Help

I have a 5 year old Quaker, jade that has become a mess. About a year ago he started plucking and being very aggressive. He is on a pellet diet has lots of fruits and veg. In fact right now he has melon and bell pepper to munch on. I have changed out toys, and hid treats around his cage. I don't know if he is a boy or girl! He will step up then climb to your shoulder but after a few minutes he bites you. We put him back in his cage when he does this. He chatters and says about 5 words. He has also become cage aggressive. He is our only baby so he gets a lot of attention. Thinking back I had a cockateil that died about a year ago. He was not in the same room as jade. And they were never together. I would be open to getting another bird if that would help jade. Any suggestions would be helpful

Another bird to keep them company would be preferred especially when he have alone time when your not around. Have you guys tried some training lessons with him? They have a tendency to get cage aggressive.

I'm not a fan of the 'get another bird to keep the first one company' method, but that's just my opinion.

I agree that taking time to teach a few tricks would be a great start - especially teaching him not to bite! Don't put him on your shoulder if he's going to bite, it's an area where he has control over you. Keep him lower, or on a playstand, where you can play with your hands and toys.

How do I teach him to stay off me. When I have him step up and then he keeps climbing up my shirt. If I try and move him down he bites. I do think I'm going to clip his feathers. So he can't fly around

Definitely sounds like he may be bored, taking him out more - even if you have to wear leather gloves - might be good for him! Has he been to the vet to rule out any medical issues? I know I am cranky if I am in pain!

I'm sorry you're going through this with Jade. From what you're saying, the plucking isn't brand new. Please read through the following link, you may find some helpful advice. As wonderful as quakers are, they are prone to plucking and QMS.

http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52217-plucking-search-answers.html

I wouldn't consider getting another bird to solve Jade's issues, there is no guarantee it wouldn't make the problem even worse. The aggression could be due to hormone levels among other things. Personally I would make an appointment with an experienced Av Vet and get Jade a thorough exam. Many may disagree, but I would hold off on the wing trim at least until Jade has seen a vet, if the vet agrees a clip would be a good idea, then I would let the vet do the clip.

I would never approach a bird with gloves, least of all a quaker. A better suggestion is to keep Jade off your shoulder until you have successfully trained him not to bite. With quakers, it's good to work with them away from their cage, a playstand or portable perch.

Jade needs to see that sitting on a human perch is a privilege, not a given. If Jade bites, do not react with drama, quakers live for drama, if you have a talker and aren't careful with your methods, your training can go south pretty fast, before you know it, your bird will bite you and yell Ouch for you. Instead, immediately return the bird to a designated time out place, lean down so the bird is off balance and choose a command to use every time, Step Away is our command. Step Down or Step Away takes practice, it's usually difficult for birds to climb or step down. Wait until the bird steps down, then turn your back and quietly walk away. Have a treat and word rewards ready for when the bird flies back to you. Repeat as often as necessary. Three bites in one session was my personal limit in the beginning, after that the offender went inside his or her cage with the door closed. This is only one method and it requires consistency to be successful, but once learned it's an ingrained behavior. Some quakers respond well to clicker training, I personally prefer voice commands but use what works for your own little green dragon.

Please do not EVER use gloves for the daily handling of your bird. In emergencies or something, sure,mod what you need to do, but using gloves for daily handling and training is a sure fire way to skip steps and do damage to the relationship and probably the bird.

Please take the bird to the vet; this should always be the first thing you do when a bird starts to pluck. Be prepared for some expensive blood tests.

Also, please do not allow your bird to be on your shoulder. When he is on your hand, hold your hand straight and your arm DOWN so your wrist is at a steep angle and the bird will have to climb down in order to get to your shoulder. If he tries, say "no" or whatever word your use, and put your other and in front so that he has to slime over it to progress. When he steps on your hand, simply move him away from your arm so that he is back where he started; on a hand far from a shoulder. Repeat. Every. Time. Never give up, never make exceptions. Consitancy. Any pet will revert to bad behavior if the training is not kept up. Target training is a good place to start.

Believe it or not but birds do like other animals around if not other birds. They do enjoy the company! That's my personal believe and what I can see with keeping birds for many years. But ultimately it's up to each individual owner to decide.

Thank you for all of the advice. I am going to hold of getting another bird. Jade has been to a vet to rule out medical problems. I am going to try your suggestion and will keep you all updated.

I disagree that gloves permanently damage a relationship. There are times when some new owners ends up not touching their bird or getting it out of the cage at all for fear of being bitten. If this is the only way they feel comfortable in the beginning, I feel it shouldn't be discouraged because the alternative is worse if they leave the bird in the cage forever due to their fear of getting hurt. I have two birds that I used gloves with at first that are fine being handled now without them. Because I handled them gently and didn't get cocky and grabby with them, they are not scarred by my having used them. All's well that ends well. I have a better relationship with these parrots because wearing the gloves helped me to be brave enough to touch them. I would have been too nervous in the beginning without them and they would have sat unloved in their cages. I can't be the only one. Maybe it's chicken to feel that way but I can't help it. I don't like to have sore bleeding fingers especially when I have them in hot dish water all the time. That really stings and burns.

I really should of mentioned that I had a Quaker years ago that went through the same thing. He love the company of my other birds. I had to clip him and retrained him all over again. I had to get him out of the cage with a towel then we did the step up training. I kept him busy doing different stuffs and it's like we just met all over again where he was becoming sweet like he once was. By having my other birds there did not make him worse but it actually made him happy. This was something I've tried before!

Using gloves or not would be a personal choice. There are many people that did it with great success. Don't knock it until you try it. I personally don't use gloves cause my birds actually freaks out by the looks of the glove. To each their own.....

The issue with getting another bird is - what if the two birds don't get along or get jealous? What if the owner doesn't really want another bird, and the second one gets ignored or gets less attention? What if the first bird likes the new bird TOO much, and the owner becomes a third wheel?

Getting another bird isn't bad if the owner is willing to accept these possibilities, but it goes wrong so very often.

Towel would probably scare him more. Hes most likely bored and also having power struggles. Quakers seem to like to have their "say" in how things go. If i were you id try touch training. Birdtricks.com has a really good program. If you dont want to buy the dvds im sure other people have probably demonstrated the same method over youtube. But the idea is instead of forcing the bird you get him to come to you. Through good dieting. And behavior/rewards. My quaker loves when we start learning new stuff and i hardly use the dieting regumen it recommends now that we have a good bond