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2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby sillykins » Sun Oct 12, 2014 9:06 pm

Hey guys,

I've introduced myself in introductions already and have been looking around for more information but am figuring it might be easier to post something specific to me and my bird. I wish I could say him/her or even go by its name, but we're still waiting on the sex results :( We have a name chosen for either sex.

We've had him/her since August 26th. We are currently feeding our Quaker a small amount of Abba 1600. The 1200 wasn't working out so the vet recommended the 1600. We're also feeding it Harrison high potency fine. We're having a hard time getting it to eat the Harrison, so we're turning it in to a porridge mixed with a little bit of Abba greens. We've tried mixing some fruit with it, but it won't usually eat it when we do that.

Also, our Quaker is fairly well behaved from what we've been told. It'll step up, but is stubborn sometimes which we expected. We usually try to feed it the porridge 2 times a day. We also bring it out to play with it's out of cage toys, sit on our shoulders (when we allow it) and experience the kitty cats (they are more curious than the bird). We have a small apartment, but try to take it to different areas of the house so it doesn't get bored. We talk to it as much as we can. We say hello, goodbye, I love you and just normal chatting.

I'm just wondering.. now what? What do we do next? What should we be teaching it and how do we go about it? And if you have any suggestions on how to get our Quaker to eat more Harrison, it would be greatly appreciated.

**I just realized I should have made 2 posts in 2 different sections, so uh oops!

:monk:
sillykins
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot, Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure
Flight: No

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Wolf » Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:31 pm

Well since I am not up on abba feeds, I looked up the Abba 1600 parakeet seed mix and I was surprised to read in its list of ingredients the amount of meat included in it. There were also other things that I didn't care for in this feed as well. I must say that I would not feed this stuff to any of my birds at all. As to the Harrisons high potency, it is only meant to be used to transition a bird from a poor diet to Harrisons lifetime and not as a steady diet.
I feed all of my birds gloop along with fresh veggies and fruit for breakfast and all day nibbling and then feed a seed mix for dinner. I feed them in this manner because the gloop is low protein so they can have as much as they want of it and the seed mix is too high in protein so I feed it in limited amounts only and just for dinner.
Too much protein in their diet causes a number of problems in parrots beginning with aggressive behaviors and liver issues.
How much out of cage time do you give your bird each day? They normally require 3 to4 hours out of cage time each day and one hour of that needs to be direct interaction with and on you. As for training there is always flight training and recall training. Basically just about anything you want the bird to learn to do.
I would be very careful with this bird around cats as they eat birds. I have 7 cats with the new one and 4 birds. Also make sure that you don't ever clip your birds wings if you have cats that might come into contact with them ever because flight is the only means of escape from a cat that a bird has.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby sillykins » Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:55 am

Thanks Wolf, we've got a lot to learn.. I read a little about gloop and will have to try some different recipes. We'll be going back to the Bird Studio this week some time probably and will look at the other Harrison you're talking about and ask some more questions.

I don't think we bring it out as much as we should.. How do we make it so it doesn't want to go back in the cage? Also gets bored on the top and ends up crawling down to the poop and either goes to the blinds or looks like it wants to get down. Doesn't seem so comfortable on our shoulders and nibbles a lot. We have another play area it gets bored of quickly too. We're just not sure what to do with it because it never seems satisfied.. We thought we did a lot of research, but it seems we barely know anything.

Also, my boyfriend works 12 hour graveyards every 2/8 days. He's trying to sleep now and so far our Quaker is quiet, but I know it'll get loud again. Is there anything I can do to help it keep quiet? Or is this just what is to expect?

Oh and I'm not worried about the cats at all and our Quaker will remain clipped until we have built more trust, etc. Eventually I will be getting a German Shepherd as well. First, we need conquer our Quaker, buy a place and move.

:monk:
sillykins
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot, Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure
Flight: No

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Pajarita » Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:21 pm

I use the 1600 for my budgies, tiels, GCC, peachfront, amazons with liver damage, cardinals and button quails. The meat you see on the list of ingredients is a small part of the recipe for what they call 'kibbled biscuits' which my birds don't touch (they just eat the seeds) and it's actually in a miniscule proportion to everything else (they are last on the list although the number of ingredients these 'biscuits' have is longer than the actual ingredient list).

My quaker gets what the larger birds get: ABBA 1600 C mixed in equal parts with 1200 but not free-fed, just a portion large enough to fill their crop for dinner. But my quaker is an adult, yours is still growing and should be getting a couple of soft food served fresh twice a day (gloop qualifies as a soft food).

If your boyfriend needs to sleep during the day, I am afraid that you chose the wrong bird, my dear. Quakers are considered one of the loudest and most prolific screamers of their size and even bigger birds. They are at a par with sun conures and apartment birds they ain't so get ready for the neighbors and your boyfriend to start complaining once he/she hits puberty.

At this point in time, you should be spending more than 4 hours a day (and that means day and not night) with your bird because it's just a baby and needs the closeness. Besides, this is the time you bond with it and this is very necessary with species that are naturally aggressive which quakers tend to be. Always keep in mind that what you do now will create the foundation of your entire future relationship with it.

