I'm getting a Quaker Parakeet.

[Godzilla2000]

I will be getting a Quaker Parakeet in the near future. I was just wondering of there is anyone in these boards who has experience raising these birds. I need alot of advice and hints on taking care of these feisty birds. Also a few first hand experience stories would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sunnymarcie]

Finally another bird person

I use to have 2 of those birds, and 6 other types.
Yes All at the same time!

They are fun to have and very entertaining.
Once they settle in you'll have a friend for life.

One of mine use to ride on my cats back.
The cat didn't seem to mind too much either.
Everyone thought it was funny.

Right now I do not have any birds, but I may get
another one (or2 or3) if we move into a larger home.
We are running out of space here.

I'll have to look around and see if I still have any photos
of them. Several were lost when my grandmas basement
flooded

 

[sunnymarcie]

Well, I found one shot of "Crackers"

This one lived for 12 years in my care.
He was adopted from a family that could
not keep him.

Some care tips:

First and most important other than diet,
NEVER use that sandpaper junk on perches or the cage bottom.
It can hurt their feet, really bad.
Their nails can be done with clippers, just like a dog.
DO get its wings clipped, for its own safety.
They love fruits, but not too many.
When you purchase seed for it be sure to get a brand that
has the sunflower seed cleaned and hulled. The shell of the
seed is really fatty and NOT good for your bird. There is a type
of seed mix made like that, I think it is called SUN SEED Safflower
select. Or something like that. It's been a long time and I can't
remember the exact name.
DO NOT give your bird peanuts with the shells. The shells
can harbor mold that could make it sick.

I can talk for days about birds, but I will stop now

 

[Godzilla2000]

This would be my first bird. We did have a Parakeet ages ago when I was a kid, but it was kind of more like my mother's bird. I chose a Quaker as my first Pet Bird because of their hearty nature and higher tolerance to cold temperatures. I wholeheartedly plan on getting my bird's flight wings clipped and toenails trimmed on a consistent basis too. My friend had a Cockatiel that she let go and it eventually grew it's flight feathers back. The unfortunate thing that happened was that her Cockatiel escaped and was attacked by Starlings. Fortunately her bird survived but the poor thing was traumatized and missing a few feathers after that experience. But I know it could have been much, much worse a fate for that poor bird.

 

[sunnymarcie]

They have a few color morph's in this species too.
Some are bright yellow and even blue

I think a blue one would be nice.

Which ever you choose be sure it is hand raised.
It will have a better attitude from the start.

Make sure you post a picture when you get it

 

[Marc_C]

My aunt used to have one of these guys. It was the loudest, most annoying thing in the entire world. Every morning this thing would start squaking as soon as the sun came up. I could never get a good nights sleep at her house.

Furthermore, Zazoo (his name), did not like me. He was always trying to bite me when I changed his food. I dont think that Iam a bird person.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by sunnymarcie
Which ever you choose be sure it is hand raised.
It will have a better attitude from the start.

My Quaker is definately a handraised bird. As far as attitude goes, my only concern is the squawking since I live in an apartment, I can't have it squawking at all hours of the night and day. Which brings me to....

Originally posted by marcus-sparkus
My aunt used to have one of these guys. It was the loudest, most annoying thing in the entire world. Every morning this thing would start squaking as soon as the sun came up. I could never get a good nights sleep at her house.

Furthermore, Zazoo (his name), did not like me. He was always trying to bite me when I changed his food. I dont think that Iam a bird person.

This has me worried. Since I live in an apartment complex, I do not want my bird bothering all my neighbors. But I have noticed when I handle Capri in the petshop she/he stops squawking and intently listens to me. I don't know if this is a by product of being handraised or whatnot, but I'm hoping this is a good sign as to the temperament of the bird I'm buying. I have read that Quakers usually squawk when they want attention.

 

[Philth]

Most Birds get noisy when they are looking for attention. I have a Pionus, that is sopposed to be quiet, but if he knows im home and i dont let him out to play he makes a racket. Birds are very social animals and become depressed if there ignored. Quakers are full of personality. Have fun with him.

 

[Psycho]

