Quaker Parrot Training; Need Advice

[wter5989]

I can not hold my Quaker, ever! without him drawing blood,I have had him about 3 years he is about 8,I got him from my uncle,who is blind but he got him from another family who passed away,they split the female an male up,my uncle never let him out an they were totally feeding him the wrong food, he had no hair on top if his head he was a mess,I have done everything,to work with him,the only time I can hold him is he flys an gets into a pickle,then I can pick him up,as soon as he sees the cage then he flys back to it,I try to talk to him ,tell him to step up,everything,an to no avail, I can not hold him he will not talk,but I guess he used too, he does laugh,it's halarious when he does, squawks alot,very loudly, I try to feed him lettuce broccoli, green veggies he will not have anything to do with it, I feed him tropimix and just general quaker seed mix, I don't know what else to do,he does know me, an I love him ,but there are days I just want to open up my sliding door an let him loose,he bites an it hurts an bleeds,to where now I am afraid to try to pick him up, he will let me stick my hand in his cage to get his bowls an clean them,an I can clean his cage,but this quaker,is out of control,even if I move anything in my house,he is screaming,cage is big enough,he has toys, an plays well with them,he will dance when I ring his bell be fore bed time an make like kissing sounds to me before I cover him,I keep his cage open 24-7 he can get out when he wants,he will climb to top but that's it, anyone have any other ideas ,please help me,I am open to anything

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[Allee]

I'm sorry you are still having problems. Quakers, as small as they are, can be a challenge, especially if they have been mistreated or neglected in their past. They have powerful beaks and a viscous bite when they are angry. Your quaker has learned that biting makes you go away. Once a quaker starts to bite aggressively, they will continue the behavior until they recieve pressure training. Quakers are social creatures, they usually enjoy human company. It takes patience and commitment to change an ingrained behaviour like aggressive biting.

I understand your frustration. Have you considered finding a more suitable home for your quaker? Just like us, all birds are individuals, sometimes relationships just don't work out.

I believe and I sincerely hope you were joking about opening the patio doors and releasing your quaker, his chances of survival would be slim to none. If it really comes to that, a new home would be a much better alternative.

 

[wter5989]

Lol ,I would never let him out,not ever, and I love him, I will not rehome him either, him I get along ok when he is over there an I'm on the couch,I will talk to him and he will nicely chatter back,an say pretty bird,but that's all he says, I brought this bird back from no hair an dirty, it's just tough, I know he knows who I am, I walk in the door and he's all about being happy I'm home , not many others (human) get around him I am single 60 year old living on a fixed income so most of time him an me.
Thanks I will carry on an keep trying tho,it's been 3 years,it's may take another 3 years..lol

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[Allee]

Oh good, I'm glad to hear you intend to keep him and work things out. Does he fly to you or sit with you at all? Have you tried bribing him with a favorite treat?

 

[wter5989]

If he flys and lands somewhere where he shouldn't an I get him I will put him on my shoulder and sometimes sit down on the couch or chair and he will jump off,an sit,very seldom tho will he leave the cage,when he sits on top,I go to him an talk,an offer my shoulder,but again to no avail, he is very protective of that cage,I truly believe,he was mistreated by no one paying attn,to him,and keeping him locked up for so long, thank you for the time

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[Allee]

Poor little guy, it sounds like he had a rough ride before he landed in your heart. A great diet and a safe comfortable place to live makes a world of difference to a rescued bird. Human company is a happy bonus.

 

[wter5989]

He seems to eat well,I do hand feed him crackers, peanuts,an non salted tortilla chips, other than that he will not touch a veggie or real fruit

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[msdeb]

Quakers are VERY territorial of their cages. Mine bites me anytime I put my hands in her cage. Once out of her cage she is calm and affectionate. You might try clipping his/her wings and work with him/her away from the cage for training.

 

[Printer bird]

Have you tried clicker training? You can start training from inside the cage which might be helpful if she doesn't do well outside of it. I would start with touch training using a stick. Get your quaker to touch it with her beak and then "click" and give a treat. Then move the stick and repeat until they start to associate touching the stick as a positive action. Then you can use the touch training as a way to move your quaker around (go onto the cage, into the cage, onto a perch etc). Sometimes once they start to understand you (what you want, that interactions outside of the cage), they can start to interact more positively overall. You can look up lots of info on clicker training - its a great way to start to develop positive interactions and help them to better understand what you want from them.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Hi and well done for looking after your Quaker and taking him in and giving him a home...Id firstly like to ask you to look at this from the other side as it were...this bird who by nature is cage territorial and all quakers are is allowing you to put your hand into its cage and change its food and water bowl without attacking you thats a major achievement of trust. Secondly this Quaker who has been so badly treated when it gets itself into a pickle and needs picking up off the floor or where ever allows you to do this and views you as a safe perch on its way back to the safety of the cage...you are privilidged to be so trusted by a bird who was so ignored by humans. Has what Ive written so far changed the way you see your Quaker? Your Quaker from what I gather from your story was part of a breeding pair and very likely was never hand tamed or used of the touch of a human hand near its body so naturally its reaction is to bite when its feels you touch him. I dont know if you will ever be able to touch him but from reading your post I dont think touching him is the most important thing you want Im guessing what you want is to be able to interact with him in a way he is comfortable with and that makes you both happy. Try getting him to perch on a stick...if his reaction is one of fear to the stick then hold back and let him see you play with the stck from a distance where it doesnt scare him...you may only have to do this once or twice before he loses his fear of it or it may take longer (some aviary birds sadly were beaten by sticks to get them into or out of cages as in from one cage to another this very thing happened to my White fronted Amazon) so be patient because you are aproaching your bird with what to him may have been a weapon to be feared. When your quaker gets used of the stick dowel or branch and if you can get a little branch rather than a dowel type perch it might work better and be better accepted by your quaker (at least I found that to be the case with my White Fronted Amazon) position it like it was a branch below his feet then slowly and gently push it upwards and inwards under his chest using the words step up (so he learns the command) and he should step up onto it. Once he does this you keep repeating this trick for a while always praising him for it and rewarding him with a favoured treat for doing it right. Initially if he puts one foot on the branch reward him and praise him for that then you will find after a bit he will place both feet on it. I think for now the first thing you should concentrate on is getting him to step up onto a branch. Dont use your hands at this stage only the branch eventually he will trust your hand too but trust takes time to build it doesnt happen all at once You are already making great progress with him. Working with a Quaker that is semi wild takes time and patience and a whole lot of love and understanding. You have so far to a great extent managed to win this Quakers trust in many ways and there is lots more progress to make so dont lose heart

