Seasons changing Quaker Behaviour

[OzBlue]

Hi All,
It's been a while since i posted here but things are well with Blue and I. Unfortunately she's become a very one person bird while i've had her and doesn't really like to let anyone near me. Hoping that will change when we move into a new home and she can be in the living room instead of our large backroom and expose her to more people.

I wanted to ask about Quakers and different seasons. Out of seemingly no where, Blue got really bitey with me outside of the cage on her play gym. Her little play area hasn't changed and i went to do a step up and she gave me more than a typical nibble.

She seems a lot more prone to biting now too not just around the gym. It could be that her gym is slowly becoming her "nest" so i might try changing it up a little and/or the fact that we are going into spring here in Australia. I've got a microphone boom on my desk that she likes to perch on while i work at the computer (typically she likes to attack the keyboard), but while sitting there and i give her attention, she sort of shrinks her neck down and lifts her wings out like a mini flap. if I approach her when she does that i normally get a bite so i've stopped. This will be my first spring with her as we got her going into winter (March here).

Generally if she gets bitey i'll do training with her to try and get her mind out of that "state". Any advice or thoughts greatly appreciated!

 

[Laurasea]

well its molt time here big time! That can make them sensitive. Mine only get fussy if I bump a feather during pets. But some birds can be cranky at this time.

Is your bird DNA female?

Definitely pay attention to body language, and don't force attention if they font want it at that second, cuz you know lol in ten seconds later they may want a head scratch,

It seems you are aware that as qhskers become adults they are cage protective, or favorite spot protective. They aren't like this as babies but are as adults, you ha e to work around that, they can't help it and you can't train it out of them. Giiga run sorry

 

[Laurasea]

Ok I'm back had a dog issue

You could have multiple little issues leading to the bites,
Molt?
Puberty ?
No longer a baby , starts cage protection ?
Hand shy ( something can be minor ) has made her slightly less trusting of hands.

Offer a few foods higher in protein if molting, like boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sliver of well cooked chicken, walnuts , cooked legume, mine crave and need a little extra protein when molting

Work on trust and hand feed treats, its easy for burds to become distrust of hands. When she is in a good mood spend extra time snuggle and head scratches. Mine seem to need an hour a day of just pets, beak rubs kisses snuggle hsbds on , or so it seems
Try and make a routine if hiw you approach the cage and use the same words.
My Neptune would not let anyone other than me hold him. My other two Penny and Pikachu will let me pas them to anyone, but will only let me take them from the cage. Pikachu let's anybody kiss him and snug him, Penny likes to sit on people's shoulders and lean on them may or may not let them pet or kiss her...

People here and myself had success passing a happy calm bird back and forth while sitting together on the couch, with praise and treats. Burds can learn to step up for others and take treats nice from others , but usually not everybody can pet them. Especially if right now she is being a little fearful even with your hands.
Work on your bond and trust, abd do listen to her body language. Don't take it personally, it's just an ongoing conversation. PENNY is always a little hesitant when I first have her out, and stuff happening around us can spook her easy, she can threaten to bite or push my hand aways, then relaxes and wants attention, I just ho with the flow.
Hope that ramble helps, if not I have several behavioral links on my ornithology thread pages 10-13 I think

Many of us work with the idea bites are out fault , we aren't paying enough attention to their cues , are rushing them, ect. My birds are big luvs , but there are probably ten times a day I could end up with a bite if I wasn't pay attention.

 

[OzBlue]

Hi Laura,
Thanks for the response, yes it is very interesting to watch her go through her changes. I've been happy to leave her to her own devices when she's out and when she wants attention, giving it. She's fine majority of the time, head scratches etc. Most days if i have her out in the morning she is awesome for the rest of the day, but i noticed if i have her out in the afternoon she's much more likely to exhibit the territorial behaviour around her toys/play areas. So when she starts to get like that i've been moving them further away from me and trying to do more training. She calms down then flies over to say hi every now and then, then goes back to her spot.

