Bird advice needed

[Coyote_Bandit]

I rescued two young Quakers a few weeks back. They are about a year old and have spent most of their young lives waiting to be adopted. They are not hand trained. And they bite - alot. Even gloved it hurts - and can easily bring blood and bruises. One says "ouch" almost every time he bites. The other has mastered the fine art of biting forearm flesh just above the glove and twisting. When they came to me they could say "ouch," "go away," and "shut up." Needless to say, they are birds with an attitude. Did I mention that they can open every door on their cage? And binder rings too?

I have had birds before but admittedly it was some time ago - and those birds, unlike these, came to me just after they were weaned. I have been working with these two birds since they came and cannot say I have noticed any improvement at all in their behavior. If anything, they have become more aggressive.

In the past I have always trained birds by having them learn to take food from my hand, then let me touch them, then let me pet them on the head and back of the neck, then have them learn to step up onto a stick or onto my hand. That doesn't seem to be working too well with these Quakers.

Any advice? Or are these birds simply incorrigible?

[AlienGirl]

1. The birds aren't incorrigible, but you may be in over your head

This is a difficult situation, and will require a lot of patience and dedication on your part.

First off, I recommend moving them to neutral territory before interacting with them. If possible, set up a room with a couple of T-stand perches at a little lower than your chest level, and when you're going to work with the birds, move them to the T-stand first. Birds are usually more attentive and well-behaved when they aren't in their own territory.

Do you know anyone with a tame bird who you can use as a model? If so, let them watch you interact with the model bird, Show them that when the model lets you touch him/her, he/she gets a treat.

Unfortunately, you are going to have to be bitten a few times *and not react* to get them to stop biting. They have to learn that biting doesn't work anymore: they can't make you go away by biting, and they can't make you make predictible funny ouch-sounds and flail around. Approach them confidently when you have them on the T-stands. You need to work on getting closer and closer without fear, ignoring the lunging and not reacting to bites.

The book My Parrot, My Friend has a lot of good information on taming unsocialized parrots; another good resource is Sally Blanchard's The Beak Book. If you need real-life assistance, there may be someone near you with experience--ask your avian vet, ask the people at the local parrot stores, etc. Good luck!

Tucker

Tucker

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Thanks

for all the great suggestions.

I am now contemplating separating the birds. One is more aggressive than the other and is beginning to become more aggressive toward the second bird. The more aggressive bird will sometimes pick at the more docile bird starting a fight and it will always position itself to prohibit me from interacting with the more docile bird - often pushing that bird away.

Nonetheless, the second bird is showing some improvement in its behavior toward me. It will now occassionally step onto my hand and walk up my outstreched arm to the elbow. It also will close its eyes while being petted and handled. Although it does bite, it will eat food from my hand without attacking me. I can only work with this bird if it is out of its cage and completely separated from the more aggressive bird.

I am beginning to wonder if the behavior of the more aggressive bird is not to the detriment of the more docile bird.

[AlienGirl]

3. Separating them is an excellent idea

If the larger one is becoming aggressive, the smaller one needs the safety of a separate cage. They can still watch each other and talk back and forth, and enjoy playtimes out together.

Tucker

[Kat45]

4. I agree with that.

It's sounds like you're making progress with the smaller one. They can live in separate cages, and like Tucker said, talk to each other and have supervised playtimes. Maybe after a while, the aggressive bird will see that the other bird is getting more treats, having a better life, and will decide to change his behavior.

From what you said of the words they know, it sounds like those are the things they've had said to them--a lot. It doesn't sound like anyone bothered to stay friendly with them, work with them, and love them. They can learn about being loved. At one years old, they're still pretty young.

Good luck and let us know how things are going.