I forgot to add that a trick you can use to get him to eat veggies is to make veggie cookies and offer them to him like you do the crackers...sliced peanuts make great training treats

 

[wter5989]

Thank you,makes sense

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[Bladesmith]

I don't have anywhere NEAR the expertise of the folks on here, but I did inherit a neglected Quaker and know what worked for us.

Jarvis had been locked in his cage for 2 years and had little to no human contact. So he's pretty cage bound.

When I got him, he was a very unhappy little bird. And man can he bite.

So I put his cage next to my couch, where I usually sit, opened the cage door, and ignored him. I let him explore the outside of his cage at HIS leisure, and didn't make any demands of him. I and my daughter talked, sang and danced for him, but didn't try to pick him up. (Bear in mind, he'd been severely plucking, scarred up his wings and can't fly.) So in the course of a week, his Quaker nature overwhelmed him and he would climb out of his cage and hopped on my shoulder.

All I can suggest is to give him time, and the freedom to come to you at his own pace. Yours sounds like he's had a harder time than Jarvis has, and it may take longer for him to come around.

 

[flyingron]

Our quaker was similarly abused by the owners we had an intervention on and took her away. However, her original owner was apparently pretty good. The bird loved to perch on shoulders (hard to get her off) and would "step up" on command. She also appeared to have been at least partially "toilet trained."

 

[MonicaMc]

If the "bite pressure training" that I've seen in two birds is an accurate representation of what that is, I cannot recommend it... Fact is, the only bite that can't be rewarded is the one that never occurs. This kind of means to not get bit in the first place! More importantly, it means to learn to read your bird's body language and back off before occurs. If you do get bitten, then set the bird down (if the bird was on you - pry that beak off if you need to!), then take a moment to step back and look at the situation. Why did you get bit? How can you avoid getting bit in the future?

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html



Re: Diet
Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips




As far as training... well, it's extensive. I think the best advice is to watch this video. Once you watch it, feel free to come back and ask questions!

Training Rescued and Re-Homed Parrots

 

[clopez]

i have had my quaker bird Sam for 5 years already. loving bird and companion. he is a very lovable bird that talks, says dozens of words, dances, sings. I have taught him so much and loved him so much. people have told me that they have never seen a quaker bird talk so much. he actually talks so much that he gets on my husbands nerves and we have to put him in another room but lately he doesnt want me around him and every few months he gets into this biting habit. he starts biting really hard and aggressively. ive been told its mating season and itll pass which it has but only this time its lasted more than three days and every time I try to talk to him, he grunts and squawks loudly. he runs around the cage throwing bites and he even goes inside the cage as if hes getting territorial and doesn't want anyone near the cage. it saddens me because hes never gotten this bad and i miss him cuddling with me. does anyone know whats going on with my Sam?

 

[wrench13]

This too will pass. Doing stuff that encourages mating behaviour during this period should be stopped. Cuddling, petting/scratching - stop. Remove nesting materials from cage and play areas. Make sure he gets 12 hours of good sleep time every day, maybe even more. Use our search function - you will get pages and pages of parrot specific , even info specific on Quakers. The behaviour will happen, but it can be minimized,you'll see. But don't give up him !!

 

[EllenD]

It's definitely a hormonal problem, which can last up to a month or more. It will pass...The cage territoriality is very common to even the sweetest Quaker's, I'm guessing your guy has never shown it before but the hormonal breeding period is bringing it out in him.

The best thing you can do to get him out of this and to keep him out of it longer is to get him on a solar schedule. His cage needs to be by a window that he can see the sun up and sun down from. He needs to be woken up and fed right at sunrise, and put to bed in a quiet room with no disturbing him at sundown. This will result in him getting 12-14 hours of sleep and it follows his natural circadian rhythms. This will knock him out and keep him out of breeding season longer, but only if you follow it continually. Also, lower the amount of protein he gets when he goes into this, like cutting his pellets/seeds in half and upping his fresh veggies and whole grains. Then put him back on his normal diet once he comes out of it.

I know this is hard to go through and it's also hard to not take personally, but you shouldn't. Even though they were bred, born, and raised in captivity, they still have to deal with their natural instincts and have to go through these things. He still loves you very much, right now he's just saying "Momma I'm cranky and I don't feel right! Something is wrong with me and I am angry about it and want to be left alone! But I really don't want to be left alone!". That's pretty much it. It will end soon.

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