Our QP is soooooo stubborn! LOL No matter how many pin feathers he has or how bad they are, he REFUSES to let ANY ONE fix them. I can stroke his head/back all day long, but the moment I go to "scritch" him, he strikes at me. He normally doesn't actually bite, just strikes. I am his favorite person and still cannot do it. He won't even let my fiance stroke his head/back most of the time. I have had good success with toweling him (he usually doesn't mind) and fixing them then so he can't bite. The funny thing is, when I towel him and start fixing the pin feathers, he closes his little eyes and totally relaxes, then I put him away and he purrs, makes cute little noises, and preens for 1/2 hour or so. When we first brought him home, he the most snuggly bird ever, but when the "honeymoon period" was over, NO MORE. He loves to be held and talked to, loves giving kisses and what not, but NO SCRITCHING. Any advice?

I'm going thru the same thing with Cricket. I think when I'm trying to help him it might actually be hurting him instead. Cricket strikes out too but doesn't bite.

So, I decided not to try to help him anymore. I will scritch the areas where there are no pin feathers and if he wants scritches where there are pin feathers he'll move!

My QPs the same and hes 2 now he used to let me sueeze the pin feathers. So now I just towel him sometimes much to his dislike. But afterwards hes just fine.

They do that to each other too from time to time when preening (strike out as in "back off" or "ouch"), but our fingers are just a lot clumsier than bird bills!

It's when you accidentally hit the top of a pin feather, I think, that is the problem. Not an easy job, bird preening.

Oh, and I get the funny feeling they want our face to be on more or less the same height as theirs when we preen them?

Ange

Offer baths!!! Or mist him down

Those sheaths will soften and fall off on their own. So start giving him a bath ever day or every other day for a few weeks and you'll see them start to take care of themselves.

That's an EXCELLENT idea! I forgot that water softens up the sheaths. Tonight he gets a bath (if he'll take one) And I will definitely get a spray bottle, since he's iffy about taking baths. Thanks!

Welcome

thanks carrie ann! i didn't even think of giving him an extra misting. he doesn't take a "normal" bath... just sometimes in his water bowl but i will start misting him a couple of times!

Levi never used to let me touch his pin feathers, but in the last few days he's actually been letting me.

Maybe he just realised I wasn't going to give in, so he thought he will.

Tiki is very much the same way. I find that after his bath, he likes to be wrapped in his little towel, and then he will let me work on his pin feathers.

Sylvia does that, too- but I think at least 1/2 of the reason is because I'm an abysmal bird scritcher. She let me do it after I took pointers from the YouTube tutorial I stumbled on... I'm pretty sure someone from on here made it, as it says "An instructional video for Captain Quark lol!" It was quite helpful, actually... I should probably watch it before every attempt. The rest of why she hates it I don't know. Even more so when I first got her she would hunker down and slick her feathers down and close her eyes when I would even make like I was going to pet her- no feather ruffling, even! But she's slowly getting better.

Oh yeah- and daily baths work wonders. Sylvia comes in the shower with me and has permitted more and more of a soaking as the weeks go by.

Wow! I just watched that tutorial! Who made that???
I really want to teach Casey to lie on her back... but it's not working!

Casey loves when I scritch her, I guess the pins are really itchy. Baths definitely help too.