New boy in town! A little help with first days anxiety

[dera]

Hello everybody! I finally brought home my very first parrot, he's a 4 months old quaker, his name is Wizard
he's my first experience, so I've read a lot of articles and posts, but now I'm super anxious about everything: I'm too present? I'm too distant? He's eating enough? I'm scaring him? And so on. I'm trying to keep these feelings on a reasonable level, but still I would like to ask you some advices regarding his behaviour.
He came home on friday evening, ad I said he's (almost) 4 months old and he's hand raised. He stays the night in a big cage in the studio and during the weekend days I brought him in the living room where there is another, smaller cage with a T perch on top. He stays there on the perch, doing nothing. If I go closer to him, he eats and drinks (sometimes I have to put the bowl near the beak), he preens, if i give a stick to him he grabs it and bite it, I tried to do some scratches, but he seems to not like them. Instead, if I ignore him he stays like a cute green potato. Now I'm working in the studio and he's in the bigger cage (which is open) and still doesn't do much. The cage has some perches, I though he would go exploring, but he just stays on the "balcony" and does nothing. Or maybe it looks like nothing to me, a total newbe
I attach a photo of my green potato, I hope you can help me to deal with my feelings.

 

[wrench13]

Welcome and be welcomed. To begon with, parrots are all about trust. So always keep that in mind as we go forward - will what I do add to the trust bank of does it make a withdrawal on that.

Allow the little guy time to settle in and become comfortable in his surroundings. A week is not unreasonable, a month would be excessive. What is his diet now look like? In this period you want to try and find out what his favirite treat is. He may like sunflower seeds (the worst!), a variety of nuts- walnuts, almonds, etc, pine nuts and so on. Example my parrot loves pine nuts and we use that for his training reward ONLY. He likes other nuts, but for him pine nuts are the high value treat. When you buy them, make sure there is no salty or anything added to them. After he has sampled all the types, you can lay a few of each out on the table and lt him choose, the one he goes for first is likely his fav.

Now that you know his fav treat, its time to start using it. Have a small food bowl inside his cage(s) and every time you pass by drop one of the treats in the bowl. You want to establish with him that ONLY good things come from people. THat bowl only gets used for this.

As you go forward, keep in mind that most Quakers are extremely cage territorial, meaning they will bite if you invade their 'space'. Most Quaker owners use a handheld perch to remove the parrot from the cage and put them on a play stand or other place away from the cage.

 

[onamom]

Congratulations and what a cute little Green Potato! I agree with wrench's advice. Have you tried any toys for him yet?

 

[dera]

He only eats seeds right now. I've made a little plate with carrot, zucchini, broccoli and apple, all sliced in small pieces with a sprinkle of seeds, he tried everything, but he seems not to bite, just taste the other foods with the tongue. Same for walnuts and almonds, no luck. I tried also a fruit mix meant for threats with dried fruits, but meh. I will keep trying food, I would like to move him to a better diet, but I suppose it will take time, right now he's not tempted
For the games, the only thing right now that he likes is the wooden popsicle stick, I showed him a wood tower to chew, but it scared him and made him fly away, poor thing!
He doesn't seem... scared... maybe shy?

Thank you for the compliments and the advices, the first sentence of Wrench hit me, maybe I need to focus to add to the trust bank

 

[HeatherG]

Keep being positive even while you can’t pet Wizard. Read to him, talk to him, sing to him, give him a healthy bit of your dinner while you’re eating so he can eat, too.

Quaker body language:
relaxed & puffy= happy (green potato?)
Puffy with wings out swaying and hissing= angry
Tall like a bowling pin = alert or maybe anxious

One very cute look is when the Quaker puff out his cheeks. That is a relaxed and happy bird.

When he learns you are nice and the source of all treats and scritches you may not be able to get him away from you. Relish your time peeing alone. You may never get it back.

