Hi all!
We have a little 5 month old baby quaker, who I absolutely adore. When we first got her she was my little cuddlebug but lately she has gotten quite testy. She will not allow me to take her out of her cage without a battle, she will not step up anymore and she has become quite defensive of her little home. I have just left her alone the past few days because I am afraid that she is really going to bite the snot out of me! I hate this! I miss my little cuddlebug and I am desperate to know what to do about this! Any help and/or advice would be oh so appreciated! Thanks in advance!

We got Mollie when she was 7 months old and experienced the same thing. She still is very territorial of her cage, and I just let her come out on her own. When she is on the top of the cage I close the door and put one hand behind her and offer my finger and say step up and she does, then I move her away from her cage area. Not to say she never tries to bite but I tell her no bite, and sometimes gently hold or pet her beak. I think they have a mind of their own and all can be little stinkers and feisty at times. I know she loves me even though she does not always act affectionate. Hang in there and be patient. Julie

Your bird is maturing and all parrots go through what is called "A terrible two phase" and also birds are also very sexual creatures so as they mature hormones do kick in and behaviors do change. Now with that being said what you need to do is to go back to basics and work diligently on Stepping up and making yourself back into the leader. Work with towel play and do step up exercises 3 to 4 times a day so it is back to being a ingrained behavior with your bird. Quakers are very territorial birds this means that you need to move it's perches around weekly in it's cage as well as it's toys and it does not hurt to move their cage around either. Otherwise your bird will take to becoming very aggressive in defending it's cage and you will have a mini dragon living in there. Now when you do move it's stuff at first it may take to some screaming / noise because some one has come in and moved it's things but you NEED to do this. You need to constantly be moving and rearranging it's home to keep your bird from becoming territorial and defensive of it's home. Also take your bird out with you to a unknown location to the bird it could even be anywhere in the house the bird normally does not see or get to go. This makes you "The safe person" because you are protecting your bird and keeping it safe in a foreign area. Now this could also mean taking your bird outside or to new places but do so with your Quakers safety first either with a harness or making sure your birds wings are clipped correctly. What you are doing is breaking the birds routine and making constant changes and bringing new things into it's life so it's accepting if change and accepting of new people and not becoming it's only favored person. So in this way your bird is very social and a pleasure foe everyone to be around.

sounds like hormones to me! It will pass

Thank you all SOOOOOO much for your kind replies. I will try moving her things around today. Actually, last night I was able to get her out and I brought her to the bathroom while I was bathing the children. I let her sit on the shower door and she seemed to really enjoy the steamy goodness. She eventually "flew" down and I carefully rinsed her with the shower head. She even let me get a few kisses and cuddles in! Wow, did I feel lucky! Ok, so I will move her perches and her toys and look for a new spot for her cage. Check. Will do. I will take her out this evening when it cools a bit and let her a look about the world. One other thing, we are not sure what gender that she is, we just assume. Is this an important thing to know? Should we go ahead and get the DNA test? Could it be that she is a he and does that have anything to do with the "hormonal crankies"? At present moment she is being a little squawky and is playing with the new toys we got for her. She really is a darling bird, and we just want to do what is best for her. Again, thanks for your kind and intelligent words. I will keep you all updated on how this works!

♥,
Sweetpeas Mommy

I never in a million year relieved how many people are in my shoes. Cleo is my pride and joy. Cleo was born Jan. 30 2008. I recieved Cleo April, 2 2008. He is almost 5 months. I bought Cleo from an Avery online. I really did my homework on buying my little guy. The people were great A hand feed Quaker with lots of love. Who new what was to come. When I first got Cleo,what a delite. Then one day ,oh my god. This little bundle of joy turned into a monster. He would no longer let me take him from his cage. He hissed at me. Talk about hurt. I thought after reading all I read that I had this bird thing down pat. Well was I wrong. Then someone sent me to this forum. Well thank god, because I was running out of hope. I begain to relieve I was doing it all wrong. Cleo was great as long as I got him out of his cage which was a struggle. He never bit me and stepup and down was no prob. But all in all he did not trust me. Why? I have no idea. Well I want to thank everyone for their comments. Because now I am working on this problem and Cleo is starting to even like me.

My little Emmie is about 3 1/2 months old and is usually a cuddlebug, just wanting to hug and kiss, and be cuddled. Tonight I took her out of her cage one more time before bedtime and she kept flying on top of my head. She has only done that one other time and it was when I first brought her home and she was not used to me. I kept telling her no mommies head, be a good girl. But of course, she kept doing it. I told her she was going home because she was not being a good girl. She is getting more and more outgoing every day and some days she will test me more than others.

Geesh, that sounds like my cockatiel, Wembley. He's experiencing the terrible twos...nippy, won't listen to me, aggressive.. Def Hormonal.

My bird also flys onto not just my head but anyone who walks in the room,stranger or not haha
the aggression will defo be hormones! my cockatiel turned into a viscious and willful git lol so his wings got clipped and i just took the bites! no matter how much it hurt or bled! i know i shall have the same with my quaker oatis but it pays off! you cant show u fear the bite!(hard u know!) but if u do they use it against you!! also share the "getting the bird out" routine! if just you do it they r likely to be ok with you and no one else (my cockatiel is the best example!) my cockatiel wont let anyone near him but me!
goodluck!
patience is the key

Just wanted to thank you all for your kind advice. I did everything you said: moved her cage, moved her perches...even moved her toys. She is back to my sweet little baby now Not sure if it was hormonal (she is only 5 months old, is that a normal thing ALREADY?). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hugs,
Sweetpeas Mommy