Hi everybody 😀 help please!

Hi there, just looking for a bit of reassurance and advise please. That I'm doing the right thing with my quaker basil. I bought basil a 4 month old hand reared quaker and supposed to be hand tame (but he isn't) a week ago and slowly he has started taking food from my fingers (inside the cage) but does tend to run away more often than not. I have tried using my finger and branch to try and get him to step up but he just runs away!! Is this a bit too soon. I also have tried leaving the cage open but he is not interested in coming out to explore. He is slowly starting to make funny noises like laughing and does squark a couple of times but nothing major.

Please could anyone just give me any advise really on the first steps to get him tame enough to come out.

Any help gratefully appreciated thanks.

First off, you need to slow down. Please understand regardless if he's hand tame or not, he's a prey animal. He's in a weird new place, with lots of weird new objects, and someone who isn't anyone he knows. He's just scared. Please move at a pace he is comfortable with.

Secondly, that's great that he's taking food from you. I do have a question, are you putting your hand inside the cage? Keep feeding him, and try out different things. Figure out what he likes the most, and remove it from his daily diet. Use it as a treat ONLY! Consider breaking the treat down too so you can feed him more times without him getting full.

Thirdly, once you figure out what his favorite is, you can start target/touch training him. Training is great for bonding because you don't speak bird, and he doesn't speak human. However, you can create a language that you both understand using training. There are more resources on the forum that can explain target/touch training more in depth than I can.

Here are some good threads.
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/300-parrots-bill-rights.html

Welcome new Quaker freind !! I'm not sure how long you have had your new baby home? A week? Not long at all!! Make some perches on the door and outside to make it easier for him to come out and explore. Depending on the bird and how it was raised a week is just no time at all. If he is starting to take treats from you that's great!! Their is a tips on bonding bthread around here somewhere. Explore the forum , read old posts, from your species and other species.
I say you put a great dish or two maybe one on top of the cage. Then everytime you approach the cage say hello Basil and put a treat in the fish and walk away. Those white safflower seeds are usually a very high value treat and easy to give just one, but you can use what ever treat he will want to gobble up right away. After you see him eat the treat, wait a minute or two and go back day hello Basil ( or something you will say exactly the same every time) and repeat. You are shaping the behavior, and enforcing that you are great you are the grest treat giver. After he gets the idea that treats are always in the dish when you come say hi, then you only put a treat in the dish if steps towards you and the dish, then still walk away. Then he only gets a treat if comes right to the dish and waits for it , then you give treats to him directly. You move forward at pace when he does each step reliably. Sometimes you have to backslide. You can do this in two or three ( training sessions) where you repeat what ever step he is at five or so times. Also anytime you come near the cage throughout the day so this. It seems so simple but us very effective. Whatever part of the brain has them moving towards you instead of away has a big impact in creating trust and positive association.
I used this method when I used to Foster parrots , it can take a day, days, weeks, or months, but it hasn't failed me yet. Then you can use the same method for him to go to the treat bowl on top of the cage , or at a play area. Also it's a good idea to really say hello when you first wake up in the morning, it's really important time to birds, it's when bonds are reafirmed, when everyone makes sure that everybody lived through the night. Spending time sitting near the cage but NO staring right at them. Lol and read talk out loud. Depending on how your house and life is set up, sitting near and sharing meal times is nice, and sharing your food. Also Quaker love baths, if you put a casserole dish or some sturdy dish in the bottom of the cage with an inch or so if water in. Then really splash around with your hand then step back, he should come running to jump in and hav fun, you can leave a faucet running too, the sound of running water really gets them in bath water fun mood.
Good luck!!! Keep us in the loop with your journey!!

Basil’s only been home for one week? Quakers have their own ideas about everything including time. Quakers approach everything beak first and they tend to chomp first and never bother to ask questions. Hand tame or not, Basil hasn’t had time to learn to trust you, that’s normal. Here’s a great link on bonding.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Relationships with parrots can be instant but in most cases they take time. Be careful not to push to hard at first. Keep opening the door of Basil’s cage, sit in a chair a few feet away, focus on a book or something other than Basil, be patient and it’s very likely Basil will come to you. He will get comfortable in his brand new environment, he’s still learning to navigate his new space. I have three Quakers, I let them come out of their cages before I ask them to step up, I also clean their cages when they are playing elsewhere, quakers can be territorial especially around their cages.

"I have three Quakers, I let them come out of their cages before I ask them to step up, I also clean their cages when they are playing elsewhere, quakers can be territorial especially around their cages."
Alee is sooo correct about Quaker cage aggressions... I do the same , let them come out on their own, and do food water cage stuff when they are out. My baby was great at first could care less, now a year later he screams looses his mind attacks , if I put my hands on, or in the cage. Once he comes to the door on his own and steps up he is love bug, easy to work with or hang out, never bites...

Thanks all for the responses, really appreciated ��

Answer the question asked, I have been holding a peice of apple inside the cage towards him.and he has a chomp on it and seems really relaxed I am gradually holding it further away from him and trying to get him to come and get it from me. I try to do this as often as I can but only for short periods 15 mins or so. Me and the wife always greet him first thing in the morning and I do have 15 mins with him and a treat pretty much straight away.

I just wanted to ask again just so I am clear...when cleaning out the cage does basil need to be removed from there? As my cage has the sliding try at the bottom which I have just been sliding out and cleaning and also just removing any dirty perches to wash them....is this wrong!! To be fair it doesn't bother or scare him.

One more thing please..I am giving him a quality seed mix and also putting fresh fruit in another bowl on the other side of the cage , but he doesn't bother with fruit unless I give it to him by hand... he loves the fruit but wont go and get it and it gets wasted! Any ideas guys??

Hi sorry, I meant to put answering the question asked

Sorry...

Give veggies! More veggies, rarely fruit. Hot red chilli peppers seeds and all, leafy greens, peas, snap peas, green beans, radish, cooked butternut squash and sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, brussel sprouts, use fresh or frozen never canned. Can take a bit for them to try new stuff, keep offering, offer different ways, chopped, whole, threaded through cage, cooked, raw, shredded...
Nothing wrong with you holding the apple, but you might still try the treat dish thing, it's only used for you to drop a treat in, and the treat should be something they really really like.
I'd add a good pellets too, mine eat about 30% pellets, if you do fruit try things like plums, blackberries, blueberries, fresh cherries, mango, pomegranate, banana.. you can offer scrambled eggs or boiled eggs, remove right away if not eaten.

Ok great..thanks...laurasea ��i will try that tomorrow.. I have just read a thread where a guy puts 5 different foods in different bowls to see which the bird goes to first..as his favourite and use that for the treat..would you recommend this? As once I know I can try the bowl thing.

Sure that's a great idea.
Keep us updated with your progress!