adc
Hatchling
Posts: 4 
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Post by adc on Jan 20, 2015 11:58:38 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I am Ashley I am married to Nick we have two girls 4 years old and 4 months, we also have two dogs a 7 year old Min pin and a 5 year old German Shepherd. I have had a lot of different animals in my life but never a bird.
We plan to adopt a rescue bird on Saturday, apparently this little Quaker is 8-15 years old and was treated like a parakeet with things not nearly big enough and little to no interaction most of his life. He is currently on a seed diet i hope to transition to pellets
After he settles in, the foster mom can't get him to grasp "step up" so I will try to work on that as well.
What I am hoping for is anything I may not be thinking of as far as what to expect or how to make his life the best I can
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Post by easttex on Jan 20, 2015 15:17:37 GMT -5
Hi Ashley, et al. I adopted an older Quaker, without much knowledge of his past, and it has gone very well. It is different from adopting a baby bird, and will require more patience on your part. I have a suspicion that you have done some research already on birds, so don't want to give you a lot of detail you don't need, but will say that they are a whole different thing from dogs. Some things you don't think twice about can be very hazardous to birds, for example, Teflon, scented candles, avocado, etc.
It's not always easy to go directly from seeds to pellets, but there are things like cooked diets that you can use as a transition, if you need to.
You'll want to give him some time to settle in to his new environment, to learn that you are friend not foe. You can get lots of help here when you need it. I'm looking forward to hearing more about him. Does he have a name? If he was neglected, he may not be very attached to his current name. I changed my grey's name without any problem. |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jan 20, 2015 15:20:44 GMT -5
Congratulations on adopting a quaker. If you go to the Behaviour page and look for Clicker Training by Sharyn and Mr P, that will help you with stepping up, etc. Sharyn took in a rescue parrot (pionus) and clicker trained it. The results were remarkable so it may help you with your new friend. Just give him time - dont try and get him out of the cage for a few days. Sit beside the cage and talk/sing, whatever, so he gets used to you and your family. You can try feeding treats through the cage bars. It may be wise not to have your dogs in the room when the bird starts coming out of the cage. Accidents happen and even though we think we know our pets, dogs and cats are predators so dont take the risk. Just give it time and relax - dont expect too much from the bird to begin with as some quakers take quite a while to settle in. Others will be along shortly with lots more advice for you. If you have any questions, just post on this forum. We are all here to help each other.
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adc
Hatchling
Posts: 4
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Post by adc on Jan 20, 2015 16:41:01 GMT -5
Right now his/her name is Riley as no one knows If it is male or female, that name was given by the foster mom last fall, I don't know what it was previously
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Post by biteybird on Jan 20, 2015 17:20:18 GMT -5
Hi and welcome! :)You must be very excited about little Riley moving in. Do you have a safe space set up ready for Riley? As the others said he/she will need time to feel safe and comfortable with you and your family, so it would be wise to go slow with 'interaction' at the start (particularly if he/she was not interacted with for many years prior). Hope it all goes well & keep us posted!
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adc
Hatchling
Posts: 4
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Post by adc on Jan 20, 2015 17:28:15 GMT -5
Apparently he ( for the sake of argument) loves interactions with the foster mom but I will be taking it slow. He is coming home with everything he has at the foster home, I'm planning to upgrade him to a larger cage in couple months or so after he is comfortable here. Let's just hope he is ok being around kids because if he has a good reaction to my kids we won't be able to bring him home with us  Otherwise I am pretty sure we are ready to go. I really hope we aren't driving 3.5 hours each way and not bringing him home with us. |
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Post by cnyguy on Jan 20, 2015 21:05:13 GMT -5
Welcome to you and Riley and all your family.  Hope that all goes well and Riley will soon be home with you. A good way to start out with a new parrot is to sit near his cage and talk softly to him. You can read and sing to him too. That helps the parrot become accustomed to you and the sound of your voice. Everyone in the family can do that. Before long, you might try offering Riley some treats too. Give him all the time he needs to settle in and get comfortable. It usually takes a while for that to happen, and may take longer with an older, rehomed parrot. Time and patience are almost always rewarded with good results. |
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Hope that all goes well and Riley will soon be home with you.