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Post by tomtom on Sept 21, 2015 8:12:52 GMT -5
Hi I have a Quaker named Tomas. He is a sweetheart. He is pretty tame but he only takes to some people. He loves me and my father, he tolerates my boyfriend, and hates, my mother and my brother, he’s not scared of my mother and my brother he’s just really aggressive with him, like REALLY aggressive. The other day a friend came over and Tomas loved her he was so comfortable and happy with her even though he had never met her before. It seems to be that Tomas picks and chooses who he likes and who he doesn’t, how can I get him to like my mother and brother more?
Also he doesn’t always hate my brother, sometimes my brother will give him head scratches and Tomas doesn’t mind at all, of course this is once in a blue moon.
Am I being dumb? Is there something I’m missing? Is this normal behavior
?
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Post by siobhan on Sept 21, 2015 12:50:57 GMT -5
Perfectly normal. Quakers are judgmental brats. LOL They pick and choose among the people in their world and if you're in, you're in (though you will probably still get chomped when they're in a bad mood) and if you're not, forget it. My Clyde took to my brother-in-law the first time he ever laid eyes on him and wanted to sit on him and talk to him and we practically had to pry him off when Richard wanted to go home. And Richard is not a bird fan. Yet when my mom met him, and my mom loved animals, Clyde backed up to the furthest corner of his cage and absolutely had a meltdown fit. He wouldn't have anything to do with her. We were completely puzzled. Never did figure it out.
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Post by julianna on Sept 21, 2015 15:13:23 GMT -5
What Siobhan has said is true. Oscar hates my husband... always has and always will. The only way he can get close to Oscar is when Oscar decides he needs a ride over to his Mom. (Oscar cannot fly). He uses and then abuses my husband.... But we laugh over it.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 21, 2015 16:16:00 GMT -5
Yep, all true. I used to live with 2 teenage boys. Shah loved one and hated the other. The moment Alex walked into the room, Shah would start lunging at him and yelling in quaker speak. Alex had never done anything to him. He absolutely adored the other brother and would jump off me and run over to him. I used to set up obstacle courses so he had difficulty getting to Cal but it never stopped him. I have seen Shah really like people and then a few weeks down the track, he hates them and flies away when they come near him. Fickle animals  |
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Post by bruce on Sept 22, 2015 12:34:41 GMT -5
My QP Chuckie has a love/hate thing going on with my hands. He will usually happily hop onto my left hand, but hisses and lunges at my right hand. I think this may have something to do with the right hand being the cause of disputes over his water tube. I tell him I am getting fresh water before I take the water bottle off his house, yet he still charges at me in a flurry of feathers and hisses. Then after it is changed and filled with ice cubes and water, he happily sips from the cup and does his slurping sounds. I read somewhere that parrots in general need something or someone to hate. Guess it is my right hand's turn to be the object of his ire.
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Post by aaron on Sept 22, 2015 15:53:47 GMT -5
Gosh, I was typing a really long response to this the other day and my computer crashed and I lost it... I've been so ridiculously busy lately I haven't had time to type it again... but at any rate, this behavior is totally normal. Our QP Cupcake was initially (at least once she became sexually mature) pretty aggressive toward my wife and my stepdaughter. She now basically loves everyone. It took nearly a year to change her behavior, however. I would say the one-on-one time, when my wife was not working, between her and Cupcake, was probably the most impactful in changing how Cupcake behaved toward her. I guess Cupcake decided she wasn't so bad  |
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Post by cnyguy on Sept 22, 2015 20:06:15 GMT -5
It is indeed common practice for a Quaker parrot to choose favorite people, and other people they could do without-- often for reasons known only to the parrot. It's typical for them to change their minds too, and suddenly take a dislike to a formerly favored person or decide that someone they used to loathe is now their best friend. My QP Ralph seems to at least tolerate almost anyone, but there are certain people he likes more than others.
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Post by julianna on Sept 23, 2015 14:16:24 GMT -5
I was wondering why you put ice cubes in the water? Do others do this? I have always given Oscar water at room temperature thinking the cold water is not good for him. Maybe I could learn something here?
