Quaker Hisses

[Caecilius est in horto]

My sweet Guava usually doesn't have issues with me, but every now and then, he'll sorta lunge forward, never to actually bite me but as an aggressive display, and hiss. He does this randomly. For example: I give his beak a small kiss and pull back a bit-he hisses-then wants more kisses. He'll hiss for seemingly no reason then go back to his sweet self. Anyone else's Quakers do this?

 

[rheashard2]

How old is he? Young he'll test limits like any child. It's not uncommon for even gentle, sweeties to become aggressive, sometimes spontaneous. Other birds have similar aggressive showing. Is he nearing sexual maturity? If so then read articles here. All birds are territorial about thier space. You want to discourage the behavior. Somewhere here is an excellent article on a technique called shunning. You basically ignore your bird for a minute. Total ignore, no look, no touch, nothing. I personally leave the room. My CAG knows all the right buttons to push for early forgiveness. The article will explain it better than I can. Pay attention to his body language. Try to identify his tells and triggers. Do something else for a few and return. My avian vet is a firm believer in distraction. Example; Bounce a tennis ball and catch it. He'll see, watch and wonder. I've had my CAG since she was 3 1/2 months over 21 years ago. She still becomes aggressive about her cage. I ignore her. She knows bitting is illegal and settles down. I am very fortunate that she has not bitten me hard enough to break skin. But it still hurts! So shunning. And I make very sure that the trigger wasn't me or something in the room. The trigger can be anything. An example of bird weirdness; I can cover furniture, her cage, bedding with any color excep shades of burgundy or maron. She's tolerant of shirts but chews holes. Reds and other colors ok. So maybe Guava is developing preferences.

 

[Jcas32]

Yes, my Quaker does hiss or do open- beaked threats. But he always has a reason. Once I began to learn why he was acting aggressive, I pretty much never get bit anymore. Even if I accidentally do something and he does bite, it’s a warning bite with no force behind it. Most likely , your Quaker’s hiss/ bites are not random you just need to carefully observe what situations, actions etc trigger him. It could be lots of things; certain actions or movements, cage protecting; my Quaker gets angry when I wear a sweatshirt that has penguins on it . Could be certain times of day he is tired and cranky ( mine is crabby when he first wakes up in the morning; I don’t touch him until the morning grumps have worn off lol!). Carefully observe yourself and your bird and you will likely find patterns in his behavior.

 

[Caecilius est in horto]

How old is he? Young he'll test limits like any child. It's not uncommon for even gentle, sweeties to become aggressive, sometimes spontaneous. Other birds have similar aggressive showing. Is he nearing sexual maturity? If so then read articles here. All birds are territorial about thier space. You want to discourage the behavior. Somewhere here is an excellent article on a technique called shunning. You basically ignore your bird for a minute. Total ignore, no look, no touch, nothing. I personally leave the room. My CAG knows all the right buttons to push for early forgiveness. The article will explain it better than I can. Pay attention to his body language. Try to identify his tells and triggers. Do something else for a few and return. My avian vet is a firm believer in distraction. Example; Bounce a tennis ball and catch it. He'll see, watch and wonder. I've had my CAG since she was 3 1/2 months over 21 years ago. She still becomes aggressive about her cage. I ignore her. She knows bitting is illegal and settles down. I am very fortunate that she has not bitten me hard enough to break skin. But it still hurts! So shunning. And I make very sure that the trigger wasn't me or something in the room. The trigger can be anything. An example of bird weirdness; I can cover furniture, her cage, bedding with any color excep shades of burgundy or maron. She's tolerant of shirts but chews holes. Reds and other colors ok. So maybe Guava is developing preferences.

He is a baby, almost about 10 months now I believe? I know puberty is coming soon; he's already showing some territorial behaviours in his cage. I've already figured out how to work through those-I put my finger in the furthest part of the cage from his that he isn't territorial about (He's only territorial for one spot of his cage) and let him walk his way over to me and step up on his own terms. This'll usually take a minute-unless he's just cranky and doesn't want out. I've been using the ignoring technique when he's screeching, then giving him attention when he's quiet. Thanks for the advice for when he gets worse in the future.

 

[Caecilius est in horto]

Yes, my Quaker does hiss or do open- beaked threats. But he always has a reason. Once I began to learn why he was acting aggressive, I pretty much never get bit anymore. Even if I accidentally do something and he does bite, it’s a warning bite with no force behind it. Most likely , your Quaker’s hiss/ bites are not random you just need to carefully observe what situations, actions etc trigger him. It could be lots of things; certain actions or movements, cage protecting; my Quaker gets angry when I wear a sweatshirt that has penguins on it . Could be certain times of day he is tired and cranky ( mine is crabby when he first wakes up in the morning; I don’t touch him until the morning grumps have worn off lol!). Carefully observe yourself and your bird and you will likely find patterns in his behavior.

I've noticed that he'll get cranky closer to his bedtime. I think some of his hisses are because we're "playing" and he gets too excited? He will hiss when territorial, but sometimes it seems for no reason. I'll keep a lookout for triggers in the future, thanks!