Hello all, obviously I'm new here. My in laws have had a green quaker parrot (see avatar) in the family for about 4 years now. It is a rescue from an unhealthy living environment, we do not know it's age or gender. All we know is that he/she was "supposedly" wild caught and kept in a filthy (never cleaned), tiny bird cage in a bathtub that was always kept covered in the bathroom with the door shut b/c the original owners did not like how noisy it was.

My husband and I have quite a bit of experience with their quaker and would really like to get one of our own in the near future. In the meantime, I would like to read up on here and talk to you folks to learn/prepare as much as I can before we get our own quaker.

I look forward to learning from all of you and sharing our progress/stories as we go along.

Welcome to the forum, glad you could join us, that's great that your in-laws rescued the poor little bird, what's his/her name? at least you now have some knowledge on what a quaker is all about so when you get your own it will happily fit into your family, are you going to go for the green or the blue? and are you looking for a perticular sex? just some of the terrible desisions you shall now have to make.

One of the first things I'd do is go out and purchase the book "A guide to Quaker Parrots" by Mattie Sue Athon
Its a great book full of great information and you'll find yourself referring back to it all the time. Its written well and is easy to understand so in my opinion its money well spent.

Remember to, that here at QP.com there is no such thing as a dumb,stupid, or silly question, even if its been asked a zillion times before, Everyone here is more than happy to answer any questions to the best of our abilities. So just jump right in and ask. I don't think there isn't a topic that hasn't been discussed so if you go back through the archieves you'll probably find just about anything you want to know. But again, don't be afraid to ask anyway.

Good luck in your quest for a Quaker, they are truly fantastic little birds.

Welcome to the Forum! I bought my quaker, Mr. Kiwi in Federal Way, WA, over 8 yrs ago. I wish you luck in your hunt for a quaker.

I didn't even look to see where you were from. I have a friend who was raised in Mukilteo and now lives here.

Do you have a line on getting a quaker? Have you found a breeder?

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Cantab, my parents' green quaker is named "Kuka". My mother in law is set on the idea that its a female despite any proof.

My husband and I haven't made a decision on what kind of quaker we want yet. We are definitely leaning toward a blue quaker, but that's about as far as we've made it in the decision making process!

My parents green quaker is a screamer, a biter, only likes my mother in law and will bite anyone else, and does not speak a word. My mom has spent the last four years trying to teach her words/phrases, hers has never spoken a word to this day. Kuka has only imitated her laughing, the microwave beeping, and a zipper sound. We often wonder if she hasn't spoken b/c of her awful past? I was also wondering how people switch their quakers from one food to another, might be a question for a different section though.

We are leaning toward the blue b/c we want something that will be more family oriented and like more than one person, especially if we have kids coming along in the future. But that's not a for sure thing.

Andie's mom, we absolutely love Mukilteo, beautiful place. (We're originally from Florida, so it's quite a big change!) We are also not in line with or have even looked for a breeder yet. We are still in the very early stages yet. And thank you for the book suggestion, we will definitely check that out.

I definitely want to take my time and not rush anything so we can do everything "right"...at least try to make as few mistakes as possible!

Welcome to the forum,
Good for you to be ahead of the game and ask all the questions you can before you get your little one.

Best wishes

First I'd like to say WELCOME!!!! You'll love it here (and you'll never want to log off.... )

but i was just wondering if you thought having a blue mutation would be more friendly then a green?....from what I've gathered the color in mutation doesn't make a dif...just in how well you raise and socialize your fid. Good luck in your research...and in finding a breeder. (and we LOVE pics...so when you DO find one feel free to post a million pics of him/her...LOL)

I got that crazy idea that blues were more "social"/less of a one man bird from the blue vs green posts I've been reading.

Either way, I like the blue color better and the fact that the blues are generally slightly smaller (from what I've read). We are also considering getting both a blue and a green. Again, this is still all up in the air, nothing is decided. That's why I'm here to learn and help us make a good decision.

welcome to the flock!

I was just going to say, color has nothing to do with the birds personality, while it is true though that the mutations, (other than the normal greens) can be a little more flighty or nervous acting it has the most to do with socialization from day one when the breeders start to hand feed etc. Even all green quakers have their quirks, birds are as individual as humans. Even from the same clutch its just as different as a whold family of 6 kids for instance, each child has a little different personality.

One thing about living where you do is there are a lot of breeders on that side the state. And there are a lot of good avian vets. So when you get ready, you can PM me if you want and I can get you some names of breeders.

I'm so glad to see you are doing your homework first before getting a bird of any kind. And that you have previous experience from you in laws having one as well.

As a few others have said, You're gonna love living here!

A big welcome to you!

Welcome to the forum! That's fantastic that you're doing lots of research before making the big decision!

Our green Quaker Casey is actually really small (smaller than most blues I think!) she's only 86g whereas some greens can get upto 150g! So there is a variety of sizes when it comes to greens and their different subspecies. I don't think there is a big difference between the two colours though (I have heard blues are more flightly)... but I'd definitely recommend just getting one so it bonds to you guys and not to the other bird, then later you could add another if you still want two Q`s.

Good luck with your decision and feel free to ask any questions you want! Welcome!

Hi!

This is a great, kind, and and informational place to be!! I was a lurker for a couple of months before deciding that a quaker was the bird for me. Even so, I'm still waiting for my baby to finish up weaning in the coming week or so.

Looking forward to seeing you around.