Ok..I have had Otis for 10 days now. We are getting to know each other quite well. I can tell when he doesn't want to be held/played with etc., by his body language. For the last couple of days when he is fluffing his feathers and cleaning himself I will start to scratch his head, neck, beak area and he loves it. I think it is really cool! Today, he started to open his mouth really wide and it looked like he was bringing up some of his previously eaten food. He was also stepping onto my finger with just one foot and holding on to my finger doing a strange dance thing.
One more thing, he is 4 months old and is getting to not like me kids. He will bite my 16 year old son any chance he gets. If I take Otis out of his cage and try to hand him off to my son, he will nip at him and bite. I am a little worried, as my son really likes him and he will be the primary care giver if we ever go away for a day or so. Any suggestions? I have been holding my finger close to my sons and tricking Otis onto his finger. As soon as he figures it out, he will reach down and try to bite. I tell him no biting and tell my son to do the "earthquake" shake a little bit.
Thanks for all of your help so far...
jkramer

It's great that Otis is settling in so well.


The bobbing head and spitting up food is called regurgitation and it's something they do for the one they love, to show affection... he loves you! Stepping up with one foot and doing a strange dance is him perceiving you as his mate, and should be discouraged.


They can get bonded to one person, their favourite (you in this case) and try to protect you from others. Casey is bonded to two people in our house and hates the other two. Since your son wants to take care of Otis he has to try really hard and be persistent and patient. You can try the rescue technique where you leave Otis in an unfamiliar room in the house (maybe a bathroom with the toilet lid shut) when he is there alone he will panic and start flock calling for you. This is where your son comes in with a treat and "rescues" him. While he is in there with him he can give him a treat and do a couple of step ups from one hand to another. Then he looks like the good guy who rescued him from the scary room.
He also can't show any fear towards Otis. The moment someone new comes into the house and Casey tries to bite them and they jump away or make some sort of a noise, she has the control. When a braver person comes over and tells her No Bite and ignores her nipping she will step up fine. He has to ignore the nipping and be in charge and tell him no... or else Otis will take every chance to control him.
I believe it was Carrie~Anne's son who worked really hard with her QP, because they were in a similar situation as yourself, maybe she'll have some suggestions.

Hope this helps, it was kind of long. But others will be around with some more suggestions.

First question first. It sopunds like he may be doing a bit of a courtship display. Although he would be a little on the young side for that. Maybe he is looking for a handfeeding since he is still young.

For the biting, I'd suggest the rescue technique. Place Otis on the floor, preferably somewhere strange to him, like the bathroom. You leave the room and have your son ocme in and rescue him off the floor. Usually they will want to leave the unfamiliar place enough to let anybody pick them up. Then have your sone give him lots of praise and offer a small treat as a reward. Repeat a few times, then rest and try again later.

Lots of great advice!!!

And yep, it was my son that Max turned on. When we first brought Max home, she would allow any one to hold her. But when she was about 7 months old she decided that I was her favorite person and no one else could touch her. She started biting both my kids (12 and 10 at the time).

Sean, my youngest son, shied away from her at that point. He just doesn't want to take the bites (and I don't blame him!). But Chris was NOT happy with how Max was reacting to him and wanted to win her back.

So Chris became the only one to feed/water her and give her treats. Now, this was tricky for us because my ex and I are separated and the boys spend a week with their dad and then a week with me. So Chris didn't have a chance to work with Max daily. But when he was here, he handled her as much as he could. And, he suffered for it. He took a lot of nasty bites, but through the tears and pain, he persevered.

We also did the rescue technique. And Chris worked with Max in his room and mine (away from Max's cage and play area). We did a lot of step ups and 'pass the Quaker' (I would get Max to step up, then Chris would get Max to step up). It took a good 3 months before Max would finally step up for Chris consistently without biting.

Now, it was hard work, and hard on Chris. He was only 12 at the time and as I said took a lot of hard bites. But he stuck it out and now him and Max are the best of buddies. I'm still Max's favorite person, but Chris is a close second. Max will call out 'Chriiiiis!!' when she wants to play and Chris will obliged her

I also want to add that we used perches as a way for Chris to work with Max too. Chris would hold onto one of those wooden ladders and would make Max step up onto that. Once she was doing that just fine, then we moved onto the fingers. So you might want to try that.

But the thing is, is that your son has to want to do this. And it has to be at least 5 to 6 times a week that he is working with your QP. Otherwise, it may not work out.

Hope this helps and best of luck