One thing i've noticed though is shes exhibiting a lot of mating behavior around toys and stuff lately, not so much me which is good, but i'm not really sure how to help kick that. She literally seems to exhibit the behaviour on almost all the toys she has in the cage or external. I try not to touch her anywhere besides her head/beak so i don't think i'm inadvertently triggering this. Do they just go through these phases?

Her cues are something i'll need to pay more attention to. It's interesting, the last hour she hasn't come near my desk (normally attacks the keyboard and mouse for fun) instead she's perched near me and seems content with talking to me.

Also any tips for moving houses? We're about to move in the next couple of weeks to a new house!

 

[Laurasea]

Hi,
Is she DNA female???? Really sounds like more male behavior.
But describe the mating behavior.... ugh lol but ya describe it

Blue is hitting puberty, this is ( his) first hormonal rush during breed season. And it xan be a little tough on them, its all tgey are thinking about.... so yes I think the increased defense and attacks at ( his) territory are hormonal driven. So thatt should calm back down as the seasin passes. My two males both spent a lot of time self stimulating during the past breeding seasons....i just ignore it

You can increase exercise, and foraging, and lots of easy to destroy stuff , time outside in a safe zip tie every door and the bottom grate, cage, and put in shade not full sun. And stay with your burd a half hour a day can make a big difference in behavior and mood. Bath act burn up energy too. Keep them busy during hormonal times makes life easier. Bored males tend to turn to self pleasure more often. And excess energy plus hormones not a good combination.
And keep your humor and empathy. The hormones and frustration are real deal. Most of our animal friends have been altered to make life with them easier on us. But this isn't done with birds , so we see snd experience tge effects hormones have on behavior!

The good news , adult burds get a little better at managing the rush than teen age birds . And things will calm down till next time. Excerise, get them use their brain, and some time outside all help

 

[Laurasea]

on moving, dont have her in the cage with all the stuff when you move , things will fall on her. Some people fo attempt this so sirty fir stating tfe obvious.

Depending on how far you have to travel??? Feed apple and grape on the trip, they have a lot of moisture and your burd won't drink while moving ( at least most won't ) and they are desirable food items thst might tempt them to eat during the stressful move.

I put them in a small travel cage with a towel on the bottom ( sometimes they fall during travel) and one low perch. I cover the back top and side away from me, but leave the front and the side facing me open. And I seatbelt the cage in the passengers seat raised up if needed so we can see each other.

At the new place I set up the cage the same as it was , and try and put it in a similar orientation as it was at the old house. Then id give millit spray , and all the normal stuff. After everything is moved in , maybe the next day. I would wait and see how calm they are. If they are dealing with everything. Id take them on a walking tour of the house. But it would be like to the back window, then back to the cage, then off to a new spot snd back to the cage. So instead of just walking around the house, I would go to a location then back to the cage. So you are helping him map flight paths back to the cage,
so he develops a map of the house and how it relates to his cage. Tap on all windows hold him close to the windows see if he will touch them. Repeat a couple of times a day the first few days. And don't leave him covered as you move stuff in let him see what all this scary confusion is. If it is to much for him tho move his cage to a bathroom and play light soothing music while you move in .

Good luck hope it is a happy home!
I use ceiling hooks and fishing line to hang rope bungi or hoops in duff areas for the burd to have their own furniture. Works great to keep them outta trouble and off furniture. I attach yucca chips to spread or treat sticks too

 

[Talven]

Here in Australia Quakers will start getting that nesting feeling mid to late September for the Oct - Nov breeding season. Expect a shorter temper from mid September through to mid December.

 

[OzBlue]

Hi Laura,
Haha, her mating behaviour is the reason i think she's female, she tends to fluff up make this panting noise, then backs up into objects around her, lifts a leg and just repeats, shakes head. It's a bit different from what i've seen males do, which, well, looks pretty typical of males. Noted on the rehoming advice, we won't have to travel too far, got lucky with a house literally down the road. Also i have a carrier cage so that shouldn't be an issue trying to move her in her big cage!

