Unsocial Quaker Parrot!!!

[Pony25]

I was recently (4 days ago) given a quaker parrot who originally belonged to a family that basically ignored him. My dad brought him home to me so I could work with him. The problem is I have never owned a bird of any kind in my life so I don't know much about them. However I am always up for a challenge and am willing to work with him to get him to be a social pet. He's not very aggressive unless I try to pick him up Which I have to do sometimes to get him in his cage (he has not learned to step up). Sometimes I can get him to stand on a dowel but he almost always flys off before I can get him in. As far as petting goes he's generally fine with that. He may nip a little here and there but for the most part if you approach him slowly he will allow petting and even fall asleep in the process. I would like to know if anyone has any tips on what I could do to help him become a more social bird. I get the feeling that with some time he could be an excellent pet. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Parront]

Welcome to the forum!
To begin with birds can take quite some time to adjust to a new home.
Going can be slow and lots of patience is needed.

If this one is letting you pet it, and will fall asleep in the process sounds like your off to a good start.

Stepping up...that takes time and patience as well.
Some suggest that you gently with your finger push against the lower rib area while saying step up.

Good luck with this little one!~

 

[Pony25]

Welcome to the forum!
To begin with birds can take quite some time to adjust to a new home.
Going can be slow and lots of patience is needed.

If this one is letting you pet it, and will fall asleep in the process sounds like your off to a good start.

Stepping up...that takes time and patience as well.
Some suggest that you gently with your finger push against the lower rib area while saying step up.

Good luck with this little one!~

Thank so much for your reply. I will just keep on trying to earn his trust.

 

[Yoshi]

My first bird was a quaker as well. They had let her stay cage bound for several years and due to that had become very cage territorial and a plucker. With lots of time, patience and moving at her pace - not mine - I have a wonderful companion who now has majority of her feathers back even if they do still look a bit rough. She is still cage territorial but she lets me pick her up once she is away from the cage so we use a step-up dowel to get her out. Just safer all around. Once she is past the cage doors I can have her step off the dowel and onto my finger.

One thing you might want to look into is trick training. I worked on some basic tricks - picking up beads and putting them into a container, shaking, laying on her back, etc. As we worked with the tricks and the rewards and realizing I was actully interacting with her on an intellectual level really seemed to start bringing the trust around.

Good luck!

 

[Peacelovepets]

I would suggest doing clicker training. I'm sure there's a thread somewhere on here about how to target train, if I find it, I'll let you know. If he learns to target a stick, then it can build trust and help you to teach him to step up. Like others said move slowly. I have two Quakers and they are awesome! Good luck!

 

[Peacelovepets]

Here's an informational post that may help you. http://forums.avianavenue.com/behavior-byway/97064-changing-problem-behavior-birds.html