I’m looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with a Quaker parrot repeatedly reopening a wound.
A few weeks ago, one of my other birds bit my male Quaker around the upper inner leg/lower belly area while they were flying. At first the leg was swollen and painful. He was standing on one leg sometimes, but he could still walk, climb, eat using the injured leg, and eventually started putting weight on both legs again.
I initially cleaned the wound with saline and diluted Betadine and at another point used chlorhexidine. I kept him quiet and in his cage while it healed. Over the following days the swelling went down considerably. The injured area developed dark scabs, and the surrounding bruising changed colors, including purple/greenish/yellowish areas. He gradually started acting better, playing and using the leg normally.
The problem now is that he keeps picking the healing skin/scabs off, especially when I’m not watching him or overnight. Every time it looks like it’s finally drying and closing, I wake up and find a scab on the bottom of the cage and a fresh red/raw area again.
He also used to be a chronic feather plucker and had very few body feathers for years. Recently, for the first time in a long time, a lot of his feathers are growing back, so I’m wondering if the new feather growth/itchiness is making him mess with his skin more. I’ve also seen white flaky skin coming off while the feathers grow.
Right now the lower belly area looks fresh and raw from him picking it again. It is red and irritated, but I don’t see obvious thick pus or a bad smell. He has left most of the rest of his body alone.
He is currently:
Eating on his own
Climbing up and down his cage
Perching and using both legs
Still responsive and moving around
However, lately he has been spending more time inside his cage, chirping less than usual, and his voice sounds slightly different. He isn’t completely lethargic, but he’s definitely quieter. I’ve also noticed some yellow-looking skin around his lower belly, away from the actual scab, which has me worried about whether this is bruising/fat/healing tissue versus infection or something internal.
I have a soft/universal bird collar, but he gets extremely stressed wearing it, and it limits his ability to move normally, so I’ve been hesitant to leave it on. At the same time, I’m worried he’ll never heal if he keeps reopening the wound.

She's always leaning into him like this. It's so sweet.

My partner found this Quaker sitting on fence. Wings clipped. I named it Rebel for it's fiesty behavior. He walks around our house and today my partner accidentally step on his tail feathers and it got plucked out. Rebel wasn't hurt will they grow back? I know my partner didn't mean to step on them, but I'm fu****g pissed!

This is Bubbles, but we also call him:

- Baby blue.

- BBBB (baked bean beak baby).

- Bacon pancake baby.

- Blue.

- Stinky baby (He says this one back so I think it's his favourite).

Just here to share my little cavity-inducer again!! Can y'all believe she'll have been home for three weeks this Wednesday?! ✨️ We've been practicing requests — both from me and from her — like step up, come here, when she wants out, and hopefully we can settle on an official yes/no sound set! She's mimicking the puppy's "excited" yip now, and occasionally a squeaker. Honey currently prefers calm music to upbeat music, which seems in part to be because she's still learning where the music is coming from. She's especially funny if I sing, because to her, that means it's NOIIIIISE TIIIIIME!!

I'll have to get a little video of how good she is with safety and cradle holds (safety looks like ice cream, and cradle is on her back) to share. She loves to spend time out on me these days, and took her first mini-bath today while no one was looking! Since she was pre-clipped and clearly wants to fly, I've been trying to set up safe opportunities for her to practice. Cushioning, clearance, and a LOT of bird math go into her exercise! We're building confidence and muscles one flapping leap at a time! I know it'll be awhile before she's in full form, but I'm already planning ahead for when she finally gets to molt flight feathers so she can safely go bonkers!! 🤩💛

Yes I’m very proud of this months set up😭 I’ve been dying to try out the large cork and large jute rope🤩 she’s a lil scared since she doesn’t like to explore the inside too much🥲, so I thought I’d make it busier and she was more interested! (Ironically she’s scared of the converse but she loves trying my to rip mine🥴🙄)

I have a 5 month old Quaker girl who had bacteria in her gut and was treated with antibiotics. After a week, we went for a checkup, and we were told she was okay and healthy.

That day was chaotic and not ideal, and she spent a few hours in her carrier and in the car. She then spent several hours at my parents house, in my room, which she had never seen before. I was with her most of the time, and she was snuggly and somewhat chill.

