2 replies to this topic

[love my quaker]

Hey guys im new to this and I'm proud to say i'm getting my first QP next week and I would love to know about some of there favorite food,toys ect.Beacause the breeder im geting it from says that toys are just a wayst of money, and that they never touch them ?  Also he will be only two months old.Should I have a good handfeeding mix on hand? Would love some answeres Thanks!

[Siobhan]

At two months, he ought to be weaning. In fact, a good breeder wouldn't let him go to a new home until he was weaned. However, this breeder doesn't sound too good -- toys a waste of money????  Birds without toys and without the need to forage will be bored stupid.

So ... try to get him on pellets as soon as you can. You might have to soak them in water or apple juice at first to soften them up. Try to get him to eat fruits and veggies, too. Mine have very specific tastes and they're all different, so you might have to waste some food while you figure out what he likes. I have one who loves jalapenos and one who won't touch them. They like tomatoes, but only home grown ones. One likes green beans. One likes lima beans but sucks out the center and drops the outside. One of my tiels loves hamburgers. One pigeon loves bread. That's not very good for them -- it can gum up in their crops -- so she doesn't get much, but I let her have a little for a treat. Both Quakers love mashed potatoes.

As for toys, again you might have to experiment. Don't overwhelm him with a ton of toys. Get one with a bell, one that's shreddable, and one with beads and string or leather strips and then play with them with him to show him what to do with them. Give him at least a couple of weeks to get used to the sight of them and start playing with them. Again, they have very specific tastes. Jade LOVES toys that make noise. The noisier, the better. She has bells, bells and more bells and loves them all. Clyde likes rope with plastic shapes. Freddie (the tiel who loves hamburgers) likes to destroy things, and he's really just as happy with newspaper to tear up as anything, and he has a basket made of palm that he tears pieces off of and then walks around with a straw in his mouth like a farm boy. Johnny (my other tiel) doesn't destroy toys at all, but he likes colorful ones to shove around with his beak. My budgie loves mirrors and swings. With this crew, if I buy a toy for one and that one doesn't like it, somebody else will. With just one bird, you're going to have to figure out what he likes. They're all too lazy and spoiled to forage, so I don't buy foraging toys anymore. I tried!

[love my quaker]

Thanks alot for the advice! I used to hanfeed pigeons for pets since I didnt have much  money...well of course i dont, im only thirteen .I still have lots of those cooing cuddle balls in my aviary.I have a variety of toys and I will just get some more of the kind he likes and return the rest We are big fruits and veggie eaters so I will have a variety of that stuff on hand.They wean them on seed but he wont stay on that for long! Pellets changed my tiels life,in a good way.  Thanks!