Quaker afraid of sticks

[lindsayk]

A little background...We have a Quaker, Tucker, who I got from one of my coworkers. He has been with us for about two years now. She had his cage on the floor, with several dogs in the house. He only had two perches and one toy. He is coming around slowly, but he is extremely aggressive if you come within 2-3 feet of him, whether on his cage or not. He will step-up on occasion and will give kisses from his cage. He will take treats out of anyone's hand.

The problem is, Tucker is absolutely terrified of sticks. Toothpicks, rolls of wrapping paper, new perches...anything that looks like a stick. He usually spends several hours outside in the afternoon watching the birds at our feeders, but that is not possible during the winter. We give him shredded paper to play with, and recently he has been trying to build a nest with the paper. We would really like to give him sticks to build a nest with, but we're not sure how to help him overcome his fear without risking losing his trust.

[captwest]

Somebody might have used a stick to try and handle her at some point, try laying a few small twigs from a fruit tree in the bottom of the cage when she's not in it, just one or two, maybe leave a leaf or two on it . My Quakers love to strip the leaves and bark and build large "bowers" around their nest box by weaving the sticks together and into the cage. I've also seen nest in Fla. that would revial a Bald Eagle nest. Anyway, introduce a small twig and see what happens, maybe incorparate it into a toy she likes, Richard

[entrancedbymyGCC]

With most desensitization (which is what you are talking about when getting him used to sticks again) the key is to start by having the thing that the animal is afraid of far away enough that they are almost completely unconcerned about it. Then you gradually move it closer, but in very small increments depending upon how they are reacting. They should be sufficiently unconcerned to go about their normal daily routine, if there is obvious concern you are going too fast. I haven't really done this with a bird, just horses, but the principle is the same.