What can be used as a punishment

[Oldcockatoo]

Hello, everybody!
Now I've got a question about punishment which can be used for greys. Sometimes my grey behaves terribly, he can scream very loud and for a long time because he's in good mood and excited with toys, for example. Of course that's great to have a happy bird and I understand that screaming is parrots' natural behavior and I don't mind my bird to scream but I don't want him to do it for hours. How can I control it? Firstly I tried to use a sprayer but since my bird has started to take a shower under the sprayer it became useless. I don't want to spoil our relations but I just want to show him that some behavior is not acceptable.

[Greycloud]

First of all, we don't punish parrots! They do not comprehend this. 2nd, why would you want to stop your bird from screaming for fun! That is a sign of a very happy, settled parrot. If he is screaming for hours without playing, there are ways to change this by behavior modification.
Positve reinforcement given at the exact moment of acceptable behavior is what a bird learns from. For instance, if the bird is screaming, totally ignore him. If you have to walk near him due to location, keep your eyes down and don't even glance at him. The moment you hear silence for just a couple seconds, go quickly to him and praise him, scritch him or offer treat.
Make sure he has plenty of toys and foraging toys to keep him occupied. Please do not spray him. This will build a fear of the water bottle which he now enjoys for baths.

[pippy]

I would urge you to read THIS before you punish your bird for doing what (and you surely must have known before getting the bird) all parrots do naturally.

[kbordeau]

The cag that I took in was punished for beig a parrot. That was a little over 1 year ago. I still cant touch it. It has stoped shaking when I enter the room. But it is teriffied of human beings. DONT PUNISH YOUR BIRD. Reward your bid for the behavior you like. Spend more time with it outside the cage. They like music, tv, & to be read to. Even reading the newspaper in the morning is nice to do for it.
My bird will never be at home with us. But at least it is away from its last owners.

[jenseits]

Maybe it's just the wording, but it makes me really sad that someone would want to punish a parrot for being happy. You've probably already confused this poor bird by spraying him like that.

I understand that you don't want to encourage screaming, but imagine if you had a toddler, and everytime the toddler laughed and squealed in delight, you smacked him and yelled at him. Could you see how you're going to raise a very troubled and confused child... and how that could lead to behavior problems?

Now think about ways you could show your child that there are other ways of behaving when it's happy. Honestly... I'm not sure there are a lot of alternatives; some amount of vocalizing is natural. But maybe you can have a specifically designated "loud time". I know some of the members do that, and it works for them. (Pick a specific time of day for getting all the energy out, where you yell and scream together). You might also encourage other, softer sounds that you encourage and try to teach your 'too that this is the appropriate "happy sound".

The more you fuss, yell at your bird and try to punish him with physical aversives, the more he'll probably yell. And if you get angry and punish him for expressing his happiness, you'll probably turn him into a loud AND unhappy bird.

Please do both of you a favor and learn more about parrot behavior and proper training techniques. If you keep doing what you're doing, you will ruin your relationship with your bird and turn him into a problem bird.

[Lisa B]

When my amazon starts to get overly loud, i would go over to his cage, and call him by name, and say, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...quiet. He would look at me and start to whisper his vocalizations. It is rather comical.

With your grey you can go over and try to speak softly and try to bring the energy level down a bit. If you are aggitated, he will feed off that. If you are calm and quiet, he will feed off of that as well.
It is really just being a parrot. Screaming at toys is the ultimate joy. The first thing a parrot owner notices when a bird is sick or passes on is the deafening sounds of silence.

[shellbeme]

Hi there! :) I'm not sure what you mean by screaming-greys don't typically scream just to scream (that I know of anyway)-unless you're talking about the gutteral dino growl when they are upset or when they are really into beating on their toys-which I don't think is really that loud. All things relitive though, I guess.

They do have a loud screech, some call it a 'beep' though how you think that is a beep I will never know :p. Alot of times they will use this as a contact call. Does he/she do this when you are out of the room? Chico was - still is sometimes, using this as a contact call for me when I leave the room and believe me I'd love to wring his little neck sometimes-but I would never.

In fact it's all in how I respond. The thing is, punishment doesn't work on parrots because-they are delicate, filled with airsacks inside-they don't understand hitting, (i think we are all appauled at the thought of anyone striking a bird) and violence-except for it to cause distrust and fear. They are still wild animals too- and it is up to use to learn a bit about their nature. Even if you don't mean 'physical' punishment-even putting them away in a cage or putting them in some dark corner-it doesn't compute, they don't understand because they are simply doing what comes natural to them.

Imagine asking your significant other where they are in the house and then finding yourself slammed into a closet. Doesn't make much sense? :p

I have gotten Chico to really quiet down-I do this by explaining to him before I leave the room, and I make sure I have his attention when I do it, I also always use the phrase 'I'll be right back.' And I repeat it a couple times. He's fine when I do this-sometimes I forget and he does the screeching again-but I blame myself for not letting him know what was going on. There is also the option of just taking him with me when I leave the room for a moment-that works too. Bottom line, contact calls-they just want to know where you are and what you are doing and they want to be with you.

Dunno if this is what is going on, but I thought I would suggest.

[JGMAP]

If it is the screaming that is bothering you. You cannot acknowledge it at all. You simply turn your back to him. and stand there with your back turned. Most of the time they are doing it for attention. So if they do not get it they will stop. Telling him to shhhhhh. Is letting the bird know this behavior is ok! IMO is not the way to go.

[Patti J]

Here's some really good articles including one on punishment. I hope they help you find an alternative to punishing your Grey.....

Articles on Behavior Change - BehaviorWorks.com

[Lisa B]

Again, As Greycloud said, Positive Reinforcement is the way go to. Turning your back on your bird would be considered Aversive Punishment. Afterall, he is just PLAYING.
We have to keep in mind, this is a Happy Grey playing. Not a biting -screaming bird. You dont want to deter the bird from playing with aversive punishment(or deter behaviors in general with it), but calm him down while playing, thus bringing the energy level down.