New Quaker Parrot owner

[broxi3781]

We have recently added a 5 month old Quaker Parrot to our family. We are calling it a he - but it could just as easily be a she. We haven't had it sexed and most likely wont as we have no desire to breed.

Hal ( named after the green angry bird) came to us as he didn't get along with the previous owners children. I was quite hesitant to take him after hearing this but he seemed so curious and friendly and was fine with our boys within minutes. We've had no problems whatsoever other than feeding. he isn't very interested in fresh fruit or veg, but we keep eating it front of him and offering him bits so hopefully things will change.

Diet is our major issue. It has been years since I have owned a bird and never this type. Hal was fed parrot mix and people food before we got him - loving the junk food, and sunflower seeds from the parrot mix. I've continued to feed him his own parrot mix but added several other foods. he currently has each with a different food, a millet spray and a metal kebab that you thread fruit and veg onto. He also has whole dried corn on th cob which he enjoys tearing off the cob - but not eating. He has parakeet pellets, wild bird seed ( mostly millet and oats - no sunflower) the parrot food of which he primarily eats the sunflowers and dried fruits, a separate bowl of dried fruits with the odd piece of Special K.

I bought a book on Quakers but it didn't help with feeding. I am basically putting everything out there and hoping he chooses enough of the right stuff. When we got him his food bowl was empty except for a bunch of empty shells and the hot peppers which I don't think he likes. He did not have cuttlebone and went nuts for that the first day but now just has the odd nibble. I took the grit away after reading it was bad. He did enjoy a potted cress plant, but it wasn't very big and he ate it all. I'll be growing the millet and wild bird seed for greens too. I'd also like to grow sunflowers for him to shred - but the book says he shouldn't have sunflowers at all. I would like him to have some - along with many other foods.

Any advice on feeding much appreciated - and toilet training if it is can really be done. We're also interested in teaching tricks and the best toys. So far he has a wooden play ground, a couple of swings, a ladder a hanging thing and a ball which isn't used, but I may try to stuff with twigs or something fun. One swing is in his cage - a twig one and the other hangs from a curtain rod in the window.

Thankfully he is a lovely , gentle bird and very friendly with the whole family. Just as well since he does like a lot of attention and having 4 people to play with him means he gets more time.

Other than birds - my sons are home educated and we love books. The boys love dinosaurs and anything prehistoric especially plants and insects. They collect fossils and rocks with an interest in rocks that are fluorescent under black light, love science projects and animals in general. We have fish, salamanders, and a dog as well as the parrot.

 

[tab_xo]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry, for some reason your thread went straight to moderation when it was posted!! Strange haha


You will find lots of information on the diet in this forum! There are a few ways to introduce new foods Try veges, cook them if he prefers! My macaw only eats his veges if they are cooked and soft!

Are there bird pellets available ? Harrisons, zupreem, roudybush ? These are your healthier pellet choices..


Toys will depend on the bird, some like paper, some like wood, others prefer acrylic, soft plastics! Others might prefer foraging toys or just ones they can shred easily



What kind of tricks are you interested in teaching? I might be able to help with them!


Do your boys know that birds are the closest living thing related to dinosaurs? hahaha

The feathered dinosaurs are so similar, especially their feathers!



Would love to see a picture of Hal

 

[cnyguy]

Welcome to you and Hal! As far as training goes, you have nothing to worry about-- Quaker parrots are very good at training their human companions. Some books I recommend are Mattie Sue Athan's Guide to the Quaker Parrot and Bonnie Munro Doane's Parrot Training. You might find them helpful.

You can offer Hal a variety of vegetables and some fruits too. You'll probably have to experiment to find out how he likes things prepared. You can offer most vegetables either cooked or raw. My QP Ralph loves fresh green peas-- but they have to be sliced in half. Cooked corn, cooked green beans (finely chopped) broccoli and cauliflower are other favorites. Cooked grains like quinoa, brown rice and barley are other good things to offer Hal. Sometimes it takes a while for a parrot to recognize that the new stuff you're giving him is actually good to eat, so you'll have to keep offering the same foods over and over. It can help if you eat some of the new things yourself and act like it's the best food you've ever eaten. Parrots usually want to share things their human companions eat and enjoy.

Sunflower seeds are best reserved as a special treat or training reward. I would recommend substituting millet sprays specifically for companion birds for the wild bird food. Some wild bird seed mixes contain additives that aren't beneficial to indoor birds. Something like Higgins Safflower Gold for Conures and Cockatiels, fed in moderation, would be preferable to sunflower seed and wild bird food. It contains millet, dried fruit and vegetables, pellets and a small amount of safflower seed. Ralph gets a pinch of that every day as a reward for being a good parrot.