Any advice on what to do with a hormonal quaker? I've noticed that if i have her out for long periods, 2 hours plus, she gets very aggressive. If i have her out in the morning, she's a total sweetheart. Will definitely try to increase her foraging, bathing, and shredding opportunities? Any recommendations on DIY shredding stuff?

Today was particularly rough on us. She came out of her way to bite me a lot, more than i'm used to, and left me with a lot of cuts. She really got territorial over the keyboard today! I probably made things worse by grabbing her to put her back in her cage but she wasn't really letting up. She's used to being held but this wasn't the same. She probably sensed my anxiety while i was doing it and even now when she looks at me through her cage, is sending me a "back off" look. I feel like i may be back at square one *sigh*. Tomorrow is a new day but today has me feeling a bit low knowing that the months of relationship building can be set way back in the matter of seconds.

Hi Talven, thanks so much popping in to let me know that. I wasn't really sure what was going on from the Ausie time zoning side of things. Good to know what i'm in for over the next little bit, do you make any changes in how you interact with your quaker?

Edit: just realised that she probably has a bit too much sugar in her diet! I had raisins on her cage (saltanas) and people feed her them when we walk past...sugar can be bad?

 

[Talven]

I'm in the same boat you are OzBlue. I'm new to keeping quakers myself. We've only had ours for about 2 months or so. Three year old male who is starting to show his cranky side. So far he is not too bad.

Our male GCC on the other hand is a full blown hormonal nightmare. You just have to ride it out and make allowances.

What has worked for us with dealing with him should work as a general guideline though.

A T shaped perch that you have trained your bird to step up on. This is your best mate during breeding season. They can't get to you to bite you if you need to move them.

Appropriate contact is a big help too. No kissing on the beak, no touching anywhere but the head. Touching anywhere else could be taken as sexual and kissing on the beak is too similar to trying to regurgitate.

No access to dark enclosed spaces. Nothing that could be nest like in the cage either.

Redirect unwanted behaviour to a more appropriate focus such as a toy, treat or play gym.

And the usual patience and perseverance until the season is over. Once the hormones ease they will go back to the same old lovable bird.

Unfortunately you will get bitten often during this period. Once you learn what will trigger the biting it gets better. You'll still get bitten but not as often.

 

[Laurasea]

Ha, I just finished the hormonal rush here. But not so bad, when opening the cage he woukld fly out to attack , screech, then be oh its you! And kisses ... a lot if rubbing the undercarriage lol, and some sneaky using me he us so quiet and so sneaky, a little extra vocalization ( prone to screaming his head off) and he is normally and unusually quiet quaker . My girl does better just trying to stuff her beak in my mouth and feed me yuck!

So nice to have two active quaker peeps on here!

When yours is out does he/sge have access to snacks? And water, they do like to nibble and 2 hours might to long between beak fulls...

I think quaker are very social and want a lot if preening and hands on, at least my 3 do. And as for kissing, could be true. But I like burdie kisses , I smooch em a bunch!!! Im sure that's TMI lol but bunches of kisses!!

I have mines trust and you guys are still get there. I just rarely ever get a bite. My rescue Penny is an anxious prone but she just push hand away or hold on with beak but not bite.
My male wants to beak spar sometimes , but I hold him up look him in the eye say no, abd redirect.

It sounds silly but the best thing is to psy attention and avoid a bite. Not to push them into a bite in the first place. Most of us on tge forum work that bites are tge humans fault, whatever is leading to bites stop that.

And I hand feed tidbits, maybe a pellet, maybe a seed, maybe a veg several times a day , maybe I'm bribing my way into their hearts?

 

[Laurasea]

I share this article all the time, I think its great.
Except clicker training, oh I still shape behavior but i say " good birdie " for the bridge , instead of an annoying clicker.

Except on Soothing Rituals
" Soothing Rituals
Create rituals and predictability in every way possible. Parrots love routines because they appear to enjoy being able to anticipate what is going to happen next. The issue of predictability is closely related with their innate need as prey animals to feel safe. In the wild, most things are predictable. The sun rises and sets without fail. Even the land dwelling animals in the area will tend to behave in predictable, cyclic ways … foraging and resting at certain times of the day. It is only predators who are unpredictable, appearing out of nowhere. Thus, for a parrot that has learned to feel anxiety, any methods that create predictability will be helpful.

