Any advice for a "cocky" Quaker?

[QuakerMom]

Hello all,
I got my very first parrot yesterday. A Quaker, believed to be female and 4 years old, with at least 2 previous owners.
I fully expected her to be nervous for the first few weeks. However this is not so. She preened herself on the ride home and settled in immediately as if she owns the place. She fears nothing except anything I am holding. She believes hands are evil. On her first day here, I went to feed and water her and fix a perch that was coming loose. I couldn't do anything in her cage without her actively trying to bite me. I tried to use a wooden spoon to get her to step up on it without getting bitten but she was terrified of it. So I toweled her and put her on the bathroom floor while I tended to her cage. Afterwards, I sat with her before putting her back into her cage. I just sat there and talked to her. She walked over to me, climbed up my leg, and proceeded to bite the holy daylights out of the back of my arm just above my elbow. She didn't just bite and release. She held on. When that evoked no reaction, she bit harder. I refused to react and jerk away, so she began twisting her little head around do try to rip the flesh off. After what seemed to be an eternity, I thumped her chest with my other hand, just enough to throw her off balance but not hurt her. It worked and she flew away a couple feet. Immediately she came back over, climbed up as before, and attempted to bite again. I said "uh uh! No biting!" And she was startled.

This seems to be working. I have been working on step ups and step Downs and she obeys 9 out of 10 times. Her previous owner told me she had the bird for a year and she doesn't step up.... yes she does, after you get past the biting!

My question is, is she displaying her dominance? She loves to bite the daylights out of me as often as she can which is becoming less and less as I learn how to avoid her bites and tell her No! Her previous owner was afraid of her bites and would jerk away. My bird is obviously frustrated that she is not getting that response from me.

Now, its not all bad. She will sit with me while preening, grinding her beak, fluffing her feathers, shaking her tail, etc. She will preen her tail and under her wings and the one time she made it up to my shoulder she did "preen" my hair. I have not been allowing her to sit on my shoulder.. mostly because I don't trust the little Devil and I don't feel like prying her beak off my ear lobe or eyebrow..

Is this unusual for a new bird to be this comfortable this quickly? How should I be discouraging her biting? I have introduced "beak scratchies" to her to help with her hatred of the fact that I have hands. I cannot hand feed her because she is terrified of anything I am holding. She will approach me if I am eating and this is the only time she is ok with things in my hand. She will eat off my spoon and out of my bowl. So she isn't always afraid of what I'm holding. She just will not tolerate me approaching her while holding something.

Sorry this is so long, I'm doing my best to tell in detail about her so I can get the best answers for her and myself. She is a very confident and aggressive bird but I hope to curb the aggression so our bond can grow into a healthy one!
Thanks for reading and for any advise!
Steph & Zelda

 

[pqrqcf]

This actually sounds a lot like my mother's Quaker. It's our first real parrot, too. Her name is Andy and she's definitely a fan of biting. She'll fly onto my sister's shoulder like she wants to socialize and then just clamp down. She's terrified of held items and she's cage aggressive. Despite that, she likes to fly around the house and be in our company.

One thing I've noticed is things from her past can set her off. Her past owner taught her to cat call, and whenever she hears it she'll react unpredictably. Even calling her Andy has evoked a bite.

The main thing is to just build trust for now. My mother reacted the wrong way to a couple bites and months later she can't even hold Andy. Try to find a treat or two that she really likes and only give her those when you're holding or interacting. In my case, I try to avoid things that spark memories, and I've suggested we rename her even. It might be a good idea for you too, and I've heard other people say it's a good idea to rename adopted birds as well. Once you've built a relationship, you can train her out of the different behaviors you mentioned. Then, there are basic things you can do to put her in a better mood like making sure she gets proper sleep and food. I've read rearranging the cage layout can curb aggression too, and it definitely helped with Andy.

All that said, I'm a novice owner too, so some of my suggestions may be off. Just thought I'd say something because our birds sound surprisingly similar.

James

 

[QuakerMom]

Thank you James,
I've found one treat so far that she loves: spray millet. Well, she also loved the couple bites of my ravioli that she stole but I don't want to encourage her to eat that lol.

