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Post by marcosmom on Nov 29, 2015 18:22:41 GMT -5
Hi everyone. I just got my quaker Marco, from a pet store. I was told Marco was about 6 months old and not sure of the exact sex. He is learning the step up command but the last few days has started to bite. I can get him out of the cage but will bite once he is out then be okay for the most part. What is the best way to train him? Keep him on my shoulder or just out and about in the house. And for how long, he seems to poop alot. I do open his cage up and let him play on the cage and perch which he seems to enjoy. I really like him and want him to like me. I guess I am really asking how much one on one interaction out of the cage should he have with me each day. Thank you for any suggestions.
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Post by wsteinhoff on Nov 29, 2015 20:23:22 GMT -5
Hi everyone. I just got my quaker Marco, from a pet store. I was told Marco was about 6 months old and not sure of the exact sex. He is learning the step up command but the last few days has started to bite. I can get him out of the cage but will bite once he is out then be okay for the most part. What is the best way to train him? Keep him on my shoulder or just out and about in the house. And for how long, he seems to poop alot. I do open his cage up and let him play on the cage and perch which he seems to enjoy. I really like him and want him to like me. I guess I am really asking how much one on one interaction out of the cage should he have with me each day. Thank you for any suggestions. Welcome Marco and Marco's Mom! I hope you are enjoying the beginning of your new life as Marcos slave! They are very intelligent animals that I'm sure you will be glad you chose to share your life with. If you want to know your new quaker's sex you will need to go to an avian vet and have a DNA test done. Like with many parrots there isn't really any visible difference between male and female. As for his biting, put him back and walk away for a few minutes when he does that. Do not give a reaction to the bite, you are only reinforcing this behavior by giving him what he wants. Just simply leave him be for a few minutes and he will start to realize that biting means he won't get any attention. Because of their short attention span though you shouldn't put him back for more than those few minutes before you take him back out and try again. When I first started training my quaker Bishop I found it helpful to refer to the training series on YouTube by the Parrot Wizard. He goes around the world with his birds talking about them and has a book which I have not read but I have heard good things about it. I wouldn't allow Marco to be on your shoulder all the time, keep him on your hand. Save the shoulder for special privileges when training a parrot. A bird perched on the shoulder is harder to control than a bird perched on the hand. Give him as much interaction as you can but don't start out with more than you think you will be able to give him later on. They do poop a lot just like any other bird but they are also very good at controlling their bowels and can be potty trained which the parrot wizard has a training video on. Google "parrot wizard" and it will come up with his YouTube channel, website, store, and blog. I hope this helped. ~Will and Bishop |
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Post by marcosmom on Nov 29, 2015 20:28:23 GMT -5
Yes! Thank you. I will check the videos on You Tube. Thanx for your time.
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Post by aaron on Nov 29, 2015 20:49:51 GMT -5
Welcome to you and Marco!
Biting is a form of communication for these birds that you need to teach them is not appropriate. There are a number of techniques that can work, but it's important to stress that punishments do not tend to be effective and are often counterproductive. If you do choose to use a time-out sort of approach, make sure it takes place immediately, and lasts no more than a few minutes.
Parrots crave attention, so you simply want to show them that they do not get attention or reaction from biting. When they bite, immediately put them down and ignore them. Try to avoid making any sort of audible reaction, as they may misinterpret this as encouragement. As a rule, when it comes to behavior modification with parrots, your rule of thumb is to praise good behavior and to ignore bad behavior.
Pooping every 10-15 minutes is totally normal and expected. Personally, we like to make sure our QP, Cupcake, gets at least 2-3 hours of out of cage time/interaction each day, but more is always better. Basically when we are home (and before her bedtime), Cupcake is out.
Keeping him on your shoulder is a good way to build a relationship, but remember that shoulder time is a priviledge. If he misbehaves, he should be immediately removed from the shoulder.
Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!
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Post by cnyguy on Nov 29, 2015 20:56:06 GMT -5
Welcome to you and Marco!  Aside from the DNA test, the only sure way to tell the gender of a Quaker parrot is this: if the parrot lays an egg, it's a female.  There are no noticeable differences in appearance between male and female QPs. Giving a parrot lots of one-on-one attention is a good thing, but it's also good to encourage parrots to play independently. It sounds like Marco already likes to do that. Marco can be out of his cage as much as you'd like, but shouldn't be left unsupervised-- parrots can find lots of ways to get into trouble when left to their own devices. |
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Post by marcosmom on Nov 29, 2015 23:26:25 GMT -5
Y'all are great! I can't thank you enough for all the info. I'll keep you updated.
Marco is very sweet when he is on my shoulder. He nibbles on my ears and will purr sometimes.
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Post by aaron on Nov 30, 2015 10:07:42 GMT -5
Gotta love that Quaker purr  That's the best. |
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Post by julianna on Nov 30, 2015 14:15:29 GMT -5
I remember those purrs.... that stopped when my Oscar decided it was more fun to pull the hairs out of my face and anything else he could find that seemed it didn't belong... lol.
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Post by bruce on Dec 3, 2015 18:36:26 GMT -5
Welcome to you and Marco. Part of my retraining effort with Chuckie, the QP I inherited (yes, the can live that long), is to only let him on my shoulder as a treat for cooperating with bath time or after a brief cuddle session. Birds apparently can develop dominance problems if allowed at human eye level too much. I hope you and Marco become great friends. I have really enjoyed having Chuckie around and getting to know how to care for him as well as interact in "bird approved" ways. You may want to spend some time figuring out what Marco really likes as a reward (treat, place, activity) and build positive reinforcement around it. Good luck and happy parronting. |
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Aside from the DNA test, the only sure way to tell the gender of a Quaker parrot is this: if the parrot lays an egg, it's a female. 
There are no noticeable differences in appearance between male and female QPs.
That's the best.
