Budgie Squawking: How To Discourage This Behavior?

[cmf0106 0]

We have two 5 month old male budgies, Scooter and Sammy. They get along great in late afternoon and evening; however, early in the morning and early-mid afternoon it seems like they don't get along at all. In the morning/early-mid afternoon Scooter will squawk for hours on end. Its incredibly loud and hurts my ears. Scooter is the only one that squawks. Sammy doesn't seem to do anything to antagonize him. We have tried discouraging this behavior by covering their cage with a towel. Scooter will usually quit squawking once the towel is placed over the cage, but once its removed he will go right back to shrieking. They have 2 separate food bowls, plenty of space in the cage and numerous toys.

 

Any ideas on what might be causing this squawking behavior, and any ideas on how to stop it?

 

 

Cage: 30" L X 18" W X 18" H

Here is a picture of their cage

 

Edited December 19, 2011 by cmf0106

[BudgieOwner 0]

Maybe try getting him out of the cage. My lil one starts screeching when he want's to be let out in the morning. He'll start pacing the perch too. Usually happens when he hears my voice in the morning.

[cmf0106 0]

Maybe try getting him out of the cage. My lil one starts screeching when he want's to be let out in the morning. He'll start pacing the perch too. Usually happens when he hears my voice in the morning.

 

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, I do not believe this is the case. My budgies typically pace back and forth on the bottom of the cage when they want to come out. Although he will stop squawking once I bring him out I think its mostly because he is preoccupied, or because he is a bit uncomfortable outside the cage.

 

Any other recommendations? The squawking is beginning to drive me mad.

Edited December 21, 2011 by cmf0106

[dillster 0]

i dont think you will stop the noise sorry maybe when he squalks walk over to his cage and stand there and stay no try that

[SL26 0]

By what you say, it sounds like he's seeking your attention. Given he stops squawking once you take him out of the cage or cover the cage, he has succeeded in getting you to come over to him. If you don't like the sound, you MUST ignore him until the squawking stops, otherwise you are just reinforcing the behaviour and he'll keep squawking for longer and longer until you pay him attention.

 

Have you heard of positive reinforcement? This is a great tool for managing animal behaviour. Basically what you want to do is reward the behaviour you like and ignore the behaviour you don't like. It can take quite a bit of time to improve things, especially when squawking is involved, but persistence will pay off in the end. If you want to learn more about positive reinforcement, I'd highly recommend Barbara Heidenreich's website Good Bird Inc (http://www.goodbirdinc.com/). She has some really useful giudes to help treating problem behaviour.

[cmf0106 0]

By what you say, it sounds like he's seeking your attention. Given he stops squawking once you take him out of the cage or cover the cage, he has succeeded in getting you to come over to him. If you don't like the sound, you MUST ignore him until the squawking stops, otherwise you are just reinforcing the behaviour and he'll keep squawking for longer and longer until you pay him attention.

 

 

 

SL26, I strongly believe it has nothing to do with him wanting my attention. These birds are not tame yet, they do not like being handled. He stops squawking because he is likely scared outside of the cage.

[GenericBlue 0]

try turning on the radio

just softly and keeping it close to them

[cmf0106 0]

try turning on the radio

just softly and keeping it close to them

 

Yah we have tried this for weeks on end already and it does not help.

[cmf0106 0]

Any other suggestions? I really need some help. I work from home and if this continues I may have to consider giving him away to a family member and thats not something I want to do. I am desperate for some suggestions here. Also they get 10 hours of sleep everyday, so it shouldnt be that either.

Edited December 30, 2011 by cmf0106

[Finnie 0]

Again, a late response on my part, so it may be too late to help. Sorry.

 

I just wanted to point out that 10 hours of sleep per night is not enough. So if you try 13 to 14, maybe that will help.

 

 

 

Another suggestion, although not really about squawking, you have all your perches set up so that your birds have to fly front to back or up and down in that cage. They can't really fly that way, more like hopping. If you rearrange the perches so that they run front to back, and are located far apart from each other, some on the left side and some on the right side, then this will allow the birds to fly a little farther when they want to stretch their wings. Something as simple as that MIGHT make them happier, or get along better.

 

 

Hey, is that a sewing machine table they are on? I have TWO sewing machine tables I use for cage stands. They are great!

 

And I LOVE their little Chrissy stockings.