josh
Hatchling
Posts: 2 
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Post by josh on Jul 31, 2016 16:32:37 GMT -5
Thats right, I finally pulled the trigger. I bought a 3 month old green quaker earlier today. I have a very large cage for him, several toys, several perches, pellets, seeds, grapes and some bok choy for him right now. A few questions...I bought a bag of Zupreem "Natural" pellets with added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It says on the bag that it is for medium sized birds, including quakers, right on the bag. Is this decent food? Should I always keep the food dish full 24/7? I also bought a bag of mixed bird seed, LM Farms small parrot diet, "A nutritious, tasty blend of seeds,grains,nuts and vitamin fortified pellets." Should I fill the second food dish with this and keep it full 24/7? My other question is, should I put a bedsheet over his cage tonight? I have read yes, and no. Thats all for now, I just found this forum, and now I am going to read the whole darn thing. Thanks!!
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Post by cnyguy on Jul 31, 2016 19:51:57 GMT -5
Congratulations on becoming a Quaker parront!  The ZuPreem pellets are fine-- lots of QPs like them, though some prefer other brands and types. Sometimes it's necessary to try a few different ones to find out which your parrot likes best. Pellets should be available at all times. A little of the seed mix might be given once a day, but I wouldn't recommend making it available at all times. Each parrot seems to have his or her own ideas about cage covers. My QP Ralph likes having the back of his cage always covered. At night, most of the two sides are covered too, along with just the top third of the front. My African Grey Scooter won't accept any cover at all. Happy to have you and your new QP join us on the Forum-- feel free to ask any questions you might have, and enjoy reading the Forum posts. |
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Post by biteybird on Aug 1, 2016 4:43:12 GMT -5
G'day to you and your quaker, Josh. Welcome! Most quakers will choose seed over pellets if both are made available, so as cnyguy says, don't make seed available all the time. I'd try covering the cage and just see how your quaker goes with that - I guess you'll know straight off if he doesn't like it (he will let you know!). |
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Post by easttex on Aug 1, 2016 6:23:55 GMT -5
Hi Josh! Have you named your new buddy? The only thing I can add to the above is that if there is any draft in the room where he sleeps, do cover him, at least on the drafty side.
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Post by aaron on Aug 1, 2016 8:52:44 GMT -5
Welcome josh! Congrats on your new little one! As the others said, you don't want to make seeds available all the time. Personally, we don't feed our QP any seeds at all, but using them as treats or offering a small amount at a specific time of day can work. Quaker Parrots are particularly susceptible to fatty liver disease, and seeds are a very high fat diet, and not particularly nutritious, either... So it's best they don't get many of them-- but if you allow the bird to have access to seeds all the time, 99% of the time they will pick the seeds over everything else.
The brand of pellets I prefer is Harrison's, which is organic and can be ordered online (You would want high potency fine at this point in time)... but Zupreem is certainly adequate.
Good luck and let us know if you have any questions!
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Post by julianna on Aug 1, 2016 13:45:32 GMT -5
Hi Josh and welcome. It is not necessary to fill their bowls with food. Usually I put a small bit of seeds and a large handful of pellets in his bowl in the morning. Always clean water. Later I will give my Oscar some fresh vegetables like peas, broccoli, romaine lettuce etc. Also he gets later a little bit of fruit such as a piece of apple, green grape (peeled) anything except citrus fruit as he does not like this.
His food bowl is changed every day as you do not want to leave vegetables or fruits in their bowl for too long. He also snacks on my food when I am eating. He comes down and checks out my plate and picks what he likes. (pasta is one of his favorites). Have fun feeding him... experiment with different foods and nuts. Be sure to read on this forum... what not to feed them as some foods are good for us and poisonous to them.
I look forward to reading your posting.
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josh
Hatchling
Posts: 2
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Post by josh on Aug 1, 2016 19:35:57 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. His name is Turkey. Things are going great so far. Quick question. Do your quakers talk? If so, how long did it take, and how old were they when they started? I have always wanted a bird that can talk. Fingers crossed.
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Post by cnyguy on Aug 1, 2016 19:49:01 GMT -5
Ralph started to learn words when I first got him, at about six months of age. That's about average for a QP, though some can imitate speech at a very young age, some wait until they're older, and a few never speak anything but Quaker parrot language. Ralph knows a lot of words, but doesn't say them often. He's not a very talkative parrot, and is pretty quiet in general. Talk to Turkey often, and frequently repeat words or phrases you'd like him to learn, using them in context. Some parrots pick up new words quickly, and sometimes they'll just refuse to learn something you'd like them to say. Keep talking to Turkey and maybe someday soon he'll say something back. |
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Post by julianna on Aug 4, 2016 14:13:23 GMT -5
My quaker talks his head off but only if he thinks we are listening. I blame this to me giving him too much attention. I have seen other Quakers where the person asks them to repeat something.... and they do. Oscar will not do this at all. If we leave him alone and go outside or something... then we can hear him talking up a storm by himself.
Some of them are on the shy side.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 5, 2016 6:02:14 GMT -5
Bonnie said her first words ("hello" and "good girl") about 2 weeks after we got her, so she was roughly 10 weeks old. Now...she's like Julianna's Oscar, in that she won't talk when requested but chooses to do so when nobody is in the room. These quakers have very feisty, independent personalities! By the way, 'Turkey' is a great name! |
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The ZuPreem pellets are fine-- lots of QPs like them, though some prefer other brands and types. Sometimes it's necessary to try a few different ones to find out which your parrot likes best. Pellets should be available at all times. A little of the seed mix might be given once a day, but I wouldn't recommend making it available at all times. Each parrot seems to have his or her own ideas about cage covers. My QP Ralph likes having the back of his cage always covered. At night, most of the two sides are covered too, along with just the top third of the front. My African Grey Scooter won't accept any cover at all. Happy to have you and your new QP join us on the Forum-- feel free to ask any questions you might have, and enjoy reading the Forum posts. 
