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Post by Aardman on Dec 31, 2015 1:32:02 GMT -5
Hello everybody - new here (as you can tell)
My wife & I have kept birds on and off for about 30 years, but three years ago when our Cockatiel "Buzz" flew off a (my eldest son held the back door open just a wee bit too long) that was it, or at least for a while - until this past October when we picked up the sweetest dispositioned Quaker I have ever seen.
She (we had her DNA tested) was 7 months old when we got her. She is gentle and loves to cuddle and not the least bit nippy (well, until the last couple of days anyway).
She's still not named. It's ridiculous the number of names we've gone through trying to find one everybody agrees to. Some contenders:
Nurse Racket Link Kazoo Lime Zelda Fitzgerald Spiffy (my favorite) Birdo (my son's favorite)
One of my concerns at this point is she simply has no interest in play. She has plenty of toys but she utterly ignores them. I've tried some simple stuff like straws, dis-assembled clothespins & cellophane wrappers - no interest. She likes hanging around with us and gets particularly excited when I play the Jew's harp at her, and she sort of stares at the bird in the mirror (today, for the first time, she pecked at it) but as for playing with anything on her own - she prefers to just sit & stare. Same goes for the bath water I offer her every once in a while - no interest.
The other concern is I am unable to get her to accept any kind of treat from my hand. She likes cashews and sunflower seeds, but if I try to offer her one with my fingers she climbs up my arm or otherwise tries to get away. If I lay it in the palm of my hand once in a while she'll pick it up, but instead of eating it she drops it. I've tried millet sprays but those freak her out and she tries to fly away. I'd like to start training her (she came with the ability to step up already mastered) but that's kind of difficult to do if she won't take treats.
Every once in a while she makes odd noises like she is thinking about talking - but so far no words. She can imitate the dog howling (we have a Chinese Crested), and when I play the Jews harp she usually starts purring and making other odd noises.
A really nice bird overall & she's just now starting to show some more developed personality.
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Post by biteybird on Dec 31, 2015 7:35:49 GMT -5
G'day, Aardman and yet-to-be-named QP! Welcome to the Forum. It's early days for you and your QP; she's still 'officially' a baby. Our 2-yo quaker, Bonnie, has virtually no interest in toys either. She would much prefer 1:1 attention from her human flock 24/7 to toys, although she does play with a piece of rope with knots tied in it (we threaded a metal washer above each knot). That's her favourite thing to play with if she can't have a human. Bonnie is also quite disinterested in bathing and will still have only one short bath per week. Your QP is obviously not ready for your hand yet, so if I were you I'd hold off any thought of training for now. She'll come round when she feels she can trust you. The fact that she's making noises in response to music is great! Just give her some time. The people on this forum are very kind and will try to help you with any questions you have, so ask away!
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Post by Aardman on Dec 31, 2015 14:29:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the greeting.
Actually, she loves the hand. Perches on our fingers just fine and loves to be scratched on the neck (top & bottom), head & cheeks plus she doesn't mind full body petting as long as its gentle. When I put my hand in her cage she immediately jumps to her "pick me up" perch and steps onto my finger with no prompt at all. Objects in our hands, though, give her the general willies and if I try to even show her something is in one of my hands she's as liable to attempt to fly off as to run away. Of course, since her wings are clipped she just flutters to the ground then lets out a complaining squawk, but at least she got away from the offending object.
I've even tried setting items I KNOW she likes, like a cashew, on the top of her cage when she's sitting there and she will take a ridiculously wide detour around the offending object when she wants to climb back into her cage.
Still, I can't complain (and I won't) because she is easy going, likes to cuddle, and seems to get along with everybody.
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Post by easttex on Dec 31, 2015 15:21:50 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum Aardman and TBD! A reward doesn't have to be food. You can use anything she values. Obviously, a favorite toy is out of the question, but she wants to spend time with you and you can work with that. I would decide on some very simple task to begin with, or something more complicated that can be broken down into tiny increments. When you take her out of the cage, before you do any cuddling or other affectionate handling, give her a two minute training session first. End on a positive note, even if it takes her a while to know what it is you want, and then give her some regular attention. She will figure out that to get the praise or the head scratch or whatever, she has to earn it. My Peppy, at 23 or so, is not much for toys, except for plastic chain links. Yours may develop more interest in them or she might not. Have you tried showing her how to play with them? Sometimes it works to look like you are having the time of your life with something and then act like you're trying to keep it from her. You might be able to attract her to a bath if you splash your hand around in it. For whatever it's worth, I like Zelda.
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Post by biteybird on Dec 31, 2015 16:44:16 GMT -5
I like Zelda too, but I also like Kazoo because the sound it makes is quite similar to QP noises.