 

[HeatherG]

Re: vegetables: I find with smaller parrots that if you cut the vegetable to display the seeds it seems to be more attractive to the bird. So squash or cucumbers I slice across. Cherry tomatoes I slice in half or quarters, beans and peas: sometimes you have to open the pod before the bird will figure out there’s something inside.

 

[dera]

Thanks Heater for the tip of seeds and everything, I always read your threads in quaker section especially Willows's, he's such a cute boy
Wizzy has never been aggressive so far, even when I put my hands in the cage (I would like him to not be territorial), more like puffy happy (the green potato ) or in alert (he really seems a bowling pin!!). I just expected to see him more dynamic, but maybe this is just his personality.

 

[HeatherG]

Being super-alert because he’s in a new place is tiring. And Wizard is still quite a baby. Both of those factors could lead to him sleeping a bit extra.

Or maybe he is a Sentinel Quaker and feels it’s his job to keep an eye on you and everything. So he’s busy with that. Either way he hasn’t been in your home long.

I am glad you enjoy my posts about Willow. He’s USUALLY such a good boy (he just pinched me for trying to dissuade him from getting into something naughty.

 

[dera]

A little update for people like me
Wizard is still a potato (maybe it's just him, maybe he's a Sentinel as HeaterG said), but he's more confident and he has begun to "quack" and to sing when I listen to music. He also climb on me when we are near him. I'm seeing progresses ❤️
On the other side: I still haven't found a vegetable/fruit which he likes, nor a treat, so the feeding is still seeds only and the proper training hasn't begun. I've bought Harrison's pellet, from today I'll try to mix with the seeds.
Edit: he also doesn't like scritches maybe because he's molting on the head? I can feel the pins. I tried to spray him with water, he's not scared, but he stays there as a damp green potato doing nothing

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome home Wizard , msy you have a long happy life full of love!

Gorgeous kiddo!

Its definitely early days and settling in. But spend as much time together as you can out of cage . If needed pull you chair up smashed up to his csge and let him just climb out on you and climb around and hang out with you. It increases their confidence bring able to return to csgecst will, and having you there not 100% focused on them , read, be in phone/ watch TV.

Young birds really learn everything from their flock( you) at this age. And they predisposed to learn and try new foods at this age. They learn from watching and sharing. So have a big plate of veggies eat and share, hand stuff to him. Stiff hunks in cage bars to st least chew and destroy. Offer in every way , diced up small, shredded, hunks, whole, steamed. The more textures and things he toys the better and better he will get st trying more new things. Thawed frozen peas, warm backed thrm mashed up sweet potatoes, fresh corn cut off the cob, scrambled or boiled egg like a tablespoon worth, cooked quinoa, a teaspoon of cooked plain oatmeal, bell pepper sliced open seeds and all. Dont forget the leafy stuff like romaine ( lots of nutrients in it) bok choy, a little shredded cabbage, spinach, spring mix, Swiss chard A couple of cheerios. You don't want to give much of enriched humsn cereal, but 3 or 4 once in awhile are fine and great to get him trying different texture..

Attach lots of perches to the outside of cage sides and top, with some toys .

Here is my flock with lots of veggies eating photos.

Laura's Flock Thread

I'm just going to start a flock thread to keep. Easier than doing them all individually. Starting in the middle I guess. We had to work up to this Ta-dah female GCC ( 7yrs) had since shortly after weaning from petstore. Penny Green quaker female ( est 14 years) rescued ( will edit when I...

www.parrotforums.com

Easy to shred toys like yucca chips, cage weavers. Play and manipulate the toys and stuff in front of him then set them down .

Enrichment ideas, share yours

I'm often posting how I use ceiling hooks abd heavy weight fishing line to create what I call an aerial gym. I attach foraging stuff, stuff to chew, and treats to find to keep my flock busy. So now I will share examples to inspire you. Hopefully you all will share yours to inspire me too! this...

www.parrotforums.com