Hi all,
I am new to the forum and until Saturday I had a Blue Quaker and an African Grey. On Saturday we brought a new "Split to blue" quaker into the house. I probably should have quaranteened him for a while, but I have dealt with this breeder for a while, so I am feeling pretty safe. So far so good. Still I have a few questions.
Harley (New Quaker) is in a cage next to Bubbi Anne's cage. By Sunday we were introducing them to each other in neutral territory, not too bad. Last night they slept with both cages covered together. By yesterday with a constant eye on them, they are able to sit on a playstand together and spend some quality time. They do not love each other yet, but I do believe they are going to tolerate each other well before we are done.
Still I have some concerns about the toes of the new quaker. Bubbi seems to want to pick at Harley's toes and I noticed this morning that she seems delightfully attracted to the band that Harley has around his leg. Bubbi does not wear a band. Harley does pull away and will strike at Bubbi, so I don't think he would just sit there and let here chew his toe off, but you see, Bubbi is missing a toe from before she came and I might be overly worried.
They have yet to get into any kind of screaming bout, but they are not loving every second together either. Still Harley gets more assertive everyday, so he will soon stand up for himself and it might get interesting! Our ultimate goal is to house them together and I am looking at ideas on making the transition as smooth as possible. Will Bubbi get past the band and toe fascination? Should I and can I remove the band? I appreciate all thoughts and suggestions.
Thanks so much and wow, what a great forum.
Marietta
Full Version: Introducing A New Quaker To An Old One
Hello and welcome to the flock! Congrats on your new addition, too.
Having quite a bit of experience in introducing new birds to existing flocks, I would like to offer my opinions:
1) If you can at all avoid caging the two quakers together you may wish to. By caging them together you are encouraging them to bond with one another which WILL effect their behaviors as companion birds.
2) Please keep these two limited to interacting with one another at supervised playtimes until you are positive neither will be aggressive towards the other.
3) I recommend removing the leg band for safety -- an avian vet can clip it off for you and store it in your records so the information isn't lost.
4) Two quakers together are 10x louder than one, LOL! They WILL scream and they WILL make a racket and they WILL enjoy it! If you are able to figure out how to curb this behavior, please do share it with me!
Let us know what you decide!
Having quite a bit of experience in introducing new birds to existing flocks, I would like to offer my opinions:
1) If you can at all avoid caging the two quakers together you may wish to. By caging them together you are encouraging them to bond with one another which WILL effect their behaviors as companion birds.
2) Please keep these two limited to interacting with one another at supervised playtimes until you are positive neither will be aggressive towards the other.
3) I recommend removing the leg band for safety -- an avian vet can clip it off for you and store it in your records so the information isn't lost.
4) Two quakers together are 10x louder than one, LOL! They WILL scream and they WILL make a racket and they WILL enjoy it! If you are able to figure out how to curb this behavior, please do share it with me!
Let us know what you decide!
Hello and welcome to the forum.
I agree with Frankie's Mom, however, I'm assuming that you're eventual plan for these two birds is to breed them and raise young...am I correct? If so there are several things you need to consider before doing this and the first Joni mentioned that by allowing them and encouraging them to be housed together you are bound to lose most if not all your pet qualities. Once they become bonded they will not want human interference as they have each other, which is fine for breeders, but if you are looking at keeping them both as good pets then do not house them together. Its fine to allow them to play together but always under supervision.
I think that the way you're going about introducing them is fine in either case with the exception of covering their cages together, if you aren't planning on using them as breeders. If you are planning on using them as breeders there are other things that you should really think about before allowing them to become bonded. While it may seem easy to allow them to reproduce there are a lot of responsibilities that come along with it and in my opinion, you need to be totally prepared and aware of all the things that will and could come into play if you do decide to attempt to raise babies. While it may seem easy and your breeder may tell you that it isn't difficult which for an experienced breeder it really isn't difficult there are still lots of factors that need to be addressed and you need to know how to deal with the problems that can and most likely will arise.
As far as the leg band goes if the blue seems overly fixated on the band I would also have a vet or the breeder you got it from take it off. Though, unless you have the bird microchipped there's very little way to prove that the bird belongs to you should it escape or be stolen etc.
I also agree with Joni on the noise levels. 2 quakers are much much louder than 1 so be prepared for that.