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Post by cnyguy on Dec 31, 2015 20:38:06 GMT -5
Welcome to you and your yet-to-be-named QP! Happy to have you join us on the Forum. Parrots don't instinctively know how to play with toys. Sometimes it helps to play with the parrot's toys while she watches you. Show her how much fun they are. Often, the parrot will want to join in the fun. Of course, it doesn't always work, and there are parrots who never take any interest in toys. They are usually good at finding other things to keep them busy. My QP Ralph isn't much for parrot toys, but enjoys untying knots in strings, chewing up popsicle sticks and building with his wooden dowels.
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Post by julianna on Jan 1, 2016 12:24:19 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. This is a great place to learn a lot about quakers and the people here are very kind. (If not they get booted lol lol)
I am sure you will find the perfect name based on her personality. Don't worry about the toys... I have a huge box full of them and I don't think any of them got touched (except for thrown to the floor). Oscar just loves to tear up paper towel... that's for sure.. and he likes to tear up the newspaper too.
Happy New Year and welcome once again.
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Post by Aardman on Jan 2, 2016 2:28:46 GMT -5
It's nice to know I shouldn't be concerned about the lack of interest in toys or her seeming willies over stuff I happen to have in my hand. Today some friends were over and one of them happened to notice she threw one of the clothespin pieces off of the top of her cage (I've not seen her have the slightest interest in them) so they picked it up and put it back and immediately she made a beeline off the top of her cage, squawking the whole time. Mostly I've been concerned for her mental state if she's not having an interest in toys. When she was in the pet store they SAID she liked battling the bell she had in her cage so we've put several bells around and I periodically flip them and act like I'm having a blast. She watches, but that's about it.
I'm retired and my wife works seasonally, so somebody is almost always at home, and she pretty much wants to spend most of her time hanging around with us, either climbing on our shoulders, or just watching what we're up to from one of her extraneous perches, so maybe that's why she could care less about toys, I dunno. She did eventually dismantle a string of popcorn we hung from the roof of her cage, so there's that.
As for names, both Link and Zelda are sourced from a video game I have no interest in but my son loves. I was fine with Link until I found out the bird was a she. To me Link is short for Lincoln, so it didn't work, much to my son's disappointment. Kazoo was brought up because I once spent a semester working on my DMA in researching the origins of the kazoo. It is a different name, but the only person that really liked using it was my wife (son disliked it). For a lark I wanted to name her Polly, but everybody glared at me over that one. Whatever we settle on, I learned my lesson from our last bird. When we got him he would buzz and buzz and buzz so we named him Buzzer which was shortened to Buzz. As soon as we settled on that name, he stopped making the sound. He never buzzed again!
I just hope she maintains the sweet disposition she has had so far. Has never acted in the least bit aggressive and has not bitten anybody a single time though she likes to touch / feel skin with her mouth and will try to groom little things like hangnails and the like, though that's perfectly natural.
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Post by biteybird on Jan 2, 2016 6:23:47 GMT -5
She sounds adorable! I'm glad it's not your hand/s she's afraid of, just physical items (it seems). One of our other new forum members has a QP named Polly! I think Julianna is right; the appropriate name will present itself according to her personality - it will probably just 'jump out at you' one day. She actually does look 'spiffy' though!
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Post by Aardman on Jan 5, 2016 1:45:56 GMT -5
I think she's pretty spiffy too, but we'll see what name finally rises to the surface. My son continuously calls her birdo, which, is kinda different, but I'm not sold on it yet.
When we first started looking into getting another bird I was originally thinking about a green cheek conure. In fact, I'd scoped out a few likely candidates and was getting close to a decision. I didn't think I'd find a quaker so wasn't considering one, they're pretty uncommon around here. Anyway, this little cutie-pie showed up and it didn't take long at all to decide forget the conures, here it is.
Today was a first. I've never seen her display the least bit of interest in any of the toys I've hung in her cage so far, but today was different. She climbed into her home-made snuggle hut then leaned out and spent a good half hour giving a complicated mass of wooden and plastic rings I'd hung a piece of her mind - chewing and shaking the daylights out it, pausing every once in a while to bob her head a few times then go back to it again - rinse and repeat. After this went on for some time, she grabbed the roof of her cage with her beak, swung out, then hung upside down for a while before swinging over to the side and down to get a bite to eat. This may not sound like much to most of you, but this was something to me because it was the first time I had seen her being playful with her toys. Mostly she just looks to us for entertainment.
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Post by aaron on Jan 5, 2016 11:07:58 GMT -5
Greetings Aardman and your new little friend! These Quakers sure are fun, aren't they? Our QP, Cupcake, has little to no interest in toys. She will occasionally resort to playing with one when she can't seem to get the attention from one of us that she wants, or we are busy with things and she has concluded that we are being particularly boring... but it seems pretty common for Quakers to be far more interested in interacting with other living beings than inanimate toys. I don't feel like I hear about many Quakers that are crazy about their toys, but perhaps someone will chime in and prove me wrong I too, like your Son, am a fan of the Legend of Zelda video game. It is a true classic But, honestly, I like the name Kazoo the best. Spiffy is good too. Welcome aboard! Keep us posted on how things go!
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