Post by mist137 on Jul 19, 2017 9:42:07 GMT -5
Hello, decided to make an account on a forum that was dedicated to Quakers after getting mixed and not the best advice from a general parrot forum.
My issue at the moment is that my male Quaker, called Apollo, is really scared and making training extremely difficult.
I should add that he won't step up or come close to me, is about 9 months old and have had him for about 4 months, came from a breeder who spent very little time socializing them and getting use to been handled. He was also bought with his sister from the same breeder who unfortunately died due to a unknown ailment a few months after, so he has always had a companion. I've also been considering getting another Quaker since I've always had 2 birds, but is this a good idea? I know it's a 50/50 chance that they will get along or hate each other, but is it wise to get a 2nd with the current situation?
My main issues is that he has started to scream/squawk for attention more than normal (this happened after his sister died) when I leave the room. When he is quiet I'll go and sit with him and give him a treat, slowly increasing the length of time he needs to be quiet for. The issue is that he's choose to ignore me when I'm with him or just scream (if he screams I'll leave the room) more and more when I go to spend time with him, and has now decided to refuse the different types of treats or even scream as I'm getting a treat to give to him.
I've been given advice on ignoring him when he's loud (but I can end up not interacting with him for hours and part of me thinks it's made him worse), giving him time outs/covering the cage, leaving the TV/radio on at a low volume, trying to find a song he likes, getting him foraging toys (he just ignores them) and moving the cage into my work room. I work on the computer along with having to go out so I can't spend the whole day around him. The cage is in the opposite room to the computer so he can see me while I'm there. I'm just really hoping someone knows of a good guide on how to help.
Another issue is that he is refusing to leave the cage when I open it. I've been trying for 2 weeks to get him out of the cage to get some exercise, but he just refuses to leave. This goes back to when he escaped and I had to catch him (I had to cup him as he won't step up or recall) and bring him back to the cage.
He lives in a open top cage, so he can get out though the top or main door at the front. When I opened the top, he moved down onto one of the lower perches towards the back of the cage. Seeing he was stressed by the top been opened, I closed it and opened the front door a bit more. He would wander down to the door then went back to sit on his top perch. I put some food outside the cage hoping that might encourage him out, but he just sat on his perch and squawked at the bowl. I left the cage open for about a hour before closing it and placing his food bowl back in the cage. I know I should have left it open for longer but I just hate having him more stressed than normal along with the fact I can't leave him alone while I'm in a different room.
I've been told that I should replace the cage since it could kill him and that I should dismantle it so he comes out? I'm not really fond of the idea of disassembling the cage since I've been told the bird should come out on his own, but I'm open to suggestions.
Sorry for such a long post, and thank you for your time reading it all.
My issue at the moment is that my male Quaker, called Apollo, is really scared and making training extremely difficult.
I should add that he won't step up or come close to me, is about 9 months old and have had him for about 4 months, came from a breeder who spent very little time socializing them and getting use to been handled. He was also bought with his sister from the same breeder who unfortunately died due to a unknown ailment a few months after, so he has always had a companion. I've also been considering getting another Quaker since I've always had 2 birds, but is this a good idea? I know it's a 50/50 chance that they will get along or hate each other, but is it wise to get a 2nd with the current situation?
My main issues is that he has started to scream/squawk for attention more than normal (this happened after his sister died) when I leave the room. When he is quiet I'll go and sit with him and give him a treat, slowly increasing the length of time he needs to be quiet for. The issue is that he's choose to ignore me when I'm with him or just scream (if he screams I'll leave the room) more and more when I go to spend time with him, and has now decided to refuse the different types of treats or even scream as I'm getting a treat to give to him.
I've been given advice on ignoring him when he's loud (but I can end up not interacting with him for hours and part of me thinks it's made him worse), giving him time outs/covering the cage, leaving the TV/radio on at a low volume, trying to find a song he likes, getting him foraging toys (he just ignores them) and moving the cage into my work room. I work on the computer along with having to go out so I can't spend the whole day around him. The cage is in the opposite room to the computer so he can see me while I'm there. I'm just really hoping someone knows of a good guide on how to help.
Another issue is that he is refusing to leave the cage when I open it. I've been trying for 2 weeks to get him out of the cage to get some exercise, but he just refuses to leave. This goes back to when he escaped and I had to catch him (I had to cup him as he won't step up or recall) and bring him back to the cage.
He lives in a open top cage, so he can get out though the top or main door at the front. When I opened the top, he moved down onto one of the lower perches towards the back of the cage. Seeing he was stressed by the top been opened, I closed it and opened the front door a bit more. He would wander down to the door then went back to sit on his top perch. I put some food outside the cage hoping that might encourage him out, but he just sat on his perch and squawked at the bowl. I left the cage open for about a hour before closing it and placing his food bowl back in the cage. I know I should have left it open for longer but I just hate having him more stressed than normal along with the fact I can't leave him alone while I'm in a different room.
I've been told that I should replace the cage since it could kill him and that I should dismantle it so he comes out? I'm not really fond of the idea of disassembling the cage since I've been told the bird should come out on his own, but I'm open to suggestions.
Sorry for such a long post, and thank you for your time reading it all.
They are complex little creatures.