 

[Allee]

Welcome to the forum. Congratulations to Hal for adopting you. Yes, Quakers can be potty trained. I have one that is. We think she's about five. I noticed she was very picky about where she pooped. I put a paper on the floor and she would get off my shoulder to go to the paper. She also says pee pee poo poo, I would prefer, go potty but she knew those words so when I was working with her I would say poo poo every time I saw her do it. It took a while but now I can tell her to pee pee poo poo and she will, almost every time. She seldom misses the paper without being told. I put it on the floor under her cage door when she's out and she stands on the door when she needs to go. Our other quaker is still working on potty training using the same method. I've taught our girl several tricks since I got her. I would take Tab up on her offer to help with trick training.

Your boys sound like great kids. Keep teaching them science. Enjoy your new family member.

 

[broxi3781]

Thank you for all the replies. I have ordered both books - and the wild bird seed was a stop gap measure until the rest of the birds foods came from amazon. It will go outdoors where it belongs now, with the wild birds, but I always plant a bit of it and like to pull up the whole plant for pet birds. The food he came with is 75% sunflower seed - and he doesn't seem to anything else in it. He now has
an organic pelleted food for a parakeets- which he doesn't like
millet sprays - which he doesn't like
whole dried corn - which he doesn't like
Treat sticks - which he doesn't like

He is eating the parakeet seed mix though. I'm still feeding him a small a mount of his old food as well as I don't want to put the poor thing into shock with too many changes.

He does like any type of bread or whole grain cereal and dried fruits.
We aren't doing well with the fresh veg - cooked or raw - he has nibbled a bit at fresh fruit but now much. He has four food bowls which always have four different foods, a metal kebab to hang fruit, and a wee dinner plate for any part of our dinner he can have a taste of. I keep switching his food bowls around so when he goes for his favourite food - the parrot mix which is mostly sunflower - he has to look for it and might decide to try something else.

He has learned hello as well as clicking sound I use to call him - which I think he using to call us. When he makes the sound he clearly wants someone to approach. He already and undoubtedly understands "give me some" and "let me out" as well as "night night" by his response. Night night results in him grabbing the cage top and hanging on for dear life if isn't ready for bed though. He also will come when called frequently, but not at bed time.

Not sure if I mentioned but he was rehomed for failure to get along with the previous owners children. I have young children myself ( 8 and 9 ) but he has taken to them very quickly. I have always told them to keep a distance though and ignore him until he shows interest, which he always does. He approaches them on his own now, as he has realised they always have time to give him some attention. He is getting used to me but still flattens himself and looks terrified at times. I do not come to close to him but stand back and talk until he comes forward, and he is starting to come to me and look for attention now too. He can still be frightened by any quick movement so I take things very slow. He loves my husband though, which is likely because the man in the first home was the only one who actually wanted the bird.

He is really trying with speech, beginning to learn to be petted gently and generally incredibly playful and curious. I tied a stick as a perch to the outside of his cage as his cage top is rounded. He found another one and spent hours trying to thread it through the wire tie like the other one.

The boys would love for him to do any type of trick at all. We have been playing with plastic coins and a piggy bank in front of him , as they saw a bird on you tube put coins in a bank. We've considered a puzzle thing where he moves levers to get a treat. I heard you can teach them to play hide and seek but no idea how it works - and do you find him or the other way around? He has a cloth which e picks up and throws around, occasionally over himself, but not sure if it would scare him if we did it. They've also been trying to get him to slide the beads on a large wooden abacus.

He does get a lot of attention as I am disabled and home all of the time, and the boys are home educated. My youngest insists that he have a story at night too.

As to knowing birds are related to dinosaurs -- my son has wanted to be a palaeontologist since he was 3. We've just been discussing the latest theories that dinosaurs may have been more closely related to birds than reptiles, and are now thought to be warm blooded as well as the debate over whether archaeopteryx was a bird or dinosaur. The bird is a wonderful connection to his studies and gives us some insight into the possible intelligence of birds. I have to admit the bird has flabbergasted us so far. We've had him less than 2 weeks and he has learned so much.

I've had a few smaller birds in the past, but most were pretty old when I got them, and usually in very bad shape. I got a canary once that had 3"of waste in it's cage and could no longer stand as it feet were glued together with liquid waste. I had a pair of Kakharis and a budgie once as well, but they were temporary pets, dumped at pet store I worked for and brought home only long enough to rehome properly. A parrot is anew experience, and we did jump in unprepared as the opportunity to take him came up and he seemed just right, so now we are just trying to catch up and learn as much as possible. I'm really hoping if he has enough different foods to choose from he'll find what he needs. He was mad for the cuttlebone at first but has settled down with now. I'm hoping this means his diet is more balanced as I think the sunflower seed only diet may have resulted in calcium deficiency at first. I did take his grit away though as I read it can cause problems with parakeets. He will occasionally have access to potted plants - he ate all the cress and we have to grow more for him , plus some sprouted bird seed - but not sure if grit is safe so left it out.

Also not sure about cleaning products. I am assuming Dettol is ok for the floors of the house as he doesn't spend a lot of time on the floor anyway. Using only vinegar r and water on the cage now and then rinsing. I occasionally clean everything with boiling water which I know will kill as many germs as disinfectant, so don't know if any other cleaner is needed? His food and water bowls get boiling water regularly then cooled dried and replaced.

Thank you again for your time