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Hello I'm new here

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Hello I'm new here

Postby Lyn F » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:26 pm

Hi everyone
I have a quaker parrot :monk: which I think is around 4 -5 months. I know this is a crucial time to establish manners and training and need to share experiences. He steps up very willingly and has laddered well but seems to have decided it's boring.
I am sure he is talking but the words are so jumbled and grumbled it's hard to tell.
At the moment he is very social and loves visitors. I'm hoping this will continue as I live alone and I need to have him looked after if I go away anywhere.
I read that they are very noisy but compared to the roosting cries of my previous lorikeet (and all the wild lorikeets and cockatoos outside) he is very quiet. We had one night where he decided to let all the birds outside he was here.
Cheers
Lyn
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Lyn F
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker
Flight: Yes

Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Wolf » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:52 pm

I do not know where it is that you live, but your saying that you have wild lorikeets and cockatoos suggests Australia to me. This is good as when you stated that you had a Quaker parrot I was concerned that you might live in a state where they are considered to be an invasive species and therefore illegal to have.

I would suggest that you listen to your sweet little bird and no longer ladder the bird. At one time this was considered to be a normal part of training a parrot but this is no longer the case as laddering is considered to be a form of flooding and is not good for the bird.

I really do not have much experience with Quakers, but there are some members here that do. I just wanted to welcome you to the forum and to encourage you to share more information and/ or stories about you and your bird as well as to ask as many questions as you want.
Wolf
Macaw
 
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Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Lyn F » Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:20 pm

Thank you Wolf. Yes I am in Australia. Interesting to know about the laddering. I had visions of all sorts of training but realise now I may be too ambitious. He is a sweet companion but often bites too hard. This is not aggressive, he just doesn't know my skin is different.
Lyn F
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker
Flight: Yes

Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Pajarita » Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:11 am

Welcome, Lyn and pretty blue quaker!

Yes, laddering IS boring :lol: but it's also a form of flooding, as Wolf mentioned. At 5 months of age, you have a VERY young child there so I hope that you are providing some nice soft food for it and not free-feeding seeds or pellets. Quakers are excellent eaters so you should have no problem getting it to eat a fresh food diet.

Now, as to your hope that he will continue liking all people as he is doing now... well, let me put it this way, if it was me, I would not count on it. Quakers are highly social birds which even nest in the communal nests they share BUT all the birds in that nest are related through their mothers so, in reality, they stick to family and don't like strangers.

I would hold on the training until after its first full molt. Not that this means you won't be teaching it anything - far from it! There are all kinds of things you will be teaching it - things like step up, step down, come here, go home (this is the command I use for them to go back to their cage but you can use whatever wording you prefer), gently (this is the command I use when they first come to me and they nip too hard), etc. It will also learn what Good Morning and Good Night means, good boy/girl (you need to have it DNA'd), bad boy/bad girl, and all kinds of phrases that will have specific meanings. Birds (and all animals, really) are like children. One teaches them the 'important' things they need to do in order to be well-behaved BEFORE they go to school so hold on the formal training sessions and just be consistent on your verbal commands and reactions and you will be surprised how much it is learning without you even trying!

One thing that is imperative with quakers: a strict solar schedule! Quakers come from a temperate climate and NEED the four seasons to stay healthy and happy (and for them not to become screamers and biters) so make sure it has full exposure to dawn and dusk and that the solar schedule is kept all year round.

Just as an FYI, blue quakers don't exist in the wild. I have seen, literally, thousands and thousands of them but never a single blue one!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
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Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby liz » Tue Jan 31, 2017 6:07 pm

Lyn F wrote:Thank you Wolf. Yes I am in Australia. Interesting to know about the laddering. I had visions of all sorts of training but realise now I may be too ambitious. He is a sweet companion but often bites too hard. This is not aggressive, he just doesn't know my skin is different.





That is a good way of looking at it. Softly say ouch each time. These guys are not bird brains and do pay close attention to your body language and words. I use owe. There have been times I was busy and ignored a chomp. Myrtle asked "owe?"
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liz
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Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Lyn F » Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:23 pm

Thank you Pajarita
Thank you for all that information. I know blue quakers don't occur in the wild and I asked for a blue. In reality he is teal and turquoise which is subtle but gorgeous. His wings span all the blues.
He was eating pellets when I got him but he also gets about 5 different vegetables a day and a few days a week he gets fruit as well. He loves papaya!

He has wrecked my keyboard as he is obsessed with stealing the keys. Some don't work now so I have to buy a new one and a protective cover.

I'm a bit disappointed he is not playful like my lorikeet was. He is a dedicated worker, chewing and shredding all day. I make foraging toys and play with toys with him.
Lyn F
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker
Flight: Yes

Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby liz » Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:44 am

Lyn, he is playful but he wants to play with your toys. He sees you having so much fun with your keyboard that he wants to play. Keyboards are #1 targets when it comes to playing with your toys. I have to cover my whole desk with a king size sheet to protect it even if I leave it for a moment.
Take him to a table (not your desk) and play with his toys.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby alienlady » Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:34 am

Have you considered buying him a plastic one child version or even one of those small children's pianos ? :lol:
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alienlady
Poicephalus
 
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Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Pajarita » Wed Feb 01, 2017 10:14 am

Give him sticks -like little branches or even the popsicle sticks they sell in craft stores- they are all born engineers and love to build with sticks (it's a hard-wired behavior in them because they build their nests with sticks and then add leaves, paper and, basically, whatever they can find that will work).

Also, do try to give him fruits every day, they are big fruit eaters in the wild (we had to fight them for the figs and peaches that grew in the backyard of the summer home my parents had, especially the figs!). I hope the papaya is not the kind that is dried with preservatives and sugar because that's bad for them.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Re: Hello I'm new here

Postby Lyn F » Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:11 pm

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for all the advice. Some advice goes against what I have read elsewhere. Parjarita I have been keeping him covered 12 hrs at night, I will need to research further. He is usually falling asleep even if it is still light outside. I also read to only give fruit 2 or three times a week. Strange. He gets all fresh food. It is summer here and the stone fruits are in season.

Alien lady I will give him this one when my new one arrives. He probably won't want it if it is allowed. He was biting holes in my silk light fittings. It must have become a game because now I've ordered new fittings and let him go, he's not interested

We used to make what we called Mexican Eyes with wool I have adapted that and made them with paddle pop sticks and rafia with little treats tucked in. He loves them. It also stops the sticks from falling through his cage.

My brother made him a monumental play gym which he is starting to explore but is more interested in chewing the (safe) wood. I had to remove the toys because he was frightened of them and the cotton bendy rope (sadly) because I read how dangerous they are.
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Lyn F
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 5
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker
Flight: Yes

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