Kerm has gotten so mean im ready to give up on him no matter what i do he bites and its getting rediculous he trys to attack my hand when i feed and water hima and he doesn't come out of his cage anymore cause all he does is bites. Im ready to give up on him i want a bird i can handle and clearly kermie has turned from a bird that loved to be handles when he was young to a cranky older bird he is four years old. is there anything i can do to get my sweet boy back or is it totally helpless. i have to towel him just to get hime out of the cage.

Could he be starting to molt? Mine got very, very cranky when he was molting and still has spells, though he's mostly finished now. Or have you changed something about yourself? New perfume, hairstyle, deodorant? Try leaving his door open and letting him get out of the cage on his own without you using your hands to get him out. Take off all your jewelry like rings and bracelets and watch, too. Mine always attacks anything like that, and missed the jewelry and got me a few times before I figured out I needed to take it off before handling him.

my bird bit me a lot of time too, n it is only 4 and a half months old. sometimes it hurts to the extend where some of my skin came off. to stop him from biting me, i held his beak for a few seconds and say "no no no" softly to him, then he will stop gradually. or if it doesn't work, just stay near the cage for a moment and give him eye contact to tell him that u r trying to be friendly with him.

I am having the same problem with my bird that I've had alittle over three years. It started about a month ago. I dont know what the answer is...But I have figured out that he will not bite at my boyfriend anymore...when he started this he was biting at anyone. Now it's like he knows better then to bite my boyfriend. He is submissive to him. I think that it is because my boyfriends hands are tougher than mine so when bird bit him he just continued to take him out of the cage. I tried and he almost made me bleed. I dont think that you are hopeless. What I've been trying is a spray bottle. When he is being naughty I will spray him and it makes him snap out of it. I dont know. We will figure something out. Let me know how everything is going. Or if you figure anything out. K

Alicia

Sometimes Quakers become agressive when molting. Do you see a lot of pin feathers on the top of his head and neck? If so, do you provide him a bath or mist him? This can be helpful, as, molting can be painful for the little guy. Also, you mentioned he tried to attack you when you change his food. My little guy is very territorial, and becomes a BIG GREEN MONSTER,whenever I invade his cage. This is HIS home and nobody elses. If I take him out and put him another birds cage, I can put my hand in and pick him right up. But.. if it's his cage, its a whole different story.The best thing to do is to ignore it. If you need in his cage, remove him from it first. A loud reaction when he tries to bite you, will only encourage him to do it again. They like the response. Also, it is important to spend a lot of time with him. If you can pick him up in a towel, cuddle with him a bit. Hope this is helpful. I know these little guys and break your heart, but they can win it back too.. The reason I know this My birds name is "CRABBY"!

Alicia, I am not an expert but I am sure others will agree...under no circumstance should you ever punish your bird in this way. That is a tactic I have seen used on dogs and birds are a totally different species. They need to trust you in order to not bite and by spraying them with water as a punishment, you are doing the opposite of gaining trust. Please find another way to handle him.

My neighbor has a bird that bites and when I see them handle him I can understand why. When they go to have him step up they do not push their hands under his belly. Instead they are barely putting it up there and pull away when he tries to use his beak. When his beak is moving towards the hand DO NOT pull away. Often times they are trying to steady your hand so they can step up. If you start pulling away like you are afraid you will make them nervous and they WILL bite. It is all about trust and it sounds like you need to establish that.

Are his wings clipped? If not go get them clipped and he will not feel like he is over powering you anymore.

My QP was not very fond of me, it took TIME and lots of TIME. I think I read he is four years old? Is this how long you have had him for?

Birds get moody just like humans…patience is the key. It sadness me that u want to give him up. I can understand your frustrations, however don’t forget that these little guys are SMART they can tell if u are upset or have fear in you… baby steps. I think you’re frustrated, sad, and angry and Kerm is feeling it. I feel for you I really do…but remember why u love this little bugger…time hun time!!!

Yeah I'm sure that you are right...That is why I come on here to get advice. And as far as biting me...Maybe it's is because I am scared now and I pull away. My boyfriend doesn't. I will work on establishing his trust again. Thanks!

I think you may have something there, I can do anything with Bijou, and my friend can as well, but one day she came round and B was in his cage, and she did what she usually does and put her finger through the cage to stroke his chest, something which she has done many times before and he loves, but on this occasion, she must have caught him unawares and he be bit her, she laughed, I laughed and B laughed (he imitates me) B laughing made us all laugh more, and the three us were laughing for a good 5 minutes or more now she can't put her finger through the bars without him bitting her and laughing, when she opens the door to get him out, he's fine, it's just that he has learnt that bitting her through the bars gets a reaction from her, so somehow he has got to be taught that it's not acceptable.

I hope you manage to get through this rough patch with Kerm, he is so worth it Good luck, I really hope you don't give up on him

Hi!

Another thing you might want to consider is that quakers are the only parrots that build nests. This means they can be particularly willing to "defend" their homes from intruders. It's most often called cage aggression. I would suggest working with your baby away from his cage. Take him out, maybe even into another room, and work on step ups. Put your hand at waist level and ask him to step up three or four times. They relax for a little while, and maybe give him a treat. After a few minutes, do it again. This will both be a positive interaction, and will help to remind him that YOU are in charge, not him.

Good luck!

i inhereted a VERY mean bird, because she bit..i tried the water bottle thing..and found that birds LIKE being sprayed, so you are rewarding .....mine? poor old gal was abused, i was the 4th owner....she died after 6 years with me...she never got ovr the random biting, but she defiantly wasn't mean anymore....i did research, and found the FIRST owner had kids, and sometimes alone...so to the FIRST post: are you the ONLY person around? do u have any kids that might "play" while you aren't there?
good luck...

I can put my hand in Kiwis cage to pet but not step up. I agree with everyone on the spraying. I read that negative anything is a nono for birds and to be very calm even if they bite you ( I know I got bitten and wow trying not to yelp was kinda funny LOL)
Good luck. I know its hard when you love a pet and for some reason it won't come around..it hurts.
I raised a finch by hand (not by choice LOL the parents wouldn't) and he was my baby so to say until he molted and discovered other Finches. Now he'll sing to me as close as he can get to me but still in his cage but he won't come out to fly around and he won't let me stroke his back. It broke my heart..it still does. I love him still but I miss him LOL
Hang in there! Keep trying its worth it

I totally agree with Becky. The biting in/around the cage can be pretty normal parrot behavior. Like Becky suggested, work with your bird away from his cage, preferably in another room if you can.