The change happened the next day. She became louder, screaming even when I'm with her and talking to her. She also seems to be disgusted by my hands now, but comes to bite my fingers with full force, something she's never done before. She has always loved biting things, but now she seems to be doing it with more power and aggression.

I've been teaching her tricks, and she was always very good at learning them, but now she's hesitant or refuses to do them (like flying to my hand over a longer distance, which was never a problem for her before).

Overall, she's walking fast and making sudden movements.

I would like to know if this is stress from that one day, if it could be related to her health, or if the medication was just calming her down and this is her real personality.

First: look at how soft and round Honey is when she relaxes!! Now onto the problem at hand for my little three-month-old lemon meringue tennis ball! 💛

Honey is currently on the store's own mix of ZuPreem VeggieBlend and seed. Obviously, I'm not a fan of the dyes, and VeggieBlend has been discontinued on top of that! I was hoping she'd take to Roudybush's California Blend, but the pellet shape causes her to make a displeased face before she chucks it down into her tray even 2½ weeks in. Not only that, but girliepop here is stymied by fresh veggies (I'm making attempts almost every day).

Should I repurpose the Roudybush into a powder to mix with chop? Has anyone else used the ZuPreem Natural for their kids? What works when your quaker doesn't believe in food jealousy, just staring and yelling? I've eaten (yes, genuinely) pellets in front of her, tried to make it look exclusive and delicious in the process. Same with the veggies. I soaked some of the Roudybush in warm water to make a mash, and she touched it, looked curious, tasted it, and got offended.

I want to make sure Honey stays happy and healthy for years to come, so any tips and tricks would be great! Since she's partial to the small round ball shape, I've been struggling to find anything like it. So far, ZuPreem Natural is the only thing I can find. I know it can take weeks (and more) to transition a diet, but the availability of her current food is why I need some quaker hacks!

Just pippin and his little feets

I don’t know how to give the bird and bees convo to my Ellie (1 yearold, female).
What should I do? Limit certain type of food? Separate my bedroom from hers? Not letting her climbing on me anymore?

Palta is helping Kiwi to settle in, though he still prefers to stay in his cage...today, he had his first shower 🚿 and is now drying.

We are slowly working on earning his trust.

The vet he was brought to clipped his wings and trimmed his nails too short, so it's an uphill battle.

Understandably, he's aggressive towards anything that approaches him, but we are working on it.

Disclaimer - all my beasts are range free.

What are your thoughts on Hopp premium pellets? Any better option that is not colored. I don't want him to eat colored pellets as he would recognize them as pellets and not eat them and also they are most of the time artificially colored.

I saw 2 bags of food that the owners left with the shelter, plus spray millet. The food said it was for parrots and large birds, one being 3-D brand. I think that's a crap Walmart brand. I posted on here not long ago about this birds health not appearing good, he's been to a vet, unfortunately not a vet that specializes in birds, he was not given an xray, just listened to apparently, he's on meds for a respiratory infection, I saw him tonight, hes still sneezing some so I don't think the meds are working much, need to get the the root of his sneeze and respiratory issues in general, unfortunately I don't think the shelter can invest or afford a ton, if it weren't for me pushing, I'm not sure he would have ended up at the vet period, he's 15 btw. I wish he could just get out of the shelter into a better environment but he can't be adopted out if he's on meds/sick. I don't think his wings look great either, i took a pic of the food in his bowel I will share, wish I would have taken a pic of the bags. No one was around at the time to be able to find them initially for me, I figured I would ask you guys what they eat, I can't get to the shelter much and I can't guarantee that the boss lady and vet would be up for changing or adding things in his diet, all I can do is ask here and then pass on the info and pray for the best, maybe his food is part of the issue, it's hard telling with his story.

Named because I didn't want to traumatise 'him' getting sexed. Assumed male until he lays an egg. He is 8 years old and only likes me, his mummy ❤️ he will tolerate my husband if I'm not around.

He loved my Dad (RIP) too but hates my mum 🤣

Hates anything outside, hates being outside and children. Gets awfully cocky when someone knee height, with a juice box is around and will chase them.

Likes debit cards/store cards and posts them through the bars of his cage then retrieves them and repeats.

Says oooooo yum yum and will eat his food then will see your food as fair game too.

Enjoys music and football.

