Introducing Jack the Destroyer. Any tips?

[Pisco1412]

I'm told he's set on "Casper", but I'm gonna do everything in my power to rename him "Jack" with the given title of either "the Destroyer" or "the Dragon" - or I might go with "Hulk" or "Drogba"

He's awesome. A bit loud but he can talk, he mimics well, and he's very funny - keeps making this farting noise or constantly bobs his head. He's not shy about anything - unlike my cockatiels from the past. He's extremely aggressive about his cage but he doesn't bite hard enough to break skin like he almost knows exactly how hard he has to bite to really injure me - and he always makes this laughing noise whenever I scream from his bites.

He loves being petted on his head; he some times goes on my shoulder out of his volition; he likes preening my face. BEST OF ALL: I've LITERALLY had him for 30 minutes. I didn't know birds can be this awesome.

He was kept in a tiny cage for the last 2 years of his life, and I never keep my cage closed with my birds; he's having the time of his life running around everywhere destroying things (hence the destroyer), and chasing around my dog - cause my yorkie is frightened of him.

Just a few tips I'd like to ask, cause I've never had a trainable bird before:

1) is it possible to train him to keep his noise down a little?
2) is it possible to potty train him?
3) how?

 

[Allee]

I didn't realize he was two years old, I'm sorry, I thought from your first post, you were choosing between a young quaker and a young cockatiel. Not that two is very old for a quaker.

According to the individual bird, quakers can be extremely loud when they want to be. Most quakers flock call morning and evening, that's normal, a lot of quakers talk and if you say something back to them from another room, that will let them know you are safe. As far as training them to be quiet, I guess it can be done, but birds are naturally noisy creatures, don't expect him to be too quiet.

Here's a good link for you.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Yes, quakers can be potty trained. Choose an appropriate spot. Hold him over a trash can or paper towel or newspaper. Choose a word or phrase, Go Potty, for instance. Say it every time he poops in the appropriate spot, then immediately praise him. He will learn to associate the word with the action. This may take a while, at first it's a matter of watching his body language and getting him over the paper before he poops. My quakers very seldom poop on anyone, they will fly to their cage and poop over a newspaper and come right back.

You might not want to scream when your quaker bites, that can backfire. Quakers love drama of any kind. If you yell, it's likely your quaker will see your behavior as a reward and bite you again just to hear you yell.

I meant to add; toys, toys, toys, quakers like to stay busy. Shreddable toys are great. A lot of quakers enjoy untying knots in strips of leather, some like to chew soft wood. Foraging is a great activity for quakers too.

 

[Tfalls3]

I had my moms quaker for 6mths due to his screaming and driving her husband crazy while she was at work. We thought with more attention that it would stop the screaming, and sadly it did not. We soon learned that there was a wild flock of quakers that lived in the area and soon took up roost in our trees. needless to say the screaming didn't stop it only got worse after 6mths we had to give him back to my mom and she found a home for him. he was a wonderful bird other than the screaming, maybe a companion would help?

 

[Pisco1412]

I didn't realize he was two years old, I'm sorry, I thought from your first post, you were choosing between a young quaker and a young cockatiel. Not that two is very old for a quaker.

According to the individual bird, quakers can be extremely loud when they want to be. Most quakers flock call morning and evening, that's normal, a lot of quakers talk and if you say something back to them from another room, that will let them know you are safe. As far as training them to be quiet, I guess it can be done, but birds are naturally noisy creatures, don't expect him to be too quiet.

Here's a good link for you.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Yes, quakers can be potty trained. Choose an appropriate spot. Hold him over a trash can or paper towel or newspaper. Choose a word or phrase, Go Potty, for instance. Say it every time he poops in the appropriate spot, then immediately praise him. He will learn to associate the word with the action. This may take a while, at first it's a matter of watching his body language and getting him over the paper before he poops. My quakers very seldom poop on anyone, they will fly to their cage and poop over a newspaper and come right back.

You might not want to scream when your quaker bites, that can backfire. Quakers love drama of any kind. If you yell, it's likely your quaker will see your behavior as a reward and bite you again just to hear you yell.

