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The last few days the birds have taken to this extreme screaming for hours every day. I have to block my ears to be able to be in the same room as them (which I am a lot because they are in my office) and I regularly have to leave the room to get away from them.

 

I'm sure my old budgies never made this much noise for so long.. the occasional scream obviously, but not like this...

 

Occasionally they will sit and gently chirp and groom each other and that's cute and comfy on the ears, so I hope they'll start doing more of that and less of the screaming when they settle in a bit more... Please tell me it's a settling in issue...

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I have found covering them helps. When they start up, pop on the cover and don't remove it until they stop. If they begin again... put it back on. They will soon learn that this behavior means they get covered. It has worked for me... I hope it helps you and your ears :D Please let us know how you all go!

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yep. i use the covering technique as well works really well . lol but i like to imitate squawking back at them that makes them look at me weirdly sideways!

Edited by maesie
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yep. i use the covering technique as well works really well . lol but i like to imitate squawking back at them that makes them look at me weirdly sideways!

 

Not always a good idea as they can think it's a game and keep it up :D ... then it's 100 times harder to control.

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I'll definitely try that. Just good to know it can possibly be fixed:) Thanks.

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I'll definitely try that. Just good to know it can possibly be fixed:) Thanks.

 

 

I believe so... they just need to know who's boss... and you shouldn't have to leave the room! :D

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Also make sure you are rotating toys and giving them things to do a bird that screams too much it is usually a sign that they need to be enriched and are bored. There are different ways you can enrich bird like having them forage for food (we have a topic on here in the nutrition section), giving them different types of toys like preening toys, things they can chew apart etc...

 

Rearranging their cage 2x a month and giving them different toys at that time is excellent way to nuture their minds. Do they get any cage time out to fly around and exercise?

 

How large is the cage you have them in now? Is it fit for 2 birds or only 1? Can they fly in their cage.

 

There are many factors to look at when you have birds that are having behavioral issues such as screaming. Covering is them is a quick fix but if you don't figure out what is causing the constant screaming then it turns into a habit and an owner that is being driven nuts.

 

If you have 2 together they really should not be screaming like that, Merlin only calls for me which sounds like the screaming but I know why he does it most of the time he is quiet or chattering nicely.

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My budgies screech if they want my attention because something is wrong - usually it is that there is a cockroach running around in a breeding cage/breeding room. The outdoors ones in the suspended aviary screech if they see a mouse or a rat running around on the ground outside or when there are visiting wild birds.

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There is difference that needs to be confirmed.

 

Is the bird screeching and it is actually calling out or it is screeching in the fear like Dr. Nat said there is a difference.

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The jump around a scream like they are very excited. The cage is more than big enough for 2, and we bought them lots of new toys last week, but I don't think they've figured out the purpose of toys yet, being aviary birds.

 

I haven't let them out of the cage yet, they've been here for 2 weeks and I wanted to wait until they've settled in a bit more. They're still scared of me, and I'm worried that letting them out will freak them out and they'll injure themselves. As long as I'm sitting in front of my computer they're fine, and ignore me, but if I look at them they stop what they're doing to look at me in case I'm gonna do something scary, and if I get up and walk past the cage (which I have to to get to the door) they will huddle together in a corner.

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The jump around a scream like they are very excited. The cage is more than big enough for 2, and we bought them lots of new toys last week, but I don't think they've figured out the purpose of toys yet, being aviary birds.

 

I haven't let them out of the cage yet, they've been here for 2 weeks and I wanted to wait until they've settled in a bit more. They're still scared of me, and I'm worried that letting them out will freak them out and they'll injure themselves. As long as I'm sitting in front of my computer they're fine, and ignore me, but if I look at them they stop what they're doing to look at me in case I'm gonna do something scary, and if I get up and walk past the cage (which I have to to get to the door) they will huddle together in a corner.

 

Key phrase is "being aviary birds". It's a bit like putting a wild bird in a small cage. A baby bird that grows up in a small environment gets used to it and feels comfortable and secure. These birds, in my opinion and from our description, ARE scared and not likely to get over it easily. I certainly would not let them loose in a room. Do you have an aviary you can put them in? And maybe get yourself a baby you can hand-rear. I think you and the bird(s) would find it a less stressful experience. Jaz

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An aviary was my first choice, but I was hoping they'd be able to get used to an indoor existence. I never expected them to be completely tamed, but to be reasonanly comfortable in my presence would be nice...

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It will be more difficult but it can happen with a lot of time and patience. I would work on being by them all the time when you are home not just here and there that will work best. So if you are watching T.V. have the cage next to you offer millet sprays at this time ONLY at the side of the cage don't put your hand in yet.