Renaming Andy sounds like a good idea since she bites when you say it! I like to rename any rescue animal I have because it's a new start for them. Plus I don't particularly care for the name Zelda she's only had that name for a year. Before that her previous owner says she doesn't think she had a name.

Zelda is used to eating a seed only diet she eats budgie food (no sunflower seeds, just the little round seeds). I aim to get her on a healthier and much more varied diet. She likes carrots, won't touch bell peppers or kale. Going to offer an orange and boiled egg today. I am going to continue offering plenty of foods because I know in time she will eat them.

I've heard that full spectrum lighting is very good for birds. Anyone here have experience with it?

What are other members' Quakers favorite foods and activities?

Steph & Zelda

 

[aliray]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new quaker. They are delightful, fiesty little parrots with a mind of their own. If I read your post right , you have only had the bird for a couple of days. First it will take time to build a bond with Andy. He is in a brand new environment with new people , new sounds, new routines ,ect. Just go slow and let the bird set thlso quakers have a tendency to be cage aggresive. I would let him come out on his own first then do what you need to do with the cage. Also try to avoid bites rather than tolerate them. That will take a while learning the body language but will happen. Mine tends to bite if he is hungry or tired at night. If he does bite he gets picked up and told no bite and gets put in his cage for a time out. As far as food goes mine get birdy bread when I make it , various dark leafy greens, some fruits but minus the pits, like peaches, mango, cherries, they love fresh corn, cucmber, squashes, carrots, sugar snap peas, greenbeans, tunrnip, cooked pasta, any cooked whole grains, bits of cooked egg, cooked chicken, cooked beef, cooked, fish, cooked shrimp, ect. They foods they can't have are avacado, chocolate, caffine, alcohol and onion. Basically if you like it they probably will. they even like hot chile peppers but watch the kisses afterwards because your lips will be on fire Check the recipie forum on here tons of ideas.

 

[mrgoogls]

congrats on your first bird! and congrats on it being a quaker! cooper my quaker is also my first parrot. as for being cage aggressive and biting your hand in the cage, most quakers do that. haha. cooper usually doesn't bite but when he does, 99% of the time its when im in his cage putting in new toys ect. I would also say, when cooper does bite he never bites and releases. he always holds on and clamps harder when there is no reaction. haha. I think all quakers are "cocky". they are feisty little guys with a mind of there ownXD some times cooper wont leave me alone until I take him out, then the next day e wont come out for ANYTHING.

I don't think it is possible for them settling in very fast to be *bad*. cooper was like that. of course I visited him at the parrot store at least once a week to help bond while he was young. preening in front of you is a good sign.

some of cooper's favorite foods in order from best down to average are:

carrots, peas(in the pod still), sweet potatoe/squash,grapes, banana/apple

his least favorites are: blueberries, mango, watermelon

he is on a diet of about 90% roudybush pellets and 10% seed mixed into the pellets. then fresh fruits/veggies everyday too.

cooper like I said sometimes LOVES to be right on me and wont leave me. and just loves to cuddle up to people and doesn't even look at toys. then there are days where he doesn't even look at be and kills every toy in his cage within the day.

 

[QuakerMom]

Thank you all,
I guess my little Devil bird is right on track where she should be! She is sitting on my knee right now preening herself. I hand fed her some millet seed. This is the first time she has accepted food directly from my hand. The seeds are tiny and she took every seed delicately and carefully from my fingers. She was actually leaning in and anticipating the next treat with much enthusiasm!

I'm trying to come up with a new name for her but so far she only has earned the nickname Devil bird it fits. My finger is currently bleeding from a bite she snuck in. Hopefully she will eventually earn a better friendlier name, haha. Of course, that will be more apt to happen once I understand her and her body language better! She's not sweet and cuddly by any means. She merely tolerates me handling her. She always looks forward to being let out of her cage and now looks forward to her millet treats or whatever I'm eating. She loves stealing my food; it tastes better if I'm eating it!

I wish there was a way to spay and neuter our hormonal feathered friends! Wouldn't that be nice

Steph & Devil bird