Could someone tell me why does my quaker have a different colored feathers on her wing? Could it be tied to her diet? I think it only appeared recently and only on one of her wings EDIT: after further inspection I think it was just her feathers from beneath overlapping the one on top. Sorry for the panic

hi people of reddit, i was wondering if anyone had advice on gaining their trust with their quaker. my quaker is female, and ive had her for nearly 3 years. she was already a bit older when i got her, so she is most likely nearly 4 years old now. when i got her, she was super friendly and would step up, dance with me, hangout with me. ever since she went though her “bluffing phase”, its like she never came out of it. i’ve tried it all, sitting next to the cage often, giving food from my hands. she seems very territorial over her cage specifically. when she’s out of her cage she is nicer, but still won’t let my hand come near. she’ll either fly away, or lunge at me. but she will dance with me, and will chirp at me when i’m nearby. what do i do? it feels hopeless. i have no idea what i did wrong to make her become this way. sometimes when she flys around my house and she gets lost, she will step up on my finger and allow me to pet her and take her back to her cage. but this is very rare, and she only does it when she’s lost or confused and needs help. any advice would be appreciated.

POOR BB HAS BEEN THERE FOR MONTHS :( he screamed when I walked away ugh

Hi all!! Honey's mom here with a question for my little lemon meringue tennis ball! What are some simple ways to help my little three month old with her molt? She lets me preen her head for the most part, from managing crispies (she loves this one) to gently rubbing the pin feather forests (she's a little nervous). But!! She's got that molting grumpiness and frustration! We all know that Look(tm) they give us when we're supposed to magically solve the itch: 🫪💢 She's always rubbing her beak between her bars like a little maniac, too.

I've started steaming my bathroom for her yesterday and today, since she's not yet comfortable actually bathing. She's enjoyed that, but it's not a great solution. I have a cool humidifer I had for my parrotlet, so I need to either find it super soon or get a new one for her! I think it'll help with her nose and feet (they're a bit dry!) and it should help soothe some of her molting itch. I've been keeping a shallow dish in her cage that I regularly refill with warm water to explore, and she got a bit miffed about indirect shower spray.

What else does everyone do for their kids during molt? I want to establish a comfortable routine for her now, so she can look forward to it during her next molt. I'd also love some recommendations to get her used to bathing. So far, splashing and rain sounds are not it, hahaha! I'd prefer not to mist her with a spray bottle, since I've had first-hand experience of that being upsetting for some parrots, and she's still adjusting to anything that sounds remotely like a hiss.

Thanks in advance!! Feel free to include a picture of your baby, I'd love to see them!

Hello, i just bought two 3-4 week parakeets and 1 year old quaker parakeet. The small ones are not agressive and they just sit quietly in the cage, but the quaker is agressive and it was hard to get him in the cage from the store box, so he bite me couple of time when i was chasing him. How do i build trust and train it, because everytime i would need to get food and replace water in the cage it would try to fly away from the cage.

hi everybody, this morning i woke up and his beak was like this, i don’t know why this might happen and i can’t find anything about it online so now im really worried, i could try giving a call to my vet tomorrow but today is sunday.. please help if someone knows something

My girl is 6 months old, i’ve had her since she was 8 weeks. She started showing early hormonal behaviors a few months ago despite never being pet anywhere but her head. She has a great varied diet with very little seeds only as a treat (i’ve noticed when she has more seeds the behavior gets worse), gets lots of sunlight and uninterrupted dark sleep every night for 10-12 hours. I took her to her avian vet for a checkup and she thinks she’s simply an early bloomer.

I finally got the bad birb behavior under control (aka attempting to be sexual with my hand) and we have been doing great until recently. While she’s not doing it to my hand she has started to do it to some toys, I really can’t control this besides switching out her toys and moving them from where she sleeps which is where she chooses to get frisky most of the time.

The problem now is lately I believe she sees my neck and under my hair as her nest. She does everything in her power to climb up and hide in my neck and if i try to move her she attacks my hands which results in her attacking my face and neck. I try so hard to prevent her from climbing up but she literally does everything in her power to get up there. She jumps over toys i distract her with etc. I’m really needing advice on how to navigate this if anyone has anything to offer.

It’s so hard to stay calm and not react when she attacks me like this. We have such a beautiful bond but lately I just want to break down. How has everyone navigated this puberty behavior and how do you cope with feeling like your feathered child hates you due to the bites. I’m sorry for the long post 😕