Hi Quaker Lovers,

As some of you know from a post I made in "Introductions" a while back, our bird vet asked us to take in a Quaker that was recovering from a badly broken left leg in her clinic. She broached this subject with us the day we brought in Gabby, our very sick (liver failure), elderly lovebird who died the following day. Although our experience had been with lovebirds, she felt we could provide a good home for the Quaker. So, we brought Taz home a little over a week ago (23 Oct).

Taz has had a rough time the last 6 months or so. His first family hand-raised him and had him for 12 years. About 6 months ago, they gave him away to a second family where he was attacked by their dog and suffered a broken leg that had to be repaired surgically. The second family brought him to our bird vet to be put to sleep and obviously did not want him back. Our vet decided he deserved better and set about to see if she could repair the leg. Taz had to wear a collar for a while, had to be tube fed for a period, then he started feather plucking, which led to skin plucking, and had to have his breast covered for a while to let the skin heal. Although he was a friendly bird when he was brought in, he came to hate everyone at the vet clinic which the vet felt was a perfectly normal response given what he had been through.

His leg healed amazingly well. It is a bit shorter than the other one and he still favors it, but he can put weight on it and grasp with the foot. The vet told us that he liked men better than women but he wasn't necessarily hostile to women. As he got better, he warmed up to the vet assistant who provided much of his care and would pretty much step up for everyone at the clinic (all women). The day we brought him home, he climbed down to the floor and gimped into the eating area in our kitchen where we were having dinner and stepped up just fine for my husband.

However, since then he has become decidedly less interested in coming out of his cage. We open the cage door, and he just sits on his perch. He'll sometimes come out and sit on top of the cage, but that is not a given. He isn't very eager to step up most of the time and puts his head down and runs his beak along whatever surface he is sitting on to keep your hand from getting close. Occasionally, he will step up from the top of the cage for my husband, and he can put his hand in the cage without getting attacked. He seems to like sitting on G's shoulder once he can be persuaded to step up but he doesn't really 'ask' to be with him or seek attention from him. He sometimes acts bitey toward G but seems not really to be serious about it. He has plenty of toys in his cage but plays with only one of them. He preens a LOT, which isn't surprising in that he is growing feathers on his breast and back where he had plucked himself bare. He doesn't seem upset to remain in his cage. His cage door is open when we are around (which is a lot because we are retired and are home a lot). Thus, he could come out pretty much whenever he wanted to. He just doesn't. Often, if he is on top of his cage and one of us walks toward it, Taz scoots back inside. If we absolutely have to have him out of the cage for some reason (such as a more thorough cleaning than can be done with him in the cage), G has to bundle Taz up in a towel and bring him out of the cage. Taz doesn't seem terribly upset over this, but maybe we just don't realize it.

Unfortunately, Taz hates me. He lunges toward me with beak open if he even thinks I am approaching his cage. He is considerably less likely to step up for me than for my husband and I am definitely very likely to get bitten. A couple of times when he did step up for me, he ended up biting me while he was sitting on my finger. His bites to me are well beyond the sort of nibbles he makes toward my husband. He will let me put my hand in his cage to clean it without attacking me, but he watches me very intently and makes it clear that I should not come closer to him.

I know this is awfully long-winded, but I wanted to give folks a complete a picture of our experience to date with Taz. Does anyone have any advice for us? Is Taz's stand-offish behavior likely to dimiish as he becomes more trusting of us and figures out that we are not going to give him away or hurt him? Is this more-or-less what one would expect from a traumatized bird? Can anyone suggest things we can do to encourage Taz to step up? He definitely knows what 'step up' is but just as definitely is choosing not to step up.

I often kneel in front of his cage and just talk soothingly to him and hope he comes to be more comfortable with me. Is this a good idea? Are there other things I could try? We'll love him no matter what, even if he never warms up to me. I'm cool with him being mainly my husband's bird, but would like for him to become less hostile toward me if possible.

