Cockatiel Screaming- Do you think getting another cockatiel friend would help?

Your bird needs more stimulation so it can entertain itself without needing you to be its sole entertainment.

I'd recommend first making sure your bird is on a good diet. I had a toucan who started screaming and it was because of lack of nutrients and not for attention which was my original assumption. Your cockatiel should be on a pellet diet with real foods and not an all seed diet (seed diets cut their lifespans in half and cause various behavioral problems).

More on diet;

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/category/die...

Then I'd make sure your bird has enough bird toys he actually likes. Many birds have toys they don't use so get ones that your bird likes and that are non-toxic. This is the best organic/natural line out there and it's sold soley at the second link but sometimes you can find it in stores;

http://www.planetpleasures.com/

http://www.birdtricks.com/parrot-toys

Get foraging toys for your bird so he has something to do and look forward to or make kabobs of real food for your bird to eat and play with.

Then I'd recommend target training also known as "touch training" explained here which is super easy and most birds get it in one training session;

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/category/tra... (scroll to bottom of page for targeting)

Targetting will help stimulate your bird's mind and makes it much easier to train other behaviors. You can also train him to talk, whistle tunes, etc. This way you can then teach him that everytime he whistles a certain song or something, he gets a reward and gets the attention he wants to it turns into singing for attention vs screaming.

More on bird speech;

http://www.birdtricks.com/how-to-talk

http://www.birdspeech.com/

More on trick training;

http://www.birdtricks.com/Cockatiels/

http://www.youtube.com/birdtricks

Your case seems to be typically that of a "spoiled bird". Since you made her used to a lot of love and interaction, now she has a hard time being flexible when you can't give her as much attention. And by the way, an hour of physical interaction daily should be enough for a normal cockatiel with good upbringing, so I suppose that your bird was really spoiled by you. This is why many parrot owners recommend that you don't give 'too much' love to your bird, since the bird will have a hard time adjusting to different situations.

If you want to get your cockatiel a mate, then there's a good chance that the cockatiel will stop screaming, since her screaming seems to be because of loneliness, but be prepared to let go of your cockatiel as a "pet". Your cockatiel will bond more to his feathered friend than you, and if you're prepared for that, then go ahead and get him another cockatiel. Otherwise, it will need a good deal of time and patience along with some trial-and-error sessions to make your cockatiel more flexible. It's your choice.

You could should get another cockatiel. But you should try a mirror first and see if the cockatiel is happier. If she's not then you can get another bird. Make sure you put the new bird in a different cage though so it can get used to the new home and you. Then you can get the two birds used to each other. Good luck and I hope I helped!

Cockatiels love to scream. I work at Petsmart and no matter how much we interact with our cockatiels they still scream and carry on. We have 2 at the store and they scream back and forth at each other. It's their way of communicating. It might be a good idea to get her a friend though they do much better with a companion!

Sounds to me like your little bird just misses you. She probably had a very strong bond with you before you had a baby, and now she still expects to get as much attention as she use to. I had this same problem with my little guy. He thought he was a human and wanted to be in the middle of everything. What worked for Teller, my bird, was I got him a play gym and put it on top of his cage. since his wings are clipped, he pretty much just stays up there and played. since he was out of his cage more, he felt more involved, even thought he was really still playing by himself. My bird has grown very attached to my toddler because they eat together in the kitchen and joe talks to him every time he passes tellers cage. it takes some time, but they do get use to new people if you continue to give them "out of cage" time.

occasionally when the bird is attached to you and you stop giving it as much attn. it WILL GET JEALOUS. our bird was somewhat like that when we bought a little female for him. he began to ignore us. i don't think a mate or friend is the answer. try to (even though you don't acctually sit and spend time with her) talk and sing to her when youre around the cage. look at her and every time you walk past her blow her a kiss. also a mirror might work to keep her busy, but she might become vain.

just make sure she knows she is still important to you.

hope it helps!!

you should get her a friend but when they start out put the other in a different cage but put the cages close together then during those 1 hour times let them play together and slowly move them into the same cage and the noise should go down

Try getting her a mirror!

If that dosnt work take her to the pet shop to see other birds, maybe she'll like one, and you can take *him/her home.

*cockatiels are also expensive $50-200 :((