hi all. i have a 6 month old QP and would love to get another but i am worried that they might fight. could you give me some advice and the ups and downs of having more than one please.

I personally don't have two but have heard of many other who do.. first off there is no guarentee that the two will ever get along but you have a better chance cause yours is young..I would cage them seperately and have individual play times and only supervised playtime together forever.. birds can be finicky and you never know when they might scuffle.

If your bird is only 6 monnhs you havn't had him/her very long.. It took me that long to get a good solid bond with my lil quaker baby when we brought him home.. I'd suggest doing that first, it can take up to a year for a bird to fully adjust to new surroundings and your lil one is probably still in the honeymoon phase where lil babies are just so sweet and then.. their true colours show and often with quakers sometimes trying personalities can come through... you havn't gotten through that stage yet most likely so one bird may prove to be enough? just some food for thought..

I'm sure others will be along shortly with more advice as well!

as i am disabled i am at home all day so chester is always out of his cage until his bedtime. so he gets loads of attention, especially when the kids get home from school, as i said i would really like another but dont want to put chesters beak out of joint. this is why i asked for some advise on getting another.

Hi..........I have two Quakers.I was awaiting what I thought would be my only Quaker,a baby,when a coworker begged me to take her no longer wanted 8 year old female,Petey(who is now renamed Sweetie).Sweetie came to me with a whole set of problems,but in the 4 months that I've had her,she has become a wonderful companion.I got my baby Quaker shortly after taking in Sweetie,and now have the two plus two other birds.Sweetie used to hate Journey(baby Quaker) but as time has passed,she now tolerates the young Quaker.They are housed seperately,about 50 feet apart,but do spend time together on their play tree w/ supervision.The only thing I have to be careful of is when I stand by the tree and talk to or pet Journey.Sweetie,who mostly ignores the other Quaker,will run over quick as lightning and grab Journey's tail feathers and give 'em a good yank.The younger Quaker isn't afraid of Sweetie,but I'd never leave them alone together because it would only take a second for Sweetie's beak to severely injure Journey.Sweetie doesn't bother Journey at all,unless I were to pay singular attention to Journey,and I just don't do that anymore when they're on their playtree.I had hopes that they'd be friends,and it still could happen,but if it doesn't,that's okay,too...One plus of having two Quakers is that Journey is now copying alot of what Sweetie says.Sweetie has a huge vocabulary and it seems that Journey is now saying more things,and clearly,too.They each get their alone time with me and only supervised playtime together.Some may think it's double work,but I consider it to be doubly blessed.Good luck if you decide to bring another one of thses little charmers into your life

What Dee wrote you is pretty typical for my pair as well. I have a re-home and a rescue. Buttons was with me for a year before I took Pickles in as a rehome. Now, a year later, they love to spend time together. Buttons is female and Pickles is male so I think they have a hidden agenda they don't know I'm wise to. Nevertheless, there isn't a guarantee that your Quakers would get along. You could have two birds who hate each other and you would have to keep them apart all the time. So that might be a limiting factor. If you have time to spend with two birds separately and play with them, train them, give them scritches, etc. just in case they don't like each other, you'd be fine with another Quaker. If it turns out that they end up liking each other and getting along, that's even better. As for the jealousy issue, Buttons and Pickles were jealous of each other for a time but it worked itself out and after a period of adjustment things were fine. Every bird is different though so since you know your Quaker better than anyone, you will be the only one who can decide if your Quaker will really do alright with another QP in the house. Would Chester have trouble sharing you right at first and then be OK with it? Another thing to think about is that if you have two QPs and they spend a lot of time together, you run the risk of losing your bond with Chester, not making a strong bond with the new Quaker and having them bond with each other instead. It takes some diligence to keep that from happening when you have more than one. I'm interested to see what you decide to do. Will you rescue or take in a rehome or are you thinking of getting a baby Quaker? Sorry for the rambling post. I'm keeping an eye on my Quakers while I write because Pickles keeps flying off his cage and hovering over me like a little green helicopter just to tease me.

i don't have 2 quakers, but i have a quaker and a CAG. the "there is no guarantee they'll ever get along" has been covered. so here's my summary:

twice the food
twice the mess
twice the noise
twice the cost
twice the cleaning
twice the space investment (2 birds, 2 cages)

twice the LOVE, which makes all of the above so worth it.

in the end you need to make sure you are getting another bird because you want another bird, not because you want your current bird to have a friend.

good luck!

kris

im still in two minds as what to do , i would REALLY like another as they are just so much fun,i wish i had got two at the same time but just didnt have the money. i just dont know how chester will react, i really dont want to lose the bond we have with him.

chester will react how chester will react. it's important that, if you decide to get another bird, to follow a few very important rules.

1. quarrantine the new bird from chester for a MINIMUM of 30 days. this really should not be negotiable. sometimes birds have an underlying issue that will come to the forefront because of the stress of the move. preferably separate airspaces, but separate floors or opposite ends of the house will suffice. not a lot of people have a separate, appropriate airspace for quarrantine purposes. during quarrantine, get new bird a well bird visit with your vet. continue with quarrantine regardless of birdy's vet results.

2. always tend to chester FIRST. first greeting, first feeding, first wake up, etc. chester is used to being top bird among the birds, and will appreciate remaining so. jealousy can manifest itself in different ways - my louie will come to the edge of his perch and squawk if i'm spending time with goofy, even if louie has had the bulk of my attention for the day. he's not gotten physically aggressive toward me because of it, but he sometimes puts on an act like he's really PO'd.

3. during quarrantine, when you spend time with the new addition, you need to change clothes and wash your hands before interacting with chester again.

4. keep in mind that the 2 birds may get along when you introduce them. or they may not. introduce them on neutral territory so one isn't feeling the need to defend his turf.

5. even IF they get along well, house them separately. there are members whose birds live well together and still are bonded to the humans, but you may find that birds housed together bond to each other and you can find yourself the outsider. it's been suggested that birds who are housed together lose their "pet" quality and can become more aggressive toward human interactions.

i think if you want another bird, and you are financially able to do it, and mentally prepared lol, why not? just take your time in choosing the new one to make sure you have a good fit with YOU. people sometimes get uptight about this, but never once in my life have i heard someone question having another child based on how their current child would react to a new baby. :: shrug :: just my 2 cents.

kris

well just thought i would give you all an update. we have decided to get another QP but a blue one this time. i have spoken to the breeder we got chester from and he said it would be fine. so hopefully sometime next year we will have a lovely baby blue QP.

congrats! i can't wait to see pictures of your new blue baby

kris