Thanks so much for 'listening'.

Folly

Welcome to the forum Folly!
First off this is very normal behavior since he is still getting adjusted to his new home and new owners. He sounds like he is a very sweet bird with lots of potential but with all that hes been through it will need time. I rescued my Quaker too and it took me awhile to get him to want to be with me. He acted much like yours would just sit on the top a lot and step up ocassionally without hassel. Quakers can also be very much 1 person birds. Mine is! Im the only one in my family who can handle him. They can also be very cage aggressive so that could be why he is more hostile there too. Just sitting there talking to him is the best thing to do right now so he gets comfortable with you. A good thing to do once he gets more trusting and if he is still hostile towards you but not your husband, have your husband get him off his cage then take him to another room where cage is out of sight and you handle him. Another technique others use is to "rescue" him. Put him in the bath tub for a minute or so (door closed so he cant see you) and you go back and have him step up. This will show him you arent there to hurt him.
What will help the most is just time. Like I said it sounds like once he warms up he will be a great fid and a joy to have around.

Hope I was of some help to you!

Zach

Welcome.It's great you took the little guy in.He really needs you. I think he probably just associates you with the female vet. ( the pain he went through at the vets etc.) It's only been a week and it sounds like he's doing great with you in just 1 week. He's just scared .It just takes time for him to get used to all the new people and new surroundings in his life. With lots of love and patience I bet he will be a very sweet bird.He sounds relly great so far. I got my Pico from a rescue and he was known as a biter. he has never bitten me and is the sweetest bird. Talk to him and sing to him. They like childrens music. (Silly Songs C.D.) I sing Old Macdonald to Pico and he will make all the animal sounds and loves dancing. If you bob up and down they will copy you. It's so cute. Give him some treats and he will probably like you more. They like warm oatmeal out of your hand. I give Pico some every morning and he loves it. It has really helped taming him. I get the Organic Whole Grain Baby Oatmeal and add Organic Baby Sweet Potatoes. Pico likes nutriberries(tropical fruit) too. I give him 1 a day for a treat.He likes scrambled eggs and boiled eggs and rice and potatoes too.I hope this helps a bit.

Congrats on your new Baby.

A few things to consider, Taz has been traumatized many ways, by many people, and a dog, in a very short time. Women at the clinic checking, poking, testing, etc. He may see you as, another woman about to due another test on me.

As the others said, it's gonna take time for you to build trust Don't be pushy. He needs a little space right now. Spend time at his cage, like you've been doing. Talking, singing, reading. When you pass by always say some thing to him. He'll start to realize, your not a threat.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww Don`t give up on this little guy and don`t take his bites personally , he is in need of lots of love and patience, you did a wonderful thing to take him in, the rescue thing seems to be suggested a lot in this situation, make sure you are the one to offer him treats so he can associate you with good things , my guys love unsalted cashews...
Maybe sit near his cage and have a plate of chopped up fruit with you eat and offer to share making all sorts of Yummie sounds ...

Good Luck and be patient love will win him over....

Aww, I feel badly for what your little guy has been through! I don't have anything else to add, just wanted to welcome you to the forum! Stay calm, try not to get frustrated. Hang in there.

He needs a chance to get used to all the NEW things in his life One thing I would advise you not to do is stay below the bird When you do that he is being told that he is superior to you and will treat you as such Keep the bird below YOUR eye level And if you guys ask the bird to step up follow through till he does Once he does be really excited and praise hin Even though he's been had bad experiences in the past you need to let the bird know what is expected and what is accepted As far as the not wanting out of his cage right now he probably feels safer inside than he does outside Give hin a little tine and see if he connes around (sorry the 13th letter in the alphabet isn't working right now) Good Luck and keep us posted on his progress

Maybe our Jade will help you feel better about Taz.