One way to do this is to develop a flock language. Say the same things to him at appropriate times. When you feed him, “Are you hungry?” When you give him water, “Do you want some fresh water?” When you leave, “Bye-bye… I’ll be right back.” The more you talk to him in context about predictable happenings, the more secure he will feel. If he hears a noise that startles him, label it for him and reassure him: “That was just the gardeners! Bad gardeners! But you’re okay.”

Rituals are created between owner and bird as a sort of social duet that forms over time. Bedtime rituals can be especially reassuring"
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

And this except from above article
" Patterning to Music
Pattern him to some piece of soothing music. (I use Stephen Halpern’s Spectrum Suite for this). This idea is based upon techniques for self-hypnosis and meditation in humans. Simply described, if I meditate for 20 minutes every day to the same piece of soothing music, then after a few months all I will need to do is to hear the music to experience again the feelings of relaxation and peacefulness usually felt during and after meditation.

This works just as well for parrots. Once you choose the music, watch for times when your parrot is resting and relaxed and put the music on to play. Also play it when you put him to bed at night. Eventually, he will be patterned to relax every time he hears this same music. "

The article also talks about doing observations, truly a great tool, be sure to be objective and see what is really there not going in with pre conceived ideas of what you are going to see. I do this at least weekly with my flock, it helps me see how they are making use of their cage and out of cage spaces, when they like to take naps, toy choices, and flock interactions. Somehow it helps to put in your mind that you are doing an act observations

 

[Laurasea]

Some quaker ( and parrot ) communications

Tail wags. A happy and confident parrit will do tail wags ( shaking out tail and wagging it back an forth) right before ir just after a change in activities. They might do this after play or chewing on something, after you walk them over and place them on a perch, after a flight, when they feel pleased they figured something out....if you never see tail wags or see very rarely, your parrot is stressed, lacks confidence, is board not evolved in tge environment.

Quakers will purr, especially when happy relaxed and you are preening their head. They should also beak grind on occasion when starting to taking a nap and they feel safe.

Making a a rapid bop bop bop , when excited happy greeting , or as a precursor to regurgitate, or when I'm about to share a hand held treat with them. Sometimes tgey will make thus sound when we are all sitting together, they make to me and to each other and seems to be a happy thing that's says we are a flock. I can aldo use this sound when tgdy are fussed at something, and can see them click their brain over to happy.

My quakers and my green cheek aldo make a sound that's like you are going to say few but just say the ffffff sound drawn out and quiet. My best interpretation is that is burdie I love you. And its a quiet communications not to be heard by predators or other flock mates. They usually make this then press their head against the side of my cheek. It makes them very happy when I make the sound back, abd they will really snug in close. Sometimes they greet me with this sound when I pick them up, or when sitting next to me and I've bern reading or texting and ignoring them..ive also used this sound to change their mood when being a little bratty...

I would be interested to hear if your use these sounds, or if you use them what response yiu get. The ffff sound i would try when they sre relaxed and sitting on your shoulder

 

[OzBlue]

Hey Everyone,
Thank you so much for the responses! They will undoubtedly help a tonne! So much amazing experiences to learn from on this forum

 

[Talven]

I would be interested to hear if your use these sounds, or if you use them what response yiu get. The ffff sound i would try when they sre relaxed and sitting on your shoulder

Still early days for us here with Nimbus. He's a little erratic with his moods still, especially at the moment. He will beak grind and purr when content but the only time he uses anything close to a ffff sound is when he is trying to rip off the end of my thumb. If I have my hand in a "pistol" shape when I offer it to him to step on he will attack my thumb and I guess hiss while doing it.

Very much the bratty toddler when it comes to noise. Nice and quiet when happy/occupied but ear shattering when not the centre of attention. Such as when you are on the phone, watching TV or on a video call and can't give the attention.