Hello and welcome to me! I am new here and have owned my very first Quaker for about 3 months now. "Rowdy" is just over a year old and we are his second family. He was previously owned by a young couple, no children or dogs.. just cats and one other Quaker. They parted with Rowdy due to their older female Quaker having behavoir problems when Rowdy arrived.

ANYWAYS, my husband and I brought Rowdy home, he was an absolute angel! Lots of kisses, talking, etc. We introduced the dogs and my 3 yr old granddaughter without any problems. A few weeks later I noticed Rowdy starting to act up when my granddaughter held him (lowering his head, running from her) so I stopped that. About 1 month ago when I let Rowdy out of his cage and tried to have him step up, he latched onto my finger and wouldnt let go. He did this 3 times in a row drawing blood, and yes, sorry to say I did scream a little.

During the day Rowdy talks to me, he says about 20 words. We talk back and forth, but if I approach his cage he shrieks, and if I put my hand toward him he leans toward me with his beak open. I cannot even walk past his cage w/o him screaming.

My husband doesnt have much problem with Rowdy. He can pick him up, kiss him etc.. but Rowdy has nipped once or twice, just not hard like he does me.

I have been trying to figure out what I did wrong to make him hate me so much. We did buy him a large rollaround metal cage (he was in a parakeet cage for 8 months!) the first week we had him, and he does have some Lovebirds in an adjacent cage for company. We follow his original diet pretty much and so forth.

Could all this terror be just that spring hormonal thing i read about on here? If so, why still like my husband? Why talk to me all day but not let me touch him? And if that is what all this bad boy stuff is about, when can I expect my sweetie pie back?? I am so confused lol

Help!!!

Thanks~

Lisa
tulsa, OK

You might want to either move the Love birds or put a curtain between them. This is mating season and parrots tend to get aggressive sometmes even in the best homes. I have a little she devil that has started attacking her only human friend this morning.. Mister my husband. I run a rescue and have eight parrots 3 of whom are quakers. Of the three quakers 2 came mean and not the little she devil I am speaking of. She is homonal as it is near time for her to start laying eggs. I have increased her egg food, decreased her day light but I think this new Daylight savings time spring forward sucks!

I agree with cheryl
all of our angels are devils right now

Thanks, both of you! But i'm still curious why Rowdy accepts my husband, tho I am the one who feeds/cleans/talks to him all day?

AND when will this crazed stuff diminish??

because she has chosen him as a mate

Yes, my sweetie started hating me on Tuesday. And the screaming! It's awful. Wants to bite me. Won't let me touch him. Last year, the behavior lifted around May or early June and I got my baby back. In the meantime my husband handled him, as he is now. Patrick will let my husband touch him but because I was the favorite, he is taking out the hormone thing on me. Usually when they're frustrated, they'll direct it toward the favorite.

~WOW! so i'm his favorite?? lol!!! funny way to show it!

So the time can vary I assume from bird to bird. It has been about a month so far, but I have noticed he has been mellowing just a tad. I was able to give him an apple piece yesterday and remove his dishes w/o an all out attack lol.

HOW, i wonder, do I know when it's safe to handle him again? I am a bit afraid to just stick my hand in front of him, he was pretty quick to get me 3 times a month ago, lost a bit of flesh and my scars are still purple....



Thanks everyone!

Lisa~

[quote]"HOW, i wonder, do I know when it's safe to handle him again? I am a bit afraid to just stick my hand in front of him, he was pretty quick to get me 3 times a month ago, lost a bit of flesh and my scars are still purple....



Thanks everyone!
Lisa~[/quote]
[/quote]

I know... it took me a while to feel I could trust him again. I can tell if he's receptive to me if he doesn't chase and hiss at me on the bottom of the cage and try to bite my finger through the bar. If I can touch his foot or belly through the cage, my next step is to use an extra perch to have him step up and come out of the cage. Then I take him away from the cage while on the stick and touch his back lightly with one finger. Kinda the same way I'd have a stranger touch him. I can do the wobble technique with the stick if it looks like he wants to lunge at me. We'll do these sessions a few times a day. When that seems okay, I move closer to the head and progress to more fingers. If he's looking okay with that, then I'll try a step up from the stick. If I can cup my hand on his back and turn him over and tickle his belly, and hold him in my hands, then I'm pretty close to having him "back". I'll return him to the cage and repeat this later and pretty soon I won't have to be conscious of it anymore; I can just do step up from the cage. When Pat first turned on me last spring, I came here for advice on what to do and Carrie Anne and others were helpful in suggesting that I needed to handle him in some way to reestablish that relationship again. Before that, I just left him in the cage for weeks because I was afraid. One other thing that may help is changing his environment or taking him on an outing. Pat has a backpack and when it's nice out this spring, we'll load him into it and take him for walks or to the store. It sort of shocked him into realizing he doesn't control his life, we do. And I'll admit I was smitten into letting his beautiful blue wings grow out for the first time in 6 years, and I've been letting him do controlled flying in the house, but that will end. He gets a trim today, because I want to avoid being flown at and bitten! I miss my baby!