We have 2 parakeets and a cockatiel right now and my wife wants either a green cheek conure or a parrotlet. Noise really isn't a problem for our birds. We can pretty much sleep right through it and they seem to only start when the baby gets up for the first time in the morning. The parakeets are bonded to eachother so it's hard to handle them, the cockatiel on the other hand is pretty friendly, she just doesnt like it when you walk with her on your hand.

~~~Psycho~~~

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by Philth
Most Birds get noisy when they are looking for attention. I have a Pionus, that is sopposed to be quiet, but if he knows im home and i dont let him out to play he makes a racket. Birds are very social animals and become depressed if there ignored. Quakers are full of personality. Have fun with him.

I love pets with personality for sure. I intend on spending as much time as I can with Capri just to make sure he/she is happy.

 

[Godzilla2000]

I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions concerning toys to keep Capri busy when I get her home.

 

[kellygirl]

Originally posted by sunnymarcie
Finally another bird person

Make that two "bird people" *raises hand* I love birds!

Originally posted by sunnymarcie
They are fun to have and very entertaining.
Once they settle in you'll have a friend for life.

That is an understatement. Usually, if a bird is kept alone (as in not in the same cage as another bird), they will quickly bond to you as a child would. The difference is this child never grows up so you have to keep that in mind when choosing a bird and whether or not to give it a companion. If you give your bird another birdie companion, they won't bond to you in the same way but they will probably not squawk for your attention nearly as much. But then of course, if you have a particularly loud species of bird, they will just feed off of each other and make more noise!!

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
My Quaker is definately a handraised bird.

This is absolutely the ONLY way to go.

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
Since I live in an apartment complex, I do not want my bird bothering all my neighbors. But I have noticed when I handle Capri in the petshop she/he stops squawking and intently listens to me. I don't know if this is a by product of being handraised or whatnot, but I'm hoping this is a good sign as to the temperament of the bird I'm buying. I have read that Quakers usually squawk when they want attention.

Okay, this is where you stop and think about how much time you have to devote to your bird. Birds are extremely demanding attention-wise. And just because it's quiet in the store doesn't mean it will be quiet at home. I learned this the hard way. Fell in love with a Nanday Conure... notoriously screechy loud bird. I would come in to the store and hold him every day while he was being weened and he never squawked as long as I was holding him. I thought "for sure this means he happens to be the exception to the conures-are-loud-as-hell rule." No such thing. I loved my little Oliver so dearly but he was just too freakin loud for the apartment. I had to sell him to a guy who had been in a car accident and couldn't work... he was a stay-at-home dad so he had the time to devote to Oliver that I didn't. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I cried for days. Oliver used to sleep with me, all snuggled up... I miss him so much.

Originally posted by Psycho
We have 2 parakeets and a cockatiel right now and my wife wants either a green cheek conure or a parrotlet.

Green Cheek Conures...... EXTREMELY LOUD. Parrotlets..... absolutely adorable but not always the sweetest little guys in the world. You gotta take em on a case by case basis. Every bird has a different personality. But good choices appearance wise. Lovebirds have some of the prettiest color morphs... my mom has a peach-cheeked. She also has a Senegal who is an absolute doll. Very particular about who he likes and doesn't like--mainly he just doesn't like males. =D

Some recommendations for those of you who don't have a budget... GET AN AFRICAN GRAY. Man, if I had $1500 to blow, I'd so get one of these babies. They are intelligent, big talkers, more independent than your average parrot, and beautiful! Plus parrots live way longer than the smaller birds. I love cockatoos but would never get one unless I could be a stay-at-home mommy. Umbrellas are precious, Bare Eyes and Goffins are very quirky, but the most gorgeous of all are Citrons and Pinks! WOW!!! Man, now I'm pining for a parrot... gonna have to drop by the pet store tomorrow and spend some time with my little birdie buddies.

Sorry I typed so much..... man do I love birds!

kellygirl

 

[Godzilla2000]

Oh Capri does screech along with the other birds for a fact. And what a screech it has. But as I was told, they have a designated screech hour which is in the afternoon and then it's as quiet as a mouse afterwards. I noticed they especially squawk when there's alot of people chatting away in the petstore. Capri is in a cage with Quakers plus some Mustache Parrots, at least I think that's what they're called. At a Yahoo Group for Quakers I was told that Quakers usually squawk if only to reply another squawker. But if you have no other squawkers they tend to be quiet when given something to keep their attention. Of course my bird might just reply to the chirping Feeder Crickets though. I guess one good thig about keeping a bird, it will be an extra incentive for keeping my apartment immaculately clean.

 

[skinheaddave]

I'd be extremely cautious about getting any loud bird if I lived in an apartment complex. A bird that only screeches an hour a day may seem a dream to a bird person, but may still be a nightmare to a neighbour. There is a parrot somewhere around us these days because we can hear it now and again. I feel sorry for the people who live nearby.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Godzilla2000]

I don't know. My upstairs neighbors have this little hellion of a kid that runs around upstairs very loudly that you can hear it throughout my apartment. Plus they have a tendency to play their TV or Stereo to loud during the daytime. So they might have to deal with an hour of sqauwking just likew I put up with their boisterous noises. At least I work evenings and weekends when sound really doesn't matter much. If they can deal with my singing, I think they can deal with a screeching bird. Well not to say my singing is that bad though. :8o

 

[sunnymarcie]

Conures...... EXTREMELY LOUD......................

CONURES of ANY kind!!

I had a peach face conure too and talk about loud!

But of all the birds I ever had "Crackers" was probably
the best behaved. He (IT) only made noise first thing in the morning. The perfect alarm clock Everyone else screamed
and talked ALL DAY!
But then I had noisey neighbors too;P

 

[Godzilla2000]

Well, I'm halfway to owning my Quaker. 100 dollars more to go. I just bought some cat toys today for Capri with the little bells and whatnot to keep her/him busy. I might go to Wal-Mart and buy some more since I just went to the local dollar store which really did not have a wide selection.

 

[Godzilla2000]

Question for Bird Lovers here: The petstore owner says I can get away with an 18 X 18 sized cage for my bird. But others tell me I need a 24 x 24 inch cage? Can anyone who has owned cockatiels or Quakers recommend the perfect sized cage for my bird to have plenty pf room to play in and be happy?

 

[Godzilla2000]

I'm pretty bummed out today. (And my ex-friend who I will no longer see as of today wasn't making things any easier.) Not only did I bring my beloved rats I've had for overa year in to the petstore because they're female and they need females for their breeder program, but the petstore accidentally sold the Quaker Parakeet I was going to buy. They told me they were getting new ones in a few weeks. Hopefully they will have some guarenteed males in that batch because I was told that males tend to be more calm, docile and lovable than females.

 

[sunnymarcie]

I would not go any smaller than 24x24.
As long as the bird can move around its fine.
Your bird should spend most of its time out of the cage anyway.
Cages are for sleeping and safety while your away