I made a lot of progress with our 2 year old quaker we've had in our home for two weeks. I want to share my progress over the last few days for other new owners that are having trouble with aggression or biting. (sorry for the long post)

Everything changed two days ago. I took him to the vet, and she clipped his wings for the first time. For those who haven't done it yet, it is very true. He was still biting, but his whole attitude change: he didn't act like the boss any more. He still would bite, but he would be more hesitant to bite hard when disobeying.


Today we made a lot more progress. We did a few things we hadn't before:

First, he took a shower with my girlfriend. He didn't seem to like it, BUT he was VERY calm afterwords while he was soaked. I wrapped him up in a towel and he just sat for a while and chewed on it.

Then, I started to hold him against my stomach. I pushed him up against me so he couldn't move, but in a non-threatening way. He seemed to really like this, he would bite softly at first, but then he would calm down after he saw there was nothing to be scared of and that he enjoyed it. I also made sure to let go of him when he got antsy, because holding him long would make him feel trapped in my hands instead of feeling safe.

Lastly, after seeing how positive he acted, I had him lay on me and had him go to sleep on me.
Here is some advice that helped get him to feel safe to sleep on me: put your hand flat, palm down, over the bird; he will react in two ways: he will bite or he will feel safe. If he or she bites, keep working on his behavior a few days. Along the same lines, we played peek-a-boo with him by cupping our hands around his head. I cupped his head in a similar manner after the lights were out, and I petted him the whole time and watched him get sleepy. Cupping his head helps in a few ways, mainly: he feels safe because of you, and I felt more safe because I could get him closer to my face without him being able to bite easily.


See my previous posts for more information about his biting problems before. If anyone tries anything I mentioned here, make sure to have everyone in the house act similarly or the quaker might overbond with one member, make him or her its "mate", and not correct the behaviors with everyone.

And lastly, have patience. Archie did NOT seem scared of us, I thought he was biting out of "control" and not "fear". I still think he WAS biting out of control, but now he feels safe and we've built mutual trust. Mutual trust makes all the difference: I can pick him up from the top right now and he won't bite at me like he would before, he seems to trust that I won't hurt him and I will pet him to make it feel enjoyable.


Shawn

Thats great news you are making progress with your little guy ...How about sharing a picture...

Congratulations! Archie is becoming a softie. I have always thought that the best way to get a bird to trust you is to try laying with them right before you're ready to go to sleep. You've proved it!

excellent news and great advice to new owners!

It's been a few days now and he is still behaving just as well. He hasn't bitten me hard for a while.

Thanks everyone I've learned more as a first bird owner on these forums than I ever could in my bird book or from my vet. I'll have to get some pictures of Archie up soon, I don't have any on my computer yet.