I also was thinking that a dish of water is better than having the tube? I have seen others with these and they seem okay except I know Oscar loves to dunk his food in water and therefore needs a dish. Sure lots of times he looses his food in the water... (he hasn't realized that carrots do not float lol). Also... many quakers love to get in the dish of water and splash around... sure there goes the drinking water but it is easily replaced.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 23, 2015 16:24:14 GMT -5
Shah, Pippin and Spike get filtered water in a stainless steel bowl and it is usually at room temperature (or just a bit cooler). Shah does love to bathe in it in summer if I am not quick enough with his bath. As far as dishes and tubes go, whatever suits the bird is fine. I don't put ice cubes in the birds' water in summer as warm water doesn't hurt them, however, I do put them in the dog's water dish as she seems to drink quite a lot in the hot weather so try and keep her water a little cooler. As to warm or cold water, I have 2 glasses of warm water every morning as research shows that our system copes a lot better with warm water especially when taking meds. (Plus I have sensitive teeth so cold water is quite painful.) I really think it is up to the individual to decide what temperature they want the water for themselves and their animals.
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Post by siobhan on Sept 23, 2015 16:57:44 GMT -5
I had a tiel (RIP, Greta) who was used to a bottle with a tube when she moved in with me. I added a water dish to her cage, while leaving the bottle, thinking it would take a few days for her to get used to the dish. She IMMEDIATELY abandoned the water bottle and preferred the dish. Ignored the bottle completely. I don't think a water bottle and tube are suited for beaks and would never provide that as the only option. I might consider it a back-up option for a dunker, so they have clean water even if they drop pellets in their water dish, but my birds are out all day and have several water dishes to choose from, so I don't do that for them, either. In really hot weather, I refill dishes more often and with water cold from the tap, but not ice. I have given ice water to the dogs, but not the birds.
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Post by cnyguy on Sept 23, 2015 19:52:39 GMT -5
Ralph gets bottled spring water at room temperature. He doesn't like anything that's cold. Unlike Jan and me, it's not a matter of sensitive teeth, just an individual preference. Ralph's vet recommended using the water bottle, but Ralph reacted to it as if it were the biggest threat to parrots everywhere.  It was quickly removed, never to return. He regularly bathes in his drinking water dish-- his preferred place for a bath-- and will rattle the dish to tell me when he wants his bath, so I can fill the dish to the top. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Sept 23, 2015 21:32:17 GMT -5
Bottled spring water - when only the best will do for the Gentleman Quaker.
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Post by easttex on Sept 24, 2015 5:00:54 GMT -5
Hi I have a Quaker named Tomas. He is a sweetheart. He is pretty tame but he only takes to some people. He loves me and my father, he tolerates my boyfriend, and hates, my mother and my brother, he’s not scared of my mother and my brother he’s just really aggressive with him, like REALLY aggressive. The other day a friend came over and Tomas loved her he was so comfortable and happy with her even though he had never met her before. It seems to be that Tomas picks and chooses who he likes and who he doesn’t, how can I get him to like my mother and brother more? Also he doesn’t always hate my brother, sometimes my brother will give him head scratches and Tomas doesn’t mind at all, of course this is once in a blue moon. Am I being dumb? Is there something I’m missing? Is this normal behavior ? Parrots have preferences, just like we do, but one thing to keep in mind is that they are most comfortable with people who are comfortable with them. It's easy to get into a negative cycle with them. Maybe in the past a person he seems to hate did not recognize his body language for "stop now", and he bit. That, understandably, will make the person tentative when handling Tomas, which makes him more inclined to bite. And on and on. If that is a possibility with Tomas, your mother and brother could try reintroducing themselves to him. Probably best done when you are not in the room. They could sit near him and talk to him, one at a time, without trying to handle him. Give him time to become comfortable with them. If he has a favorite treat, let them be the only ones to give it to him for a while. When they do start offering hands for the step up, they need to appear as if a bite is the last thing on their mind, while being prepared to remove the hand at the first sign of discomfort in Tomas. |
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Post by aaron on Sept 24, 2015 10:02:14 GMT -5
Cupcake gets bottled spring water as well with 1.5ml of apple cider vinegar per dish... It's cold in the morning because that's how it comes out of our water cooler but she doesn't seem to care. She isn't much for drinking water, but she always dunks her pellets. Definitely very good insight here. Bird signals can be very subtle and easy to miss, especially for people that are not experienced with them.
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Post by cnyguy on Sept 24, 2015 19:59:56 GMT -5
Bottled spring water - when only the best will do for the Gentleman Quaker. That, of course  -- combined with the fact that our public water is so heavily chlorinated it comes out of the tap smelling like laundry bleach.  I won't drink it, and I wouldn't expect Ralph to drink it or bathe in it either. |
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It was quickly removed, never to return. He regularly bathes in his drinking water dish-- his preferred place for a bath-- and will rattle the dish to tell me when he wants his bath, so I can fill the dish to the top. 
-- combined with the fact that our public water is so heavily chlorinated it comes out of the tap smelling like laundry bleach. 
I won't drink it, and I wouldn't expect Ralph to drink it or bathe in it either.