I meant to add; toys, toys, toys, quakers like to stay busy. Shreddable toys are great. A lot of quakers enjoy untying knots in strips of leather, some like to chew soft wood. Foraging is a great activity for quakers too.

He's still taking his time getting adjusted to his new home. I think he likes me and the freedom he has here (he's constantly flying around the room and jumping from furniture to furniture), but he doesn't seem very interested in going inside his cage for anything other than sleeping, drinking, or eating. I've got a lot of toys for him, but he seems more interested in shredding the newspapers at the bottom of his cage.

He did quiet down considerably; although he does seem very grumpy at nighttime, so I put him inside his cage and put a big towel over it, and he seems pretty knocked out.

Thanks for your advice. I've been looking for the right bird for me, and I couldn't have found a better one. I'm glad I checked him out. I was a little skeptical about people telling me that parrots choose their owners (cause the wand chooses the wizard, Mr.Potter), but I think I know what they mean now. He was already whistling along and seemed less aggressive towards me than he was with his owner.

He gets along surprisingly well with everyone; he's flies from my shoulders to my roomates'. It's quite unbelievable how social and fun he is; I always thought it would cool to own a parrot, but I never knew how amazing parrots can be.

Cheers

 

[AmazinglAvians]

haha, he sounds like a real character! my Verdie was just like that on her first day home, too! Quakers are especially susceptible to training, and unlike some other birds, you're ALWAYS training for a response, even if you don't realize it. Quakers can become real tyrants if you accidentally enforce a bad behavior, as I'm learning with my fluff of terror. Someone posted an AWESOME training help page on this site, and I'll give you the link. It definitely enlightened me!
http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/47979-help-my-parrot-driving-me-nuts.html

good luck with Jake the destroyer! may he always spare your fingers from the destruction.

 

[palmetto941]

My quaker is the smartest fid so far! Talks or mumbles all the time! He plays so hard all day then he just turns around and goes to sleep! He is always busy and it's hilarious to watch him when he gets angry at a toy.... And he loves foraging! So we have gone through many foraging mats and toys..... So his name is Cosmo....the destructo bird....

 

[SkyandHoudini]

Know this topic is oldish, but congrats on the new family member!

1) For your first question, I never tried to curb the screaming, so I have no idea. Our household can get pretty loud (surprising as me, sister, and dad are all relatively quiet in public; mom's the only loud mouth EVERYWHERE), so Sky fit in from the get go. I honestly believe the fact that we "scream" (not really screaming; just loud talking) back causes him more glee than anything. In fact, he often stops calling to me before I stop calling to him! But they can get VERY loud. I've been outside my house, across the street, and have heard Sky calling me. Its faint but I think the distance is an ode to how loud these little guys can get.

2) Well Allee already answered that!

There's conflicting stuff about potty training out there. I don't like getting in the mix of those arguments, but both sides make sound arguments, if only they could see eye to eye. Its a pretty bias topic, depending on who you're talking to, and so if I was you, I would do research and decide for yourself.

Personally, I never potty trained Sky, at least not explicitly. When I got him, I didn't even KNOW you could potty train birds. What I did (others have also done it in a similar fashion) is just watched for when he was going to use the bathroom and discreetly move him off my body. I've kept the world as his personal toilet, minus myself, and so he will poop on most everyone and everything else. Note, this isn't verbal, and isn't very sound either; there are days where, if given the chance, he would let one go on me. Just let it go, no holding.

He USUALLY does a very specific dance to catch my attention, so I know to move him. In part, rather than it being some form of potty training, I think its because he views my as his mate and you wouldn't poop on your significant other...or...at least...I don't think so.

 

[flyingron]

Ours was definitely trained by someone (certainly not the owner we got it from who never took it out of the cage). She will usually squawk at you if you're holding her she's sitting on your shoulder if she needs to go. Place her on a perch somewhere and she'll go and then pick up her foot (her sign she wants you to retrieve her). If you ignore her some times she'll say "STEP UP" which is the command you give her if you want her to get on to your finger. My wife is trying to teach her to say POOP when she needs to go, but I don't think that's going to work.