New Baby

[sherylb]

Hello, some of you might remember when I introduced my quaker, Kiwi. She is amazing and so affectionate and talks. I love her to pieces. I brought in a new addition yesterday.

Meet Jasper, IRN. He is 6 months. I got him yesterday. He was with a family and they took him back to the breeder. I don't know why because he is so sweet. He gives kisses, and whistles. He's not crazy about my quaker but I hope that changes and any advice on introducing them and ideas on how they can get to know each other better, I would appreciate it.

 

[Laurasea]

He is cute, though he looks like he is being interrogated! Lol I do a group flock feed for introductions. Plenty of space, and bunches of treats, then I let them decide how close they want to be or when they want to meet. I make sure everyone is jolly first. Good luck and congratulations!

 

[sherylb]

He just started doing those little show off twists on the way home from where I got him yesterday. He was also dancing to the radio so he is quite use to people.

 

[Scott]

Beautiful new addition! I'm not familiar with either species so can only share generalities. Suggest waiting to introduce until Jasper is comfortably settled and Kiwi "knows" the addition is permanent. Once the quarantine period (suggest 30 days) has expired, place their cages within sight. Initial introduction out of cage ought be neutral territory with you present. Having a perch or towel nearby as quick means of separation is essential.

There are never guarantees two birds will ever get along. Hopefully Kiwi and Jasper will have a long friendship!

 

[EllenD]

Awe, he's adorable! Congrats!

I second what Scott said, you should ALWAYS do at least a 30-day quarantine with any new bird you bring into your home, especially with a young bird as they can carry all kinds of different diseases, infections, and parasites that come from the breeder's home/aviary...It's best to keep the new bird in an entirely different room than your current birds, and keep the door shut if at all possible, but definitely he needs to be in a totally separate room from your Quaker...If they've already been in the same room together than you can't do anything about that, but you still need to move him into a totally different room for the next 30 days, and if Jasper happens to show any signs/symptoms of illness, then in-addition to getting him to a CAV/Avian Specialist for diagnostic testing, you'll also have to do the same with your Quaker since they were already together in the same room...Hopefully it won't be a problem, but you cannot be too safe with a new, young bird...

After the 30-day quarantine is over, then you can move Jasper's cage to the main-room of your home, or the same room where your Quaker's cage is, but I'd start out with their cages across the room from each other. Let them be able to see each other and talk to each other, but you don't want to put their cages right next to each other at first, until they have time to get used to each other...They may start to get along, they may not, they may love each other, they may hate each other, and they may not ever be able to be out of their cages together, they may love each other and preen each other happily...There is no way to know. Just make sure that after the 30-day quarantine period is up and you move Jasper's cage into the same room with your Quaker that you are always supervising them when they are out of their cages, even if it's just one of them out of their cage and one in their cage, because it's not unusual at all for one bird to lose a toe because they landed on the cage of another and BAM!

So do the 30-day quarantine in a totally different room from your Quaker, keeping the door shut if possible (avian viruses are often air-borne), then move Jasper's cage into the same room as your Quaker but across the room from him, and let them out together in the same room ONLY while you're supervising and ready to immediately separate them if necessary...Typically even if they don't like each other, they will learn to live together with you in the same "Flock". Hopefully they will bond a bit with each other and maybe even really like/love each other...But if they don't it's okay, it's not the end of the world, you just have to work around it...