Hello everyone,

I am new to the site but have owned a quaker (kiwi) for about 5 years. I got her when she was about 6 months old and she means the world to me. She is not the friendliest of birds but bonds with me well and allows me to groom her without trying to bite me. I also have a cockatiel that is about a year old.

About 6 months ago I adopted another quaker (Oscar) from a buddy of mine. It took us a while to tame him but when he came around he became real close with my father. He would not leave my fathers side for anything. My father went away for the month of June and since then Oscar wants nothing to do with him. During that time he bonded mostly with Kiwi and now Oscar wont let Kiwi breathe. If I take Kiwi from the cage Oscar chases me around the house. This has also changed Kiwi's behavior because now she is also becoming aggressive and wont let anyone near her cage, not even the poor cockatiel who was Kiwi's buddy. When the two quakers are together they are like two pitbulls ready to attack.

I need help! Should I seperate the two and not let them interact with eachother? I want Kiwi to go back to being herself but I don't think that will happen with Oscar in the picture. I assume they are male and female which is why they bond so well. Are they trying to breed and dont want anyone around? Any insight anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Jeff

I would seperate them before this becomes more of a issue. Have your father re-bond with Oscar. You don't want the situation to get any more out of hand with the aggression.

I agree. It's quite common for two Quakers to over bond with each other and then their human friends get left out of the picture. Also, just because they have bonded, doesn't mean you have a male/female pair. Females will bond with females, and males will bond with males.

I would separate them into different cages and keep their out of cage times separate. You may even have to go as far as placing them into different rooms. Until you've gotten the pet quality back, I'd also not allow them to interact with each other either.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help everyone. Kiwi is back to her normal self but Oscar's first instinct is to run to Kiwi's cage when I let him roam around the house. I will try putting their cages in two seperate rooms to see what happens.

I had the same thing happen to my budgies, they have never been the same social birds since. I am glad at this time your 2 Quakers seem to be doing better. I would strongly suggest moving the cages in 2 rooms, if you have the space.

It breaks your heart when they almost turn on you…I was there. We bought a Quaker and he wants nothing to do with the budgies…phew! As our Kiwi is a social one as well!