We're her third home -- the second was a forum member who just fostered her while looking for a permanent home. The first home had her from the time she was old enough to leave the breeder and then, basically, abandoned her. Donella (the forum member) has a special needs bird, so she couldn't take Jade home and visited her regularly at the first family's empty house, which was very close to Donella's and which Donella's family was buying.

You can imagine how Jade must've felt. Donella told me the grandchild in the first family used to pick her up and toss her to make her fly. Of course now she's afraid of hands. She bites and she doesn't want to be picked up. She's very cage aggressive because it's the only permanent thing in her life.

We've had her since January and with tons and tons of patience and work, now she'll get on our shoulders and eat with us, and let us stroke her beak, and I can clean her cage and even her toys without getting bitten, but she still won't step up. I give her treats out of my hand and she takes those very nicely, and she LOVES for us to talk to her and play her bells with her and she'll sit on the back of the couch and watch TV with us and preen our hair. She can talk lots better than Clyde and is very willing to learn new things, and I've even taught her a trick -- I say "play your maraca" (a tiny maraca that hangs on her cage) and she shakes it like mad and I say "Whoo hoo!" and then she lifts her wings. She loves us, and we love her, but we can't handle her yet. I haven't lost hope that someday we will or she wouldn't hang out with us and sit on our shoulders. I tried using a hand-held perch for step up and she was terrified of it, and I don't think I want to know why. I tried gloves and she was afraid of those. So ... she doesn't step up unless she feels like hopping onto a shoulder, and that's okay.

And Jade hasn't been through a fraction of what poor Taz has endured! Plus she has an example in Clyde, who spends all his out of cage time sitting on my head or hand, so she can see that he's getting petted and kissed and nobody is going to hurt him.

Give him lots of time and lots of love and patience, and give him reason to learn to trust you. Mine love music, so sing to him, and play music for him, and talk to him all the time, and let him come out if he wants or stay in if he wants so that he doesn't feel forced.

Do you by any chance know HOW the dog got him... (you might have to forgive me here, my keyboard is acting weird). If he was snapped right off of the outside of his cage getting out of it would be beyond terrifying at this point. From his actions Id guess that the dog was allowed out and not kept from sitting under or around his cage staring at him - which would have been very intimidating. Accidents DO happen where birds get startled and hit the floor but then youd think hed be more terrified of being ON the floor and from what youve said he hobbled along just fine when he was off his cage.

Dont feel bad - youve got oodles of time. While he probably will never forget, he will eventually not remember it quite as clearly and every time you reach in to clean his stuff and you dont hurt him he will notice. Every single time you tell him how pretty he is, and how good he is, and how sweet he is... he WILL notice. You may never be his favourite person if he happens to be bonding to your husband instead but they figure out pretty quickly that the non-favourite person isnt necessarily the spawn of demons and can still be handy to have around.

Good luck and keep posting!!!

LMAO !!! Very well said!!

I'm with Jaytee. Very well said. In our case, Jade likes Hubby best, but she likes me, too, because I fill up the treat cup and play with her and clean her cage. She says "thank you" when I clean her cage. Really! And she says it when I give her a treat. But only for Hubby will she come down to the couch when coaxed. I ask, and she just bobs her head at me. So you have a great chance of getting Taz to like you, though he might always prefer Daddy.

I am new to Quakers, so I can't offer any advice, but I just wanted to express my admiration of you and your vet. I am so impressed that the vet would take the time and trouble to save this bird and to find it a good home. I am impressed that you and your family would take him into your home and work through all of his issues to give him a good life. Kudos!

Thanks for the support. I'm really impressed with our vet, also. She had to put a pin in Taz's leg to repair it and did it in a way that preserved pretty much full use. She is awesome!

I don't know how the dog managed to get him. Our vet did not get a lot of information when the owner brought him in. My guess is that the 'conversation' pretty much ended when she found out they wanted Taz put down.

Thanks for the good advice!




You are giving me hope! Thanks!





Awesome job with Jade. Good advice for us, too. Thanks!