My first time training

[Bond007]

My mom bought 2 male quakers who are brothers and both 7 months old. Recently I took one to stay with me because the boys only wanted to bond with each other and started to get really aggressive towards us. I am having a hard time training a few things like not biting, no screaming, and no eating clothes. When he bites he does not want to let go sometimes, or he will dart at my hand trying to bite me. I was told that putting him in his cage for time out and covering the cage while telling him he is in time out is a good was to train every time he bites me, but I just don't want him to think bed time means trouble. As far as the screaming goes I can't go out of his sight with out him screaming and then he will try to scream if he does not have 100% of my attention. And I don't know why but I can't get him to stop trying to eat my shirts when I hold him and them when I try to get him to let go of my shirt he tries to bite my finger. I'm not sure of the best way to go about training him but I don't want to let him do as he pleases because then it could really get out of control. I know some may say that it is because he just got separated from his brother but they both acted like this when they were together and my mom tried to break it but had no success.

Any suggestions or tips welcome.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Wow!
Yeah, once a spunky little pair gets into a routine, they can be very willful individuals when separated! Sounds like they were a handfull to begin with.
Well, the key is ignoring/not rewarding the screaming, and when you use timeout, make it very unceremonious... no talking/explaining, and 5 minutes or so is plenty. If it's longer and you get screaming, you'll have to ignore it, which BELIEVE ME, I KNOW, is hard. And of course, screaming is just a parrot thing, and will never go away comoletely. I have had some success with using the "earthquake" technique for biting. When he bites, give your hand a swift shake... it should make him let go. The idea... every time he bites, a mysterious earthquske shakes him up. The same can work for clothes biting... give your shoulder a shake, or jump!
Let me tell you my story...
I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it. So food reward is a necessity for me. Time-out doesn't exist in the Rb's kingdom.
But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.
My darling is kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.
Very, very best of luck to you.
Good for you for reaching out!
Oh, and... every now and then, he breaks up with me. Gets mad for no apparent reason and won't come to me, won't call my name, won't even look at me. It can last days or weeks. Then he gets over it and takes me back. Little monster.
But he's a beautiful, wonderful half-wild, amazing parrot, alive and living in my home. Sometimes that just has to be miracle enough. He'll be with me as long as I am alive. I hope you can find a way to offer your little wild-thing the same.
Good for you, for caring, and reaching out!

 

[wrench13]

Quakers are flock birds, you have to keep that in mind. When he bites, don't put him in his cage, put him on a chair back turn your back to him and ignore him, no eye contact at all. You are excluding him from the flock for bad behavior. 1 to 5 minutes. Then you can approch him. You must must must be consistent in your actions. Same for screaming. He is flock calling you. Create one special sentence to answer him back, simple, like ' I'm here where are you?'. Answer him back k once or twice and then ignore the other calls and screams. This might take long while to sink in, but it will. Reacting to scream and calling only reenforces him to do it more. That's my advice. Good luck

 

[Jen5200]

Sounds like you have your hands full! I have conures and they have all been guilty of the above behaviors.

Biting fingers, etc - I totally agree with above, timeouts are the way to go. I wouldn’t use the cage, as it can become a “bad” place to go in their mind. Also, they can make the connection that when they want to be put in their cage - they just bite you so that you put them there. I use chair back, stand-alone perches, back of the sofa, my knee - and don’t look at them at all for a minute or two. I only use places where there’s nothing fun for them to do by themselves. Some put them on the floor (but only if there’s nothing risky on the floor like other pets).

Screaming - completely normal for parrots (contact calling), but drives people crazy when it’s constant. I too will answer them quietly once or twice, but then stop and ignore. It works, but can take some time work consistently. The hardest thing to do is ignore it, but anything else rewards the behavior. I tend to talk to them as I’m moving around the house so that they don’t feel like they need to “call out” to search for me. I probably sound nuts talking to them all the time, but it keeps the hollering to a minimum

Chewing on clothes - well I’ve just had to accept that my birds are going to chew. I look forward to seeing if anyone else has a solution to that one. I buy inexpensive hoodies on Amazon and put them on as soon as I get home. They make lots of holes, I throw them out, rinse and repeat.... a compromise that seems to work in our house. I don’t wear nice clothes when at home, and they chew up my cheap hoodies .

Birds are like toddlers - they need boundaries to be good members of the household. They’ll push boundaries and you need to be consistent in setting these for them to understand them. Patience (and sometimes earplugs) are key

 

[Lin51]

Hi my Quaker when he was new and screamed I said in a little louder voice. What's the matter. So he cottoned on and said it.lol much better than screaming. He does pull at my cardigan a little not a bite,it's just something he has always done. I just move him onto somewhere else and he forgets.he is good if anyone comes in he doesn't know or a bag of food.he gets excited to scream but turns it into a happy laugh.if he wants to try and slightly nip I just put him to one side and don't speak.he goes quite. No game no fun.hes okay then.

 

[Carl_Power]

Hi. I have a Quaker and can share my experience and what worked for me. Mostly good advice on the forum.

Screaming I would leave the room for 5-10 minutes and then return when the screaming stopped and reward with my presence. This will take a lot of effort, practise and patience but it worked beautifully for me and id recommend doing this and sticking at it so you don't have a screamer although occasionally Quakers do like to be loud and there's nothing we can do about that.

Biting I would put him in his cage for a 5-10 min time out every time he bites. He has to associate it that biting means cage time. Being outside the cage is a reward.

Be firm because they are stubborn and moody some days but you will end up with a well behaved Parrot once it has learned x