Contemplating getting another quaker, have a few questions

captainnapalm
Hatchling

Posts: 4

Contemplating getting another quaker, have a few questions Sept 8, 2014 12:05:38 GMT -5

Quote

Post by captainnapalm on Sept 8, 2014 12:05:38 GMT -5

Hi Everyone,

For the past couple of months I've been contemplating whether to get another quaker parrot. I have one quaker now housed in a large 24" x 24" x 60" cage. He is a male, green, in good health, just over 6 months old. He is extremely tame, trusting, easy going, friendly little guy who never bites or acts out (for now fingers crossed).

Since my wife and I both work days, typical office hours, Monday to Friday 9am to 5-6pm, I sometimes feel that maybe I don't spend enough time with him. I leave to work every morning at 8am so I get up earlier enough just to make sure I can give him a good 45 mins out of cage time and at least 15 minutes direct interaction with him before I leave to work. Then he's left in his cage until around 6pm when I get home. At this point he is usually let out of the cage right away and stays out until around 9pm when he settles in to sleep for the night. In the afternoon I try to have at least a half hour or more of direct interaction with him and my wife will hang out with him for a bit too. So weekdays, he gets around 3-4 hours out of the cage time daily and about 1 to 1.5 hours of direct interaction with us daily. Weekends he is a bit more lucky and depending on our schedules he is usually out of his cage 5-6 hours both Saturday and Sunday and gets around 2-3 hours of direct interaction with us daily for Saturday and Sunday. I should mention that even if he's in the cage or not directly interacting with us the bird is located in a common living area of our house so that he always sees us roaming around.

The only way I would consider getting another quaker is if I could house the two together in one cage. We just simply don't have room in our living/common area to have two large cages for two separate birds and we don't want to put the birds in an area where they don't feel like they're part of the family. So I would likely get another baby or young male quaker because we don't want breeding or laying eggs.

Concerns I have are:

1. If I maintain direct interaction with both quakers (play with them, handle them, spend one-on-one time with each one, etc.) will they likely become less tame anyway because they are housed in the same cage together?

2. If they end up getting along, is it safe to have them in the same cage without supervision?

3. Am I overthinking all this and is the amount of time I spend with my quaker acceptable?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Cheers

Mike

cnyguy
Senior Forum Manager

Posts: 2,276

Contemplating getting another quaker, have a few questions Sept 8, 2014 20:38:21 GMT -5

Quote

Post by cnyguy on Sept 8, 2014 20:38:21 GMT -5

The usual advice is not to get another parrot because you think the one you already have needs a friend-- only get one because you want one.

It sounds to me like you're making the most of the time you can spend one-on-one with your QP, and that's the right approach-- the quality of the time is more important than the quantity of time spent with a parrot.

Housing two parrots in the same cage is always a doubtful proposition, unless they're already a bonded pair or breeding pair. If you do decide to add a second Quaker to the flock, I'd hold off until it's possible to provide Quaker No. 2 with a cage of his or her own.

easttex
Top Bird/Chief Slave

Posts: 2,410

Contemplating getting another quaker, have a few questions Sept 9, 2014 3:54:21 GMT -5

Quote

Post by easttex on Sept 9, 2014 3:54:21 GMT -5

I'm afraid I would never be able close the cage door on two unbonded parrots and relax.

And if it does work out between the two birds, you may well find your relationship with your first to be different than it is now. I'd hold off until I could provide a second cage, too. Considering your schedule you seem to be doing pretty well with giving him attention.

Quaker Peppy (RIP my sweet pea), CAG Allie, dogs Wanda and Bonnie, feral kitties Cleo and Antoinette, mice Charlotte and Emily, née Jake and Elwood

Chels
Hatchling

Posts: 10

Contemplating getting another quaker, have a few questions Sept 9, 2014 9:44:51 GMT -5 via mobile

Quote

Post by Chels on Sept 9, 2014 9:44:51 GMT -5

Two months ago my husband and I decided to get another Quaker parrot because Sweetea, our older Quaker, is 8 years old and is bonded to me and my husband wanted a bird of his own to interact with and teach things. We adopted a 9 week old Quaker (who is now 18 weeks old).
The lady we adopted Squirt from gave us a cage with a couple of toys and the food she weaned him on.
The first day went so surprisingly well. Sweetea wasn't jealous, she shared an apple with Squirt, and she never lunged to attack Squirt.
Since Squirt had siblings, he immediately wanted to play with Sweetea and be her friend, but Sweetea wanted nothing to do with Squirt and ran away from him at every attempt if interaction. I would have never dreamed about housing them two together right off the bat. By having them in separate cages where they can see, talk, and interact from a distance has been great. It has taken two months, but Sweetea will finally let Squirt get close enough to preen her and she preen him back. They are only that close when on me or my husband. They make the cutest sounds when they are preening each other (almost like "awwww").
If they are close together too long (always supervised), Squirt becomes a little too excited and starts biting too hard and doesn't listen as well. If housed together (and it actually works) Your current Quaker might decide that it likes your new Quaker better and not want to interact with you.
As of now, the two Quakers are working out great. I would be very weary of getting another Quaker and expecting the two to like each other enough to be able to house them together and not hurt each other. Sweetea likes to have her space away from Squirt