Bonding With Your Quaker Parrot

[William]

Hand-raised Quaker Parrots tend to be very social companion pets. It is good to spend at least 2 hours a day with your quaker, to insure that he doesn't start to feel ignored. A bored Quaker Parrot is an angry one!

Being away most of the day is no problem, though. I go to school at 8:00 AM and don't get back until almost 6 PM. To keep my parrot, Rocky, occupied while I'm gone, I put a whole bunch of toys in his cage for him to play with. You can find bird toys in about any pet shop our there, but make sure that the toy is for medium-sized birds. Plastic toys can sometimes be dangerous, as they are easily broken by the Quaker's strong beak. Plastic can become a choking hazard if you do not check on the toy often. Any toy should be removed if you notice it is starting to fall apart. You can also create your own hand-made bird toys if you want.

When I get home, I get Rocky from his cage and put him on my shoulder to play. He likes preening my face and picking my mustache hairs. I feed him some treats and keep him out until bed time, so that he is out of his cage about 4 hours a day.

Eating dinner with your parrot will increase your guys' bond by a lot also. In the wild, parrots eat together. Eating with your feathered buddy shows him that you are part of his flock. Apples are a great snack to enjoy with your quaker. You can eat it and let your bird have some also.

Quaker Parrots are great talkers. They are said to be the second best talking parrots after the African Grey. Talking to your bird a lot will increase your bond, and he may also repeat some of the words you say! Read him a story some time, or sing him some of your favorite songs.. Even if you are not a good singer, birds love music. It is good to turn on some soothing music for your bird while you are away.

Last but not least, me and Rocky preen each other every night. Quakers get a lot of dandruff in their feathers... They can preen themselves every where but their head. In the wild, other birds in their flock will preen their heads for them, to get out the dandruff.. In this case, though, YOU are your bird's flock. Preening is very special for your bird too, doing it will make you guys closer.

That's about all that I can think of for now...

What do you do with your bird to bond?? Good luck!

*Squawks and flies away*

[Pajarita]

I don't know how old your quaker is or whether you have a male or a female (females are dominant as they live in matriarchal societies) but as she/he gets older you will have problems with hormones because quakers are not tropical birds so you NEED to keep them to a strict solar schedule or you end up with a bird with a screwed up endocrine system which means sexual frustration and, when it comes to quakers, it means BITES. I've taken in six of them over the years given up because of aggression but the only problem they had was the human light schedule.