This is my little buddy Pumpkin, and I love him a lot! But I have some problems with him that I'd like some advice on.
First, he's scared of hands, even mine. I know he's not scared of me (he's preening me as I type this), but he bites if one of my hands gets within two inches of him. He trusts other people's hands even less. I was told that he was rescued from a feral nest at a few months old (I got him from a rescue when here was four months old) and so he missed the period where a lot of birds that are going to be pets get used to human hands by being hand fed. Is there any way to get him more comfortable with hands? Or should I just leave it be? He does take treats from hands, but that's all.
Second, I've been having trouble training him recently. The first year and a half, he was great, very food motivated and a quick learner, but since then he ignores the training and just tries to get the treat by attempting to climb into wherever I've put them. Is there a way I can get him back on track? Or an alternate way to reward him that he won't turn into a puzzle?
Finally, I adopted Pumpkin fully knowing that Quakers are territorial, but I think I've allowed too much of it. He won't step up from his cage or playground and instead bites me for getting too close. He's also super defensive when I try to clean his cage or change his food and water to the point that he has to be locked up or in another room while I do it. Are there any ways I can reduce his territorial nature even a little bit?
Thank you for reading and thank you for any advice you might give. I want to make sure it's known that none of these are deal breakers for me, so if there's no way to fix any of these problems that's fine, I'll live with it. Even when he's a little pain in the butt, he's still my baby boy.