My first Parrot/post - Very Solitary Quaker? Help!

[QuakerMan]

Hi there, and thanks for any advice, it's much appreciated.

My first bird/parrot, a Quaker. A quick rundown. he/she is a young quaker by what I see and have been told. Never been handled, very nervous, seems bad tempered for some reason? Previously had not so good a diet, Had her 10 days, she is in a large cage, has lots of toys but don't touch them? trying to change her diet to a better diet veg and fruit in morning and pellets in evening but won't touch pellets so feed her seeds,. Treats through the day to train, trying to target train but will just train a little until not not hungry then she ignores me? She don't seen to like it when I ignore her squaks? I don't think she is frightened but I could be wrong? Likes to be high up in cage? Feels like she wants to be in control of me?

Thanks for any advice...

Need some advice and opinions really?

[Pajarita]

Hi, Quakerman and welcome to the forum. How old have you been told the bird is? Are we talking baby, juvenile or adult? You say that she did not have a good diet in the past - what kind of a diet and for how long? You say she has never been handled (for how long?) but was she handfed?

Now, you need to stop the training immediately. This bird is not only not bonded to you (which is a pre-requisite for any kind of parrot training) but she is also afraid of you (she does not know you from Adam) so training her is only making things worse. Also, why do you say that she stops training once she is no longer hungry? Are you allowing the bird to go hungry in order for her to respond to you? Because, if you are, I might as well tell you that this is really a VERY BAD idea that will backfire BIG TIME on you. Let me explain. Parrots don't have the genetic traits for obedience or subservience (they did not evolve to live in a hierarchical society) so, although they can be trained and taught to respond to commands, the bird needs to be bonded to you first so it will respond out of love for you and desire to please you (they are 'programmed' for this because they are monogamous and mate for life). No love = no desire to please you = training that will backfire. Aside from that, making a bird work for food when hungry does not endear you to it. It only foments despondency because they are VERY smart and they know very well that you are holding back on something they need and that only you can provide just to satisfy your desires (birds do not like to be trained, they regard it as an imposition). Once they trust and love you, they don't mind training too much as long as the sessions are very short (a few minutes at a time), only twice a day and they get a high value item as reward (which you need to identify prior starting any training).

Aside from that, if she is screaming, she is very unhappy (is she out 5 or 6 hours a day to fly - does she get at least 2 hours of one-on-one?).

Yes, they need to be high up (height means safety for a little prey bird).

No, parrots do not even understand the concept of dominance (again, they did not evolve to live in a hierarchical society) so she does not try to control you in any way. This 'dominance' crap was made up by somebody who did not understand parrots but because we, humans, belong and only understand hierarchical societies, it sounded good to us and everybody and his mother repeated the stupid idea until lots of people believed it.

[QuakerMan]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a long reply - a very interesting reply. I will read over what you have said and think about it all before I respond.

Thank you once again...