My Boys

[Maeume]

I just recently got 2 Quaker Boys in May. Rocky, the submissive of the two, and gravitated twards me. Clover, the dominant, has gravitated twards my boyfriend. We want to get Clover more comfortable with me. He likes to "Protect" the boyfriend from me, and it is VERY frustrating! He will bite, and make "hissing" noises if I am within 10 feet of Jay! Clover will not let up. He will screech whenever Jay is not in the room, and will continue to do so until Jay is back into the room. (I think it is slightly obnoxious to have to take a bird to the bathroom with you just because he screeches.) Once I "forcefully" make him step up (A quick non-harmful move of my hand, saying "Step Up!" firmly, and make sure he is on the middle on my palm, flattened out, the situation can go one of two ways: He will bite my palm until I can stand it, and he "flutters" to his cage, or he is calm. But I can never tell what he may do :-/

I guess my problem is, do I need to spend more forceful time (Take him in another room and try to distract him from Jay) with Clover to get him to make a bond with me also? or do I just need to try and display dominance?\

Please, ANY ideas would be awesome! I love my boys! I will never get rid of them, but I can't stand the constant aggression against me!

Mae

[NotEnoughTime]

Please read:
How Not to be a Tease
and
Parrot Biting

Dominance is not a great concept with respect to parrots. They do not respond well to force or someone trying to dominate them.

You might want to post this in the Quaker discussion forum...

[Emmilyy]

I wouldn't do anything "forceful" with your parrots. It would probably make the problems worse, and they won't respond to it in ny way thats positive.

[LovelySydney]

Oooooo that's a tough one. I think your bf needs to help out the situation too by showing Clover that you too are part of the flock and its OK for him to be nice to you. This will take a lot of time Im sure because its a trust issue and a bonding issue but if you have patience I believe you can do it!! Definitely don't use force, just do small things over time to ensure that there is a harmony between everyone!

Emmilyy - I LOVE the photos of your GCC and parrotlet hanging out!! Are they buddies? That is too cute!!

[Maeume]

Originally Posted by NotEnoughTime

Please read:
How Not to be a Tease
and
Parrot Biting

Dominance is not a great concept with respect to parrots. They do not respond well to force or someone trying to dominate them.

You might want to post this in the Quaker discussion forum...

These were really great! Thanks!

If you would rather I post somewhere else, give me a link. I'm obviously new here....

[Emmilyy]

Originally Posted by LovelySydney

Emmilyy - I LOVE the photos of your GCC and parrotlet hanging out!! Are they buddies? That is too cute!!

LovelySydney, Thanks! Yes, they are buddies! they are VERY bonded, As soon as they are next to each other Toc (the Parrotlet) regurgitates for Cookie (the GCC) Their previous owner put them in the same cage together, and we had to separate them because unfortunatley Toc was chewing up Cookies feathers, and its not safe anyways to have them together because of the size difference... But, yes, they are the best of buddies!

[NotEnoughTime]

Quakers have their own section on BirdBoard here: Quakers - BirdBoard.Com - Parrot Message Board & Pet Bird Owner Forums

I suspect you will find more specific 'Quaker' information from Quaker owners there. I am a green-cheek owner and have had a parrotlet, cockatiel and budgie in the past - and am not an expert on Quakers...