Good luck, and once again, welcome to the forum.
I agree with Frankie's Mom, however, I'm assuming that you're eventual plan for these two birds is to breed them and raise young...am I correct? If so there are several things you need to consider before doing this and the first Joni mentioned that by allowing them and encouraging them to be housed together you are bound to lose most if not all your pet qualities. Once they become bonded they will not want human interference as they have each other, which is fine for breeders, but if you are looking at keeping them both as good pets then do not house them together. Its fine to allow them to play together but always under supervision.
I think that the way you're going about introducing them is fine in either case with the exception of covering their cages together, if you aren't planning on using them as breeders. If you are planning on using them as breeders there are other things that you should really think about before allowing them to become bonded. While it may seem easy to allow them to reproduce there are a lot of responsibilities that come along with it and in my opinion, you need to be totally prepared and aware of all the things that will and could come into play if you do decide to attempt to raise babies. While it may seem easy and your breeder may tell you that it isn't difficult which for an experienced breeder it really isn't difficult there are still lots of factors that need to be addressed and you need to know how to deal with the problems that can and most likely will arise.
As far as the leg band goes if the blue seems overly fixated on the band I would also have a vet or the breeder you got it from take it off. Though, unless you have the bird microchipped there's very little way to prove that the bird belongs to you should it escape or be stolen etc.
I also agree with Joni on the noise levels. 2 quakers are much much louder than 1 so be prepared for that.
Good luck, and once again, welcome to the forum.
I removed Tiki's band as soon as we got him. My reference was "Guide to the Quaker Parrot" by Mattie Sue Athan. It says
"The band, can be dangerous to the bird. Be sure to ask the avian veterinarian whether or not he bird's band fits properly or should be removed. Since quakers have a frequent tendency to accidents, and broken legs resulting from caught bands are not unusual, many experienced avian veterinarians recommend removing a quaker parrot band immediately. Be sure to record the band code and save the band with the bird's health and behavior history." I hope that this reference is helpful.
"The band, can be dangerous to the bird. Be sure to ask the avian veterinarian whether or not he bird's band fits properly or should be removed. Since quakers have a frequent tendency to accidents, and broken legs resulting from caught bands are not unusual, many experienced avian veterinarians recommend removing a quaker parrot band immediately. Be sure to record the band code and save the band with the bird's health and behavior history." I hope that this reference is helpful.
Hi again and thanks for the replies so far.
We don't have the intent to breed, but we really enjoyed watching our parakeets together, both have moved on now. We may loose some of their love, but I have known quakers, in fact have visited with two just recently, that are housed together that still talk to, kiss, love, and want to cuddle with their people.
Anyway, yes all of our pets are chipped and Harley will be too. Our appointment is coming up and we will know the sex here before too long. I am not sure why my breeder went to banding them and she is out of town right now, but I will have to ask her. None of the others were banded. Anyway, I will have the vet take it off when we visit.
Thanks again for your helpful advice.
We don't have the intent to breed, but we really enjoyed watching our parakeets together, both have moved on now. We may loose some of their love, but I have known quakers, in fact have visited with two just recently, that are housed together that still talk to, kiss, love, and want to cuddle with their people.
Anyway, yes all of our pets are chipped and Harley will be too. Our appointment is coming up and we will know the sex here before too long. I am not sure why my breeder went to banding them and she is out of town right now, but I will have to ask her. None of the others were banded. Anyway, I will have the vet take it off when we visit.
Thanks again for your helpful advice.
i have 2 quakers together 
blue split to green and a blue! had oatis my green first who also was fascinated with skyes ring as oatis doesnt have one and also wanted skyes feet haha!
they were housed together on the second night! they bonded real quick!
have you tried both quakers in one cage supervised?this is what i did and they seemed to think once in the cage this is cool and well,they wouldnt come out for about an hour haha just wanted to check each other out and then fell asleep!
oatis still loves his human flock and all is good
blue split to green and a blue! had oatis my green first who also was fascinated with skyes ring as oatis doesnt have one and also wanted skyes feet haha! they were housed together on the second night! they bonded real quick!
have you tried both quakers in one cage supervised?this is what i did and they seemed to think once in the cage this is cool and well,they wouldnt come out for about an hour haha just wanted to check each other out and then fell asleep!
oatis still loves his human flock and all is good
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