Quaker Mom problems

[galileosmom]

Hi i have a 6 month old quaker, i just brought him home a week ago and he is the sweetest thing ever! I have never bonded and loved a bird so much, Galileo is my little man. I do have one big concern though, he seems very cage territorial which i read that they can be but how do i fix this, i dont want this to hinder our great and growing relationship. He loves to take showers with me, he gives me kisses, and he cuddles with me. But i need to know what useful things do i need to be teaching him, any help would be great!

 

[cnyguy]

Welcome to you and Galileo!

Cage aggression can be difficult to correct. A friend with a cage aggressive QP had success with just going about her business of cleaning the cage and enduring a lot of painful bites along the way. Eventually, the Quaker decided it wasn't worth the trouble of attacking and isn't cage aggressive any more. Kind of a tough way to handle it, and it may not always work.

Sometimes it's suggested to avoid things like cage cleaning while the parrot is in or near the cage-- it's recommended that the parrot should be taken to a playstand before working on the cage.

Something else that's usually recommended: instead of reaching into the cage to bring your cage aggressive parrot out, just leave the door open when you're ready for the parrot to come out, and let him step outside on his own. It's usually easier to handle a cage aggressive bird once he is outside his cage.

I have little experience with cage aggression, but someone else here who does will probably have some better suggestions than mine.

 

[mrgoogls]

cooper used to be very cage aggressive. while he was, i let him come out on his own then picked him up. that helped. over time he just got better.

 

[SandyBee]

We have an African brown head that has the same kind of issues.
We let him come out on his own, we have a perch installed on the inside of his door so when the door is open he comes on the perch and asked to be picked up. We also have a perch in the far back corner of his cage. In the morning I give him a foraging treat on this perch through the cage bars and he stays there while I change his food and water.

 

[galileosmom]

So I've always heard about birds being cage aggressive when they are higher up then the human, I thought I had him at an appropriate height, I decided to move him lower and his cage is on the ground now, completely solved, not even any hesitation stepping up! thanks everyone!

 

[Cyclone]

Our male quaker used to be very cage aggressive (especially when his mate was living with him - she is now passed). We used to just leave their door open, they would come out, and we could easily pick them up. His adjustment to the death of his mate took about 4 months, and even with his door open he would never come out. I missed him so much and got sick of him being a depressed little boy, so I started trying to get him out from inside his cage. When I put my hand in for a step-up, he would bite if you got near him. He would be upset if there was a hand in the cage, but wouldn't lunge toward the hand until it was close to him, which was a good thing and helped with the training. He KNOWS what "step up" means, which also helped. I would put my hand in his cage, say "step-up.....step-up....step-up" repeatedly while not reacting to his lunges or bites. I started far from him and moved my hand closer as we progressed. I would switch between many cheerful-toned "step-up's" and a more menacing "you better step-up" tone. I wouldn't give up until he stepped up and I never let him or his lunging/biting attitude win. After about a week of doing this every day, the time it took for him to take me seriously drastically shortened. Now he steps up from inside his cage without a problem. Well, most of the time - sometimes I have to go back to the menacing tone to get him up but then he will listen right away. No more bites, though. It is my proudest training - really the only behavioral training I have done.

In my case, Oscar is a bit of a timid, nervous bird (not a huge cuddler), at the same time aggressive and defensive. This worked in my favor as the bites were never too too bad and he never all out attacked a hand.

Good luck!