Quaker parrot troubles....HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Question

My male quacker parrot is 1year and 7 months. He has always been very cuddly and loving towards me and has been anything but in the past month. I cannot get near him without him trying to rip chunks of flesh out of me. Because of this, he has recieved no affection from me. Knowing that birds are very social creatures, I'm very worried about this new and undesirable behavior. I do not want him to not be able to come out of his cage and participate with the family like he used to. Is he going through sexual maturity right now? If so, will this mean biting phase of his pass? How long should it go on? Please help!!! I miss the sweet bird I used to have. What should I do?

Answer 1

Quakers do indeed mature sexually at around 2 yrs. old. He/she may be getting territorial about the cage area, as Quakers are the ONLY parrots that build a nest (as opposed to nesting in a hollow tree) and they live year-round in that nest. Sometimes this 'defense' reaction lasts a lifetime. It's not recommended to force your Quaker to come out of the cage. Best to open the door and allow it to come out in its own good time. When the bird is on top of the cage it may accept your step-up request politely, and it may have to be removed from the top with a hand-held perch. After leaving the cage, it will more than likely be the sweet bird you remember. Forcing your Quaker will only make it worse, as Quakers are singularly unforgiving of injury to their dignity and will grow to hate not only gloves but the hands inside them. After owning numerous Quakers over the last ten years, I have come to love and respect them for what they are.

Answer 2

Shannon (above) gave good advice, except Quakers sexually mature around 2 yrs, not 4. One other thing I would check on, is has your little buddy gone through a good molt lately? If he is molting, they tend to get tempermental. And these little guys are a lot of attitude for such a small bird, he may be territorial about his cage.

I am not avian expert, but what I have had to do in the past with a bird that I took in from a bad situation, was I wore gardening gloves to get the quaker out of the cage, then I had to take it into my bedroom where we had no distractions, and no place (s)he could fly to. After I set the little friend on my bed and took off the gloves, (s)he was easier to work with, and was not trying to protect it's home(cage). This little bird had not been sociallized since weaning, so we had a lot of work to do, but now (s)he will step up as long as I don't put my hand in the cage, and allows me to handle him/her in a towel and inverted, which we practiced daily for a little while. Came in handy for vet visits!

Answer 3

Your Quaker is probably a male and going through his "Puberty" phase. The biting might not stop, in fact, it may get worse. If it is just a phase that he's going through, it will probably pass in a week or two.

Here is a linkk for a site that I recommend to people that have birds with behavour problems. It's a wonderful site. I use the methods on my own birds, and on all of the new birds that I have come into my home with great success.

www.birdtricks.com

Good luck.

Answer 4

It seems a little early for his sexual maturity phase. I think that's between 4 and 6 years for quakers, but I could be wrong on that.

First, ask yourself what was the pre-cursor to his attitude change. Is there something in, on or around his cage that he's terrified of? Is there something that has changed about you? What was happening the exact day that you first noticed his issues?

If you take that away, is that helping the situation? If you don't know what it is, pretty much, you are going to need to start over.

If he won't come out of his cage on your arm, you need to towel him out to a play stand, or somewhere away from his cage. When you request that he does something, it is then your responsibility to make sure that he follows through with it.

The reason is this: Birds aren't dumb animals. They are just as smart as a 3-5 year old child. They reason, they manipulate, and they struggle for dominance. By not ensuring that your bird follows through with the demands you set, you are reinforcing to your bird that he is the dominant one in the relationship, he doesn't have to listen to you and he's head of the flock.

Before you request something of your bird, first, ask yourself if you're willing to follow through with the request. If you don't have time, if you're scared, if you're upset, or agitated, wait until you are ready. You also don't want him to be sleeping, eating, involved in a preening session or playing heartily. Would you want to be bugged with stepping up if you're busy?

Ask him to step up on your arm, from inside his cage. If he lunges, give him one more chance to do it. If he lunges again, grab the towel that you should be keeping by his cage, and grasp it between your fingers and thumb. Gently pinch his head between the towel, so that he has limited head (and more importantly beak) movement.

Now, take him out, set him on his play stand (or whatever training tool you have), and work with him.

You're going to have to regain his trust, because something has happened where you've lost it.

To work with biting, bend your wrist down, making a fist (tucking your fingers inside of the fist), pulling the skin on your hand so that it's tight, and that way he can't get it in his little beak. Introduce the hand to him, by bringing it up to his beak. Keep working on this until you can gently touch your hand to his beak.

When you need him to go back to his cage, give him 2-3 opportunties to step up on the arm. If he declines, towel him back.

DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM HIM WHEN HE BITES YOU. If you do, this is great for him. Mission accomplished. He doesn't want to deal with you, and if I just bite this person, this person will comply and go away. I get my way. I know, I know. It's counter intuitive. But, you HAVE to make sure that you follow through with what you are asking of your bird.

Consistency is the most important factor here. If you slip up, just once and walk away from him after he's bitten you, you are confusing him. You're telling him that maybe next time when you ask him to step up, if he bites, maybe you'll go away then too.

If you have questions or need help, email me. [e-mail]

Shannon


Also, if you need help with proper toweling techniques, email me on that. I guess I forgot to add that if you don't know how to towel him, don't do that. Ask me or someone else who knows what they're talking about and we can help you so that you don't inadvertantly hurt him.