 

Also you may think of covering the back of the cage and 1/2 of the sides during the day to get them to calm down and not so spooked. I think you will find them to be calmer.

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Yeah, pretty much what I've been doing. I'm in my office all day until 5 pm, and then sporadically throughout the evening. The cage is partially covered by a sheet, and that gives them a corner which they like to hide in when I do something scary, such as shift in my chair or look at them, or something equally dangerous.

 

I haven't been offering them food, I wanted them to settle in a bit before I starting bugging them too much, but I guess now that it's been 2 weeks it's time to start..

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I had a pair of aviary birds which I brought inside earlier this year to breed during winter. When I brought them in they were very scared of me and wouldn't come anywhere near. After about a month or so they starte to settle down and after about four months we actually managed to get them both to land on our shoulders albiet breifly and eat some celery leaves from our hands!!! The thing that really worked for me was to find a food the LOVED (celery tops for them) and make a show of holding my hand in their cage with the celery leaves for just a minute and then slowly putting it into their bowl so they could see that it was my hand bringing their favorite treat. Once they relaxed in their cage I started letting them out for a fly and they would go back on their own when they were ready (be aware that this make take quite a few hours until they feel hungry again) You wil find that over time they will relax around you it will just take patience and understanding. Try putting the treat foods at the end of the cage closest to where you sit so that they begin to associate moving towards you with a reward.

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Thanks for the tip, I'll move their millet spray to the side nearest me. It's on the opposite side at the moment, with their seeds. They are still refusing to touch any fruit or veggies, so millet spray is the only thing I can use at the moment. I offer the fruit and veggies nearly every day, so I hope they'll learn to like it soon...

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Seriously have you tried celery leaves? I have found that almost every bird will try them and while they aren't good in large amounts as they are a tad watery they are good to try an encourage them to eat other vegies, I us them as a 'starter' vegie for birds not used to eating their vegies

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No, haven't tried those. Will do:)

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No, haven't tried those. Will do:)

 

Sounds like you've settled in for the long run with this pair. If you know what greens etc they were fed when they were in an aviary it might give you some clues what to offer them that they'd be used to. Could I suggest that if they are happily eating millet sprays that you try some of the wild seeding grasses that are abundant at the moment. Just a caution if collecting from the roadside that you collect seed heads that have not been exposed to exhaust fumes or road dust and that your local council has not been spraying. There might also be grassy weeds popping up in your garden you could use as well even if they are not actually seeding. Budgerigars will quite happily chew the stems of grass runners such as kikuyu. They also relish branches of lemon-scented ti-tree - they chew off the bark and nip off the leaves. Jaz

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Jaz, You are new so you wouldn't be aware of the situation with these birds. They have been rescued from apalling conditions where they were fed very poorly, it is likely they have ever even seen a vegie :hi:

 

Here's the link so you can read their story :P

 

http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....c=22998&hl=

Edited by melbournebudgies
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Well, covering doesn't really work. It worked the first couple of days, prolly because they were so spooked by me going over to their cage that they went quiet for a while. But now they're used to it and usually keep screaming after they've been covered up. I think they actually enjoy being covered, it makes them feel safe or something...

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maybe you should think about changing the location of the cage?

Can you get the screaming and such on video and download here so we can hear what it is and we can tell you if it is normal budgie chatter or really simply screaming?

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If it doesn't get better then yeah, they have to go somewhere else. The thing is the whole house is open plan and I wanted them in a room where they can be let out occasionally without having to move the cage back and forth. The only other rooms with doors are the other offices and bedroom..

 

I'll make a video tomorrow, they're covered up for the night now:)

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Here's a video. They actually haven't been too bad today, they get worse than what the video shows. I don't think it shows how loud they get, this leaves me with ears feeling numb and ringing...

 

th_2008-11-26-screaming.jpg

 

 

And this is the pleasant kind of chatter which I don't mind at all, I think it's cute:)

 

th_2008-11-24chatting.jpg

 

They have actually been very brave today:) Usually they stop what they're doing to go and huddle in the corner whenever I walk past, but today they were getting into the millet spray and just stopped and looked at me while I walked past and then continued eating:)

Edited by lil_fuzzy
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What you are seeing there is two different kids of behaviour and both are normal. The first one is the way they would talk to each other if they were flying around to communicate within the flock and as you notice they are flying around when doing this the second is more quiet, romantic chatter between two birds. Not sure you'll be able to do much about it but I've got my fingers crossed for you.

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