Tony's getting there!

[zERo]

Some of you guys may have seen my post about my QP Tony regurgitating on his foot for up to an hour a day, I'm happy to say he does it for only 5-15 mins. each day now! I would love if he would stop completely but this is significant improvement. I've modified my parrots diet, feeding them their grains and legumes almost only sprouted except the brown rice. I've also started leaving out the couscous and lentil pasta. I'm just happy it has decreased so significantly, his weight is stable as well. The birds get their Bird E Licious (Origins Wild Diet) Hormone Tea and Calming tea at least once a week each, then they get either calendula, hibiscus, or rose hip tea (just one of these three). I've just started giving him more foraging toys in general and have started petting him more, both have seemed to help. I hope it lasts!

 

[Laurasea]

wonderful! Glad things are improving! Thanks for sharing your birdie adventures!

 

[HeatherG]

What is it with Quaker parakeets and their feet? My first Quaker would get mad at her foot if it scratched her head wrong and would bite her foot. Then she’d freak out because someone was biting her foot!

Also back when we had a functional QPS list (Quaker parakeet society) there were discussions of the behavior “looking at the feet”. I wonder if the bird understands that the foot is a part of them? Who knows?

I was rubbing Willow’s head yesterday and he was so relaxed he had to chew on his foot and toenails while I massaged the head and jaw. I think that means he was very relaxed and I should be complimented. But it was very goofy looking.

 

[Laurasea]

Zero,
Quakers have a tendency to focus on feet, and self mutilation of feet. Quaker parrot Mutilation Syndrome .
When I researched years ago would often mention foot mutilation. My Penny quaker rescue was mutilating her feet when I saved her. She would obsessively groom them until bleeding and chew on them. Thankfully I git her past thst tho she still focus on them too much...like right now as I write this!

Anyway good to Google and read up . I re Google and didn't find the good info I did 10 years ago

 

[HeatherG]

I had a very old rescue parrot years ago who had a thick layer of dead skin on his feet due to a terrible diet and hypovitaminosis A. When I got him eating pellets, the old foot skin shed slowly. I used to rub the dead skin off his feet using a little bit of hand lotion. He really enjoyed this and would moan and groan as I rubbed the dead skin off the bottoms of his feet.

My Quaker Lucy had a damaged foot (didn’t get enough blood while her leg was cast). She needed that foot moisturized and she enjoyed having her feet massaged while she lay on her back in my hand. She would purr when I rubbed her feet. Willow lets me touch his feet, but he doesn’t get a foot massage.

 

[zERo]

Zero,
Quakers have a tendency to focus on feet, and self mutilation of feet. Quaker parrot Mutilation Syndrome .
When I researched years ago would often mention foot mutilation. My Penny quaker rescue was mutilating her feet when I saved her. She would obsessively groom them until bleeding and chew on them. Thankfully I git her past thst tho she still focus on them too much...like right now as I write this!

Anyway good to Google and read up . I re Google and didn't find the good info I did 10 years agoView attachment 36726

Wow, I didn't know this! Thank you for sharing

 

[Laurasea]

When I read my post again makes it sounds like they only mutilating their feet. QMS is a plucking plus mutilation of body syndrome. Quakers are very prone to plucking like cockatoos, and screaming like them too.

 

[zERo]

When I read my post again makes it sounds like they only mutilating their feet. QMS is a plucking plus mutilation of body syndrome. Quakers are very prone to plucking like cockatoos, and screaming like them too.

Yeah, I looked it up. I guess people tend to group Quakers in with all other small-medium birds, I'm not saying other small birds are lesser or anything. Quakers just seem so dang smart!

 

[HeatherG]

I wonder if Quakers need to be more busy and social than other small-medium parrots?

Quaker parakeets live and workon the nest year round. Other parrots only use the nest during breeding season. They also can have a very complex social life, flock being made up of friends and various degrees of relatives. Like corvids, Quaker parakeets use babysitters to help care for nestlings. This means older siblings, close relatives, etc. help mom and dad take care of (probably older or second clutch) babies.

Quaker parakeet brains are set up for all this complex activity and work. The absence of this activity is in itself a stressor which causes these psychological problems like Quaker mutilation syndrome. Or just plucking or barbering of feathers.

We know that working dogs like collies have behavior problems if they don’t have a job and lots of activity. It seems logical that this is true for Quakers as well. If you have a builder Quaker, it will be much better off if it has chopsticks or other sticks to weave and build with. A sentinel may spend lots of time watching. Etc. (oversimplified here).

It’s been a long time since I was in college and I know I don’t have current vocabulary and info, but these are my thoughts. I think we need to treat parrots a lot like little kids. They need to feel safe and have opportunities to exercise and explore and socialize and ‘work.’

 

[zERo]

I wonder if Quakers need to be more busy and social than other small-medium parrots?

Quaker parakeets live and workon the nest year round. Other parrots only use the nest during breeding season. They also can have a very complex social life, flock being made up of friends and various degrees of relatives. Like corvids, Quaker parakeets use babysitters to help care for nestlings. This means older siblings, close relatives, etc. help mom and dad take care of (probably older or second clutch) babies.

Quaker parakeet brains are set up for all this complex activity and work. The absence of this activity is in itself a stressor which causes these psychological problems like Quaker mutilation syndrome. Or just plucking or barbering of feathers.

We know that working dogs like collies have behavior problems if they don’t have a job and lots of activity. It seems logical that this is true for Quakers as well. If you have a builder Quaker, it will be much better off if it has chopsticks or other sticks to weave and build with. A sentinel may spend lots of time watching. Etc. (oversimplified here).

It’s been a long time since I was in college and I know I don’t have current vocabulary and info, but these are my thoughts. I think we need to treat parrots a lot like little kids. They need to feel safe and have opportunities to exercise and explore and socialize and ‘work.’

My QP sometimes sets his foot toys or jute stick where ever he can. What kind of sticks do you guys use to let them build? I mean he has some jute sticks but their really easy for him to destroy so that's pretty much what he does with them

 

[Laurasea]

I only had one build, he used willow twigs, strips of cage weaver/shredders roll strips of paper

 

[HeatherG]

My Lucy used bamboo skewers with the points cut off. We ended up using cheap wooden chopsticks, bought in bulk and snapped apart by me. She really liked those. She would initially play with coffee stirrers, popsicle sticks, pens, whatever. It seemed like for her there was a real pressure to build.

Willow Quaker is afraid of new objects. I’ve been leaving coffee stirrers in his cage and hoping that he will take up weaving as he doesn’t do many activities. I hoped it would help him be less bored when in his cage.