Movin' on up
We're moving from the suburbs back to our old neighborhood in the city, and are really excited about it. We found a room mate, and may have found an apartment.
Yes, an apartment.
Cookie, bless his pointed little head, is a screamer. Not constant, but if he feels he is being ignored, he lets out a sqwak of indignance. Sometimes several. Sometimes it's a long stream of outright screaming. What's a girl to do?
We've tried the whole, "Ignore the behaviour" route, with no real success. We've tried covering his cage, but that just muffles the screaming (which he then kicks up a notch). We don't have a second cage to remove him to. And now we're moving in to an apartment (a small complex of only 13 apartments overlooking a courtyard).
I've heard of putting the bird in its carrier and removing it to, say, the bathroom. Once he stops screaming, bringing him back out to see us is the "reward". That hardly seems like "positive reinforcement" to me, but I'm beside myself with worry at this point. I don't want to royally piss off our new neighbors, but more than that, I want to teach cookie to mind his manners.
Yes, I completely realize that Cockatoos especially are screamers, but is there a way to teach him to stop being a petulant child, at least some of the time?
Yes, an apartment.
Cookie, bless his pointed little head, is a screamer. Not constant, but if he feels he is being ignored, he lets out a sqwak of indignance. Sometimes several. Sometimes it's a long stream of outright screaming. What's a girl to do?
We've tried the whole, "Ignore the behaviour" route, with no real success. We've tried covering his cage, but that just muffles the screaming (which he then kicks up a notch). We don't have a second cage to remove him to. And now we're moving in to an apartment (a small complex of only 13 apartments overlooking a courtyard).
I've heard of putting the bird in its carrier and removing it to, say, the bathroom. Once he stops screaming, bringing him back out to see us is the "reward". That hardly seems like "positive reinforcement" to me, but I'm beside myself with worry at this point. I don't want to royally piss off our new neighbors, but more than that, I want to teach cookie to mind his manners.
Yes, I completely realize that Cockatoos especially are screamers, but is there a way to teach him to stop being a petulant child, at least some of the time?