hello im steve me and my girlfriend live with 2 quakers both females one isn't too bad her name is buddy but the other Dixie is a real terror.
she is very protective of her cage will lunge at you and if given a chance i believe would remove your finger. im told she has always been this way even before th other female came. she also pluks her feathers out shes nearly bald except for her head. she has been doing this for at least 3 years.
the only time she is semi social is when shes away from the cage sometimes she will sit on your finger or let you pet her but its risky buisness as at any moment she will take a chunk out of you. we have decided to try and seperate them to see if behaviors change. they get comercial parrot food and eat it readily, i have seen something about pellets to feed them but not sure what pellets... also one other thing as i have no experience with birds, they belong to my girlfriend whom i havent known long, they seem to deficate all over everything, they get it on the wall, on the carpet, basically all around the cage. i have to take the whole cage to the car wash about every three weeks it just gets caked on everything.
i would really apreciate any advice anyone can give she seems so upset and squaks and shrieks most of the day and its exact oposite of buddy who can be let out and will fly around the house to find you and sit on your shoulder and snuggle up.
thanx in advance

well it sounds like they atleast the plucker was a breeder at one time , or is at the age where she is wanting to breed , quakers are very cage aggressive at times they are very protective of it that is , other than seperating them and trying one on one and possibly moving the friendliest one to may be a perch , i dont know if there is a way to change them .in other words i have never been successful , i usually turn the ones i buy or recieve that are mean to breeders because i cant sell a bird knowing it will bite someone , unless its know to them because believe it or not some people just want them to have them and really doesnt want to handle them , which is wierd but ok . i hope any of this will help.

If you haven't known your girlfriend long, you haven't known the bird long, either. Quakers hate new things and new people -- well, actually, I think, they're afraid of new things and new people -- and a frightened creature attacks. It also sounds as if the bird is stressed and that's why she's plucking her feathers. Does she have toys to play with? Do you talk to her and entertain her at all?

I only have the one, but several experienced Quaker folks on here say that if you have two in the same cage together, they bond to each other and want nothing to do with the humans in the household. Do you have them in the same cage?

They're not supposed to have only seeds and some people say they shouldn't have seeds at all. A pet store can show you the various brands of pellets and you can mix pellets with seeds, gradually reducing the proportions until they're eating all pellets, with fresh foods like veggies, too. There are several places on the board here where you can see a list of what's safe to feed them. Mine likes mashed potatoes and green pepper and green beans and spaghetti.

Parrots bite, that's just the way they are. It's one of the ways they communicate that they're frightened or uncomfortable or they just don't like something you're doing. Mine doesn't bite hard anymore, but he still nibbles when he doesn't like something and wants me to stop -- for example, he likes having his head petted, but when he's tired of it, he nips to make me stop. When they're molting and growing in new feathers, the new ones are sensitive and it hurts if you touch them. They get grumpy during mating time, too. And mine wakes up grumpy, so you have to let him wake up and stretch a few times before you try to get affectionate or he'll nip.

Well I think txpanther is quite a bit short sighted. I have worked with birds of all types. I've heard every kind of story about how the birds aren't tamable, and in my experience the only birds that really weren't tamable were birds that had been abused for years. Females are incredibly moody and their attitudes can be very unstable. It's all about the follow through. You need to accomodate her in every way you can. Look at it like this:

DIET,
Almost all of her food needs to be pellets. What are pellets? Pretty much when you go down a bird food aisle of the pet store you'll see seeds, treats, and pellets. They're not like hampster pellets. They look more like cereal. You need to have the bird on a primary diet of pellets with a small amount of seed (no more then 10%), and about a quarter of her diet needs to be fresh fruits and veggies.

DISTRACTIONS,
A caged animal needs a way to have fun and get their frustrations out. There needs to be a variety of toys in her cage. I suggest adding them in slowly, and not over crowding the cage. Also remember to rotate out the toys, because no one likes listening to the same record all day, and the sam egoes for bird's toys. Toys help with boreddom and frustration, which can aid is discouraging plucking.

BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION,
Talk sweet to her. Read her stories and sing her songs. Make a big deal about how great she is when you walk in the room. Make the bird feel important. Also praise her for playing with her toys or doing something cute. Not only do they warm up better to you when you pay them extra attention, but birds pluck less when they know they can busy themself's trying to get a good praising out of you.

Rehabilitating a bird take a lot of time and effort, and patience on your part, but it is very rewarding. Her bad habits are just that "habits". she's been doing them for so long that it is apart of her day to day life, and it will take time to fix this. If making your girlfriend's bird happy isn't enough for you, just remember that it is her bird, and anything you can do to help it will on help you get more browning points, and we all know where you redeem those points. Most of the pluckers that I have dealt with were birds that just didn't get enough attention, and were left to their own devices. Also here's a few things that shouldn't be in the house

*non-stick cookware
*candles
*preditorial animals (when the birds are out of the cage)

If you have more questions please ask or if you just need some support let us know.

thanx for the advice i will implement these changes pronto. when it comes to looking after exotics im not a novice. just never had experience with birds, only reptiles.

Welcome to the group..
Good luck ..Love and patience will eventually win your fids (feathered kids over.. Birds are not domesticated like cats and dogs and retain much of their wild instincts ..
I sugest you check out all the forums and read up on some older posts you will learn lots and anything you are not sure of ask away there will always be someone to reply and try to help..
Once agaih Good luck and WELCOME to the group...

Hi Steve. It sounds like you are a true animal lover. You are so kind to take this step to help the birds. This world needs more people like you. You could buy a book on Quakers. I ordered mine from Chapters and saved a lot. The Pet Stores charge too much. You can change his food by checking the diet section on here. Don't do it without checking. (The bird may stop eating) I think if you took it too a Avain Vet to see why it's plcking- it could be diet related or health related??????They do need lots of safe toys to play with and dialy cage cleaning. Paper changed at the bottem of the cage daily and dishes cleaned daily. If this is done the cage should keep clean. I put newspaper around the cage on the floor and change every 5 hrs. or so. They need baths every 3 days. at least. I put a bowl of warm water down and Pico jumps right into it.(long 2 inch clear plastic dish)Fill 1 inch or so. He gets so excited when I say Bath? He will nod his head and repeat "Bath Bath"" The book will help gratly. Try Guide To The Quaker Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan. Also you could suscribe to "Bird Talk" magizine that would also help you.Is the cage large enough?