Also, I have cats and have a bit of experience with them (did full time rescue work for 6 years and had many fosters at home -had up to 26 cats in my house- as well as been in charge of the shelter where we housed another 30 or so) and the only thing I can say is that if you are not worried at all, you should be because even a cat which is not interested in hunting birds can kill it (cat scratches and bites are the most infectious there are -haven't you heard of cat scratch fever?) so clipping the baby was not a good idea, I am afraid, as it makes a sitting duck out of it. And, in truth, it makes no difference whatsoever in developing trust -quite the contrary, it puts the bird in a very vulnerable position and that's not something they appreciate, if you know what I mean.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Wolf » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:06 pm

Thank you Pajarita, you said that much better than I could have.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby sillykins » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:31 pm

Pajarita wrote:I use the 1600 for my budgies, tiels, GCC, peachfront, amazons with liver damage, cardinals and button quails. The meat you see on the list of ingredients is a small part of the recipe for what they call 'kibbled biscuits' which my birds don't touch (they just eat the seeds) and it's actually in a miniscule proportion to everything else (they are last on the list although the number of ingredients these 'biscuits' have is longer than the actual ingredient list).

My quaker gets what the larger birds get: ABBA 1600 C mixed in equal parts with 1200 but not free-fed, just a portion large enough to fill their crop for dinner. But my quaker is an adult, yours is still growing and should be getting a couple of soft food served fresh twice a day (gloop qualifies as a soft food).

If your boyfriend needs to sleep during the day, I am afraid that you chose the wrong bird, my dear. Quakers are considered one of the loudest and most prolific screamers of their size and even bigger birds. They are at a par with sun conures and apartment birds they ain't so get ready for the neighbors and your boyfriend to start complaining once he/she hits puberty.

At this point in time, you should be spending more than 4 hours a day (and that means day and not night) with your bird because it's just a baby and needs the closeness. Besides, this is the time you bond with it and this is very necessary with species that are naturally aggressive which quakers tend to be. Always keep in mind that what you do now will create the foundation of your entire future relationship with it.

Also, I have cats and have a bit of experience with them (did full time rescue work for 6 years and had many fosters at home -had up to 26 cats in my house- as well as been in charge of the shelter where we housed another 30 or so) and the only thing I can say is that if you are not worried at all, you should be because even a cat which is not interested in hunting birds can kill it (cat scratches and bites are the most infectious there are -haven't you heard of cat scratch fever?) so clipping the baby was not a good idea, I am afraid, as it makes a sitting duck out of it. And, in truth, it makes no difference whatsoever in developing trust -quite the contrary, it puts the bird in a very vulnerable position and that's not something they appreciate, if you know what I mean.


THANK YOU! This has been extremely useful. We both wanted the bird, but it's his baby in the end. I actually sent him this info and will have to talk to him about what needs to be done. He can't be sleeping in all the time anymore lol. We are planning to buy a place hopefully in a year or so. It will likely still be an apartment/condo, but will be much larger and we'll have to take it as it comes. We're not ones to give up. This is our baby now.

As for the food we've been doing the soft food two times a day, but are looking in to variations since it doesn't seem to be eating too much.

I will keep what you guys said about the cats in consideration. The bird is never out of sight and we're not exactly keen on the idea of throwing away $2000+, never mind killing an animal =( We also didn't choose to have its wings clipped, we bought it that way. It sounds like it would be a good idea to leave them alone. How long do they take to grow back?

:monk:
sillykins
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot, Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure
Flight: No

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Wolf » Thu Oct 16, 2014 12:58 am

It depends on how severly they clipped the bird, but usually 1 to 2 years.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Pajarita » Thu Oct 16, 2014 2:30 pm

Wolf is correct, it takes two years to replace all the clipped feathers (they only molt half the plumage one year and the other half the next -nature made it that way so they are never grounded) but, although he/she will not be as able as he/she should be landing, taking off and maneuvering, he/she be able to fly after half of them are grown back.

Good for you on the commitment issue! It's amazing how people can make things work when they really want something real bad! And this is a sine-qua-non requirement of a good parrot owner so you are on your way to having a happy little bird!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby sillykins » Tue Jan 31, 2017 9:54 pm

I was looking up Abba 1600 again and ended up finding this old post of mine! haha.

It's been over 2 years now since we got our Quaker. He is a boy and we named him Loki. We've had his wings clipped a couple of times but it definitely doesn't take long before he can fly at least around the house again. When we first got him and his wings were freshly clipped, we accidentally left one of the food doors open and he got out while we were both at work for the day. There were trails of bird poop all over the house lol. The cats did not kill him or hurt him - He totally owns the house, even now.

We don't clip his wings anymore and have moved to a larger home. He usually sleeps anywhere from 10pm-11pm until 10am-12pm the next day. He flies to my boyfriend when he is home from work to greet him and comes to visit us if we're in the bedroom and he's out (which he usually is when we're at home unless he's bad). He doesn't like when anyone leaves the room :lol:

He says a lot more now and he is very, very smart. He knows what they mean:

I love you (rare again because he's like a child and knows what it means haha)
What are you doing? (especially if we leave the room)
You're being a bad boy
Be a good boy
No biting
Go get the treat
Come here
Step up
What the f***
Joe (one of the cats)
Bad kitty kitty (usually when he's puking lol)
Give mommy a kiss
Gimme a kiss
Peekaboo
and more..

We babysat a Cockatiel and he just loved him, even though the Cockatiel didn't feel the same way at all haha. Hopefully we can get him a friend one day :)
sillykins
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 11
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Quaker Parrot, Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure
Flight: No

Re: 2mo Quaker Parrot - Need Suggestions

Postby Pajarita » Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:23 am

Thank you SOOOO much for coming back and giving us an update! We love to hear how all 'our' birds are doing :lol:
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

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