assistance neeeded with my baby

hi all i have my baby quacker out everyday he eventually settles comfortably on me if i take him away some where from his cage otherwise he will fly to top of his cage or to our greys

everytime i get hism out i have to fetch him out of his cage i cnt get him to step up my finger

when hes out sometimes he will step on my finger when i say up and with a bit of forceing but then just to go on by jumper and thats it

can someone give me some help on training him or what to do etc

thank you and what sort of treats to give him when hes done good

Welcome and 1st of all I would get the book Parrots for Dummys.. I have mine right by the couch and I read it some every week.

How long have you had your Quaker and and how old is he?
Just remember it takes time for them to do things.. especially if the are babies.

Just be paitent and he will learn...

Yes, the trick with a young parrot is to be delighted when they learn something very quickly, but not demand it of them. Give him time. Like humans, they run the full range from goofy to brilliant, and if they were all precocious then well, we wouldn't have the word "precocious," would we?

Add "spoiled" and "willful" into the mix, and you see why some learn faster than others. Just relax, he'll be a grumpy old man before you know it, and his baby time will be a sweet memory.

trist077 said:

Hi all! When I have my baby quaker out everyday he eventually settles comfortably on me if i take him away from his cage otherwise he will fly to top of his cage or to our grey's.

Every time I get him out I have to fetch him out of his cage because I can't get him to step up my finger,

When he's out sometimes he will step on my finger when I say up and with a bit of forcing but then just to go on by jumper and that's it.

Can someone give me some help on training him or what to do etc?

Thank you and what sort of treats to give him when he's done well?

Click to expand...

First all: Take him to get his flight feathers trimmed. This is the most important training step there is! After his feathers are trimmed and he discovers that he has to interact with you to get what he wants he will become SO much easier to a handle.

Second: Don't worry so much about him stepping up from inside his cage. Many quaker's just refuse to do so, or only will sometimes. The second most important thing when training is: Practicing his Step-Up's.

After he is out of his cage talk to him in a happy, excited way. Place your pointer finger of the hand that is not holding him against his breast bone, and say, "Step Up" firmly.

The goal is to get him to step up from one hand to the other over and over again for about 5 minutes straight. This is called "Laddering", and it is how you train your bird to do step-up's.

When your bird does something you ask the best reward you can give them is praise in a happy, excited voice. Another way to show how pleased you are with them is to laugh. There is nothing a pet quaker will not do to make their human laugh with them.

If your bird still knows how to hull seeds, safflower is one that is not too high in fat, and can be feed quickly. ** Just remember that quaker's can develop Fatty Liver Syndrome from a diet that has too much fat in it, and this is why seeds should be kept as a treat of No More than a teaspoon a day as soon as your bird is converted to pellets. **

Note: To train a dog you almost always use food, but to train a parrot it isn't as needed. It is most important for your bird to be praised. The sound of your voice is often treat enough.

** Converting Your Quaker To Pellets ** Use a variety of pellets to start out with. It doesn't matter if they have colours, or are plain. The brand isn't important either. Just pick two that are for cockatiel sized birds that are low in fat! No more than 5%.

When you are converting your bird to pellets this should be done as soon as you've clipped their wings and you've started to bond with them. It is so much easier this way!

Pretend to eat a pellet while holding your quaker. Tell your bird, "Yum.... Yummy!" As you make noises that seem to say that the pellet is so tasty. At first pretend that you want the pellets all to yourself, and you do not want to share with your bird.

After a few minutes of this, ask your bird, "Do you want some?" Holding out the pellet for him to take. Since quakers eat with their feet your bird should take it from you with his beak, and go onto one foot to hold the pellet as he eats.

You do this Every day for a week. And at the end of the first week you can offer your quaker a bowl of the pellets when he is out of his cage. Make certain to do the laddering first, and also offer a few pellets for him to eat before you offer him a dish full.

Only after you see him eating the pellets outside his cage for a full week straight do you offer them in the cage. Do Not Mix Them with the seeds, but rather have a completely separate dish. Use the same one you had been using outside the cage if you can so it is familiar.

Offer the pellets in the cage for at least a month, and at the same time keep offering them outside the cage telling your quaker how yummy they are, asking him if he wants some.

At the end of this month your quaker should be eating his pellets in his cage on his own. When he is doing so stop feeding him loose seed in his cage. This is when you should also buy at least a pound of sunflower or safflower seeds, whichever one he was eating in his seed mix. Use these seeds as a treat that you hand to him after he is finished doing his daily laddering.

Don't forget to keep on praising your quaker for doing his laddering!

Do not feed loose seed to him again, but rather use the safflower (or sunflower) as a treat after he does really well during one of his training sessions. Measure out a teaspoon of seeds a day and do not give him more than that when training him. Also only offer one seed at a time! Don't give him more than one.

If you decide to teach him tricks still offer only one seed at a time, but you can offer them after each time he does a trick instead at the end of the trick training lessons like with the laddering. When trick training you can feed your quaker two teaspoons of seeds a day, but only during trick training.

The book I'd recommend for you to read is only book out there for quaker owner's, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Quaker-Parrot-Mattie-Athan/dp/0764101765"]Guide To The Quaker Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan[/ame]. It has been around for years, and it is Very helpful for new quaker owners.

Agreed with Kalisandra, make sure that when you ask him to step up, your finger is above his feet, quakers HATE and will probably NEVER "step down" onto your finger.

I give mine little dried papaya bits called "healthy toppers" for a training treat. They are small, only take a second or two to eat, and irresistible!

The cage thing is normal. It doesn't mean that he hates you and wants to stay in his cage, he just feels like that's his castle so that's where he belongs. Training away from the cage is a must, or else his mind will only be on how to get back to it. Best of luck!