My husband is really wanting a quaker parrot. When he was growing up, he had one. I have also really been wanting a bird for our house, so the parrot would be more for us than our children. My son is 5, and my daughter is 15 months old. I was wondering if it would be dangerous to have a parrot around my daughter? We plan to put a gate around the cage until my daughter and the parrot are able to get along, or until my daughter is much older. I will take the parrot out of his cage during her nap times and after she goes to sleep. Would it be safer to have his wings clipped and his beak filed? How bad would it hurt her if he happened to bite the baby? Remember that he will be behind a gate. How careful should we be? I have heard that isolating the bird from our daughter would interfere with their bonding and cause bigger problems down the road, so we plan to introduce them a little bit everyday. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well, my kids are grown, but I do have 2 grandkids who live right behind us and who are here about every day. My granddaughter is 17 months old, and we have had our qp for a year. He has never tried to bite her, and he will let her pet him. We (obviously) don't allow them to be unsupervised together, but we've never had a problem. When she comes in, he says "hello" over and over until she goes to his cage and "talks" to him. (which consists of "birdbirdbird") She actually really loves both our birds, though she did scare the crud out of Simon one day by pushing his cage door shut while he was on it...LOL...WHAT A SQUAWK!!! I would recommend clipping wings though, just for the reason that with small kids it would be easy for a door to get left open too long one day and poof...your bird would be gone. Good luck and let us know what you decide. Quakers are awesome birds and I think you'd really enjoy having a feathered kid!! (fid)

I have a two year old, and everything is fine. Just don't leave them alone together..I'm talking for the birds safety too, to me it seems more likely the kid will hurt the bird. Our Quaker won't bite unless seriously provoked...She's never bitten my son though, if she flutters to the floor and he bothers her she runs away (her wings are clipped)and I pick her up right away so he can't step on her. Our son doesn't want to hurt her, he just gets excited and jealous about her... She'll hiss if he gets too close for her liking, but will let him pet and kiss her if I'm right there. Just supervise, supervise! And make sure you have your kids understand that they can't 'help' with the bird unless you are there, I know on more than one occasion, our son Ian will try to be helpful and feed Ava whats not good/safe....she sure likes macaroni and cheese though....

I don't have little children in the house but I remember when I first got Kiwi and our neighbor brought their children over and their daughter was 2 and I let her hold Kiwi for a little bit. The child was more afraid of Kiwi. I think you just have to use your judgement. Also there should never be a reason for you to file a beak. If the beak needs to be filed then there is some underlying health problem with your bird and it should be filed by an Avian Vet (Bird Vet)

I really think it depends on the bird personality to. My QP would go ape if any one other than Hubbie or myself tried to touch. I have older kids (teenagers) who dont interact with her at all. Her bites hurt. I also have parroltets and the kids adore them. They take them in their rooms when doing homework and Hadji sits on their heads and hangs from their hair.
If the bird has the right personality and is well socialized and supervised it would be okay.

We also dont have small kids anymore.
We do however have lots of small nieces & nephews.
Donut is great with them, no issues.
As Sandi Kiwis Mom said the kids are often more wary of Donut than he is of them.

Take it slow & easy, supervision is the key.

Tricia

Kiwi is always around kids under 10... my neices and nephew.. for the really young ones we make sure Kiwi sits on her lower arm or in her lap... we like to put them in a circle on the floor or bed of someplace safe and let them play pass the birdie.. with patience, both kids and birdie will love the experience!

I've always had birds around my children
My Quaker bonded very strongly with my Son without a problem & biting was rare.
Jai soon learnt how to handle Strewth & to not "startle" him with sudden movement etc.

My little girl knows not to put her fingers in through the bars when Strewth was in his cage.
Both children & birds learn an equal respect for each other if they are allowed to bond

Wing clipping is a must, but I've never known the need for beak filing to prevent a QP biting a child
I think you'll find it will work a dream, if you introduce everyone a bit at a time & take precautions to make sure that there is no stress for the bird or the children. ie: letting your QP out for some fun time when your kiddies are asleep is a good idea & giving QP some quiet time of their own is also.
Toddlers can be quite boisterous & noisy - but hey .... so can Quakers... who are we kidding here!

It may seem like a major issue until you get a QP - but once you've got one -
you will see that they really do slot into the family.

Like all pets ~ they require a dedication & commitment, so it's really good that you are looking into it & weighing up whether it's going to fit in with your current lifestyle or not.
Too many people get pets on a whim.

Good on you for taking the time to make an informed decision
I look forward to hearing what you decide to do.

i have a QP and 4 kids and they have all bonded together very well, my kids ages are 14, 13, 9 and 8. chester absolutly loves the kids and prefers them to us when they are at home. he goes all around the house with them and will sit and play on the floor with them and their toys. you will just have to supervise them all the time your fid is out of the cage. as to the biting, they are not the strongest of parrots when it comes to biting, which is one of the reasons we got a QP in the first place, was worried about it biting the kids, but as of yet he has never bitten anyone and we have had him since June. i was advised that QPs are the best to have around kids because of the temprament as the usually bond to more than one person.we got chester as a baby and he was handfed and brought up around kids which helped alot. hope this helps you a bit.

Here's the deal. Animals are unpredictable. My cousin's rott has tried to maul my daughter several times. Luckily I can throw that dog around because there have been some VERY close calls. My two year old is quite over active, so she can stress out the birds. Duke is a sweetheart, but he can be set off by the birds and my daughter. He plays nice until something startles him and, then it's time to draw blood. My daughter has lived her entire life around birds, and plays with them all day long. I absolutely suggest clipping your birds, as it is in the best interest of the household. You would do best to not let down your guard. Never let your child handle the bird without you being there. That also includes leaving the cage as is without putting on extra locks.

There is also a special protocol that I enforce when my daughter handles the birds. First I grasp my daughter's wrist so that her hand isn't visible then with my other hand I bring the bird towards her forearm, and she commands the bird to step up. My hand stays attached to her wrist so she if she panics the bird doesn't get shaken off, and if the bird needs to escape my hand is right next to them. My free hand is also prepared to grab the bird just-in-case. My daughter isn't allowed to pet the birds unless their back is towards her other hand. Also she knows that they will bite, and if the bird does try to bite, to tell it no biting and to keep her hand away. My sun conure is far more kid friendly, and much lighter then my quaker, so she usually plays mostly with the conure.

my hubby wanted the quaker too, more than i did. after my research and shopping for stuff i wanted one too. we have a 6.5 yr old and 2.5 yr old. the quaker now favors me more than hubby. my son who is 2 will talk to the bird and watch the bird but really loses intrest quickly. then when she snaps he just walks away. one snip and the kids learn thier lesson. my case it didnt even take a snip just an attempted snipping. our bird is out all day from 8am til 8pm. she growls when not being let out quick enough in the morning. my son may go over there once per day...MAYBE once! the dog could even care less and runs away from her when she gets on the floor. they have big attitudes in lil bodies.