And they do stay away. They are short tempered as well and are always searching for an open cupboard in the kitchen to nest in. Our Goffin’s ‘Too Cisco was a rescue from a home where they shut him away in a dark back room and yelled at him whenever he made a peep. (why do people get birds when they can’t take the noise?) When we got him he had barbered his feathers and was so quiet! It was very sad. After about 6 months he started making noise when we left the room and we were very excited to see some normal behavior. This probably sounds strange to people who are tired of the noise but to us it was a sign he was getting well. Now after 2 years he will flap and scream and raise he** every morning and we just laugh and laugh at him. Sometimes he gets so carried away he will flip himself right off his climbing net! it only lasts for about 3-5 minutes and he’s quiet and happy the rest of the day ( he has lots of toys and a climbing net and is only in a cage at night when he sleeps or if we are gone from home) until the evening and then it might happen again. Sunrise-sunset. He’s still cautious if we are in the room, all the birds live in our living room with us, but he knows if he makes noise he won’t get yelled at. Noise is part of a parrots life like a person talking. Please, if noise bothers you don’t purchase a parrot. It breaks our heart to think our Cisco spent nearly 5 years of his life, after the cute baby stage, in a dark back room separated from his flock. Be patient.

Thanks Patty. I guess it is just like letting a baby cry it’s self to sleep, I never could do that either. I’m too soft hearted, my husband calls it “tail wagging the dog”.

Thanks!!
If this helps anyone….

We have a 5.5 year old Senegal and 5 year old African Gray and don’t seem to notice any ‘times of year’ or even molt times with either of them. This concerns us somewhat but we also deeply appreciate it.

They are good boys that step up, step down, poop, come, stop, move (away), kiss, duck head for scratches, play dead, fly, move away, go home on command – they also know how to ask for their water to be refreshed, and say many other things that are quite silly. That said, we never really trained them formally, it just came from interracting them with them daily. Both talk constantly to us and the little one even lectures quite seriously when he is upset. Biting is never acceptable and they are great with kids and new people.

While their love needs are dramatically different, they are happiest when the family (including the semiferal cat) are all hanging out in the room together.

The African gets scared and very skittish only when not mentally occupied…his rewards are all based on food and mental challenges. We have not found a puzzle toy on the market which he has not solved within two days and is able to catch peanuts when thrown at him from across the room on the first try. It is a constant challange keeping him mentally occupied and focused on doing bird things.

The Senegal screams when not mentally occupied only after trying everything else in the book to get our attention. He is more difficult to appease because he needs cuddles and closeness as a reward. He will even anticipate and make the kissing sound (before me) when I lean over to give my wife a peck while in his presence. He will growl, take and toss peanuts when offered as rewards to make his point about what he wants. It is also a challenge keeping him mentally occupied.

Having the same problems but different love needs is wonderful and challenging because we must tune our interractions accordingly and be senitive to them. Thankfully…the cat has someohe learned to come into our bedroom room and tell on them if they are being obnoxious anyhow.

Chris

Pauline please please don’t put your bird into a naughty box it’s cruel and is only going to lead to frustration and more screaming. You can’t punish parrots! Only rewarding good behaviour will work. I have a screaming parrot and am trying to make a clicking noise when he screams. or whistle it’s called learned response so he will learn to respond to your noise with a similar noise. If you yell back at the bird he’s going to think you’re doing a parrot thing and screaming back at him and he’ll enjoy that.
You’re right that he does not know what he’s doing and therefore cannot understand why you keep putting him a box. I do understand how frustrating it is to live with a screaming parrot but it’s a slow process and takes a lot of patience.

I have an umbrella cockatoo. Everytime im in the other room, and he’s left in the other room,he screams, and start to walk back and forth….So then i tend to be silent for 5-10min and he’s still screaming,then i get him and talk to him. Is there any advise you can give me with this behaviour?
Also he used to be screaming a lot when he’s in the cage and were about to go to bed (coz he wants to be cuddling with us)….So i put a broom stick on top of his cage and then he becomes scared of it then he starts to behave. Like the broom stick is his boss. Just wondering if im doing the right thing.

Hi Myra,
Rewards can be something other than a treat. A couple of my birds are not food oriented and do things for praise and attention. See if this approach works better for you.
Patty

Birds scream. Period. It comes with the territory but we classify them in three ways. Regular chatty screaming which is usually mild and somewhat annoying at times. We can’t punish her for this because it is her job in life to be a bird, and birds scream just because a lot of times. Rewarding her for something that is against her nature seems a little wrong to me.

We do what we can do ignore our B&G’s temper tantrum screaming but it is NOT easy. If she gets into a time-out, she is quiet for a few minutes unless she is wound up and throws herself around the cage and paces her branches (she has LOTS) after a few minutes she settles down again and then will eat or chew her toys. I know at this time we should reward her for settling down, but how is that affecting her time-out? If she bites or gets down on the floor she gets a time out. We don’t make a fuss or yell (usually, depends on how much blood she draws) so she doesn’t interpret our behavior as a game Should we remove her toys and food bowl when we are giving her a time out?

The ONE scream we pay instant attention to is what we call her death scream, which is a danger scream. She doesn’t do it often but holy cow even after 6 years it still scares us. It happens when she sees people walking outside and just something about them makes her yell. The reason we pay attention to this one is to let her know she is safe and we are protecting her.

There is so much of a difference between regular screaming, temper screaming and danger screaming that we know how to behave appropriately.

I have reacently gotten a Sun Conure about 4 months ago from a friend that couldnt keep him any longer he is about 1 1/2 years old i love to play with him but he has a really bad habbit of bitting is there some way i can break him of this habbit ?

Worth trying. Its logical. Thanks

i,ve had my grey for 4 years, and she has now start to bite me, even flying at my face and biting which draws blood, any body know why she does this ? i used to be able to do anything thing with her and she would always sit with me but for some strange reason just wants to bite me, i,m now very scared of her and dont let her out as much which i miss being able to do can anybody help with ideas x jane