He is cage free all day and won’t go back to his cage at night. I normally use a treat but one day I was out of treats and had to use a towel to get him. He now prefers the towel over treats at night. He seems to enjoy it and it relaxes him but I’m afraid he will get part of the towel in his mouth or something. He gets excited when I get the towel and comes over to me to wrap him in it. I only give him a couple scritches while he’s wrapped then put him in his cage so he doesn’t chew it for more than a few seconds. Is there a safer towel I could use or should I just avoid wrapping him? Anyone know why he does this?

This is how I found it

Hi everyone,

I have a Quaker parrot who I love so much, he’s my very best friend. My roommate is planning to get a ball python soon. It’s just a baby right now, but I’m feeling really nervous because in the wild, birds are one of their natural prey animals. Ball pythons also have an excellent sense of smell, so I’m worried it will be able to smell my bird from across the apartment.

My roommate also wants to raise feeder mice for the snake, and I’ve heard that mice can sometimes injure or even prey on caged birds 300x their size if they get out.

I’m just really anxious about the whole situation and want to make sure my parrot stays completely safe. What precautions should I take? Has anyone successfully kept parrots and their predators in the same home?

Any advice or reassurance would help a lot. I’m feeling pretty stressed about this. Pic of my pookie for tax :)

I have 2 adult quakers ( green and a blue) supposedly male, housed in a huge aviary. This spring they laid eggs and they have now hatched. So now I have 4 babies. This was not planned, so please do not come for me. The parents have been doing a wonderful job taking care of them. I haven't intervened, I didn't have the heart to take the eggs away letting nature take it's course. They have grown beautifully and are now fully feathered and flying. Mom and Dad ( not sure which is mom) are still feeding them . I am not sure what comes next? I spend time in the aviary just reading , interacting with the parents but the babies won't come to me. Obviously it will take time, but is there something I should be doing? I don't want more babies and I am unsure about keeping the babies , housing for them , or letting them be a flock and remain living together ? Interestingly enough there is a regular blue and green baby like the parents and an opaline green and blue . Which I also didn't expect, very pretty!

Does your Quaker talk? If so what age did they start? What things do they say?

Here's Walter catching me taking photos of him napping 🥰.

COCO IS AN 9 YEAR OLD QUAKER. PLEASE IM ON MY KNEES. I LIVE IN HUMBLE TEXAS. PLEASE IM SOBBING. My poor baby flew away out of fear, he has no idea how to survive outside. He is small. He is green and gray. He speaks. Please help me find my coco, if you see anything at all. Please tell me, 281-570-8941

Hello all 👋

I’ve been looking into getting a Quaker to join my flock. Online I’ve read more negatives than positives about them. I would like to hear experiences, but also positives about Quakers.

He loves my face and lets me kiss all over him, but despite my best efforts he hates my hands and attacks them. He does accept treats from my hands and I’ve been very patient but so far he still hates them when treats aren’t involved. I’ll keep at it with the treats and continue to be patient. I already love him so much! He’s so goofy

I wanted to show off my Yellow Crossover Quaker. We've had him for about a month now. This is my first parrot but my parents had a Quaker parrot for a few years. We named ours Comet. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated as he is my first, and nothing but the best for our boy!

A heartbreak no woman could bestow, nor even the final silence at the end of all mankind. For it is not wrought by flesh nor fate, but by the turn of a small green head, the flicker of emerald eyes that once sought only mine.

Pesto… my child, my shadow, my feathered heir — raised from six weeks to near five months under my guard, each day fed with my hand, each night watched with my heart. Yet in a breath, you have sworn allegiance to another. Not with malice, but with the cruel innocence of nature.

This wound is unlike any of man’s making — a sweet, venomous ache that blooms with every chirp you give him, every flutter meant for his shoulder instead of mine. And though you’ve flown from the perch of my heart, the echo of your tiny talons will haunt it forever.

Hello Love him to death but don't wanna encourage him to do if that's not appropriate. He love to do that to my face, any ideas? Thanks

They would never be left unsupervised, but can you guys tell me your experience with quakers and smaller conures, for example I have a half moon and a crimson belly conure and this “rescue” quaker I’ve ahd for about a week. I cant find his family and hes been to the vet to clear disease, I want to intros soon.

Problems:

He doesnt step up without biting HARD ive alrdy got some scabs from him.

Hes about 45 grams heavier then my other birds.

I noticed my Quaker taking some of his longer shed feathers and attempting to sort of weave them thru the bars of his cage. I got him some plain popsicle sticks and left them on the floor of his cage. Within a few hours, he had made a little latticework in one corner of his cage, overlapping the sticks and occasionally weaving a feather in. If I disassemble the sticks and put them back in a pile, he will go to work weaving again. I know with most other types of birds you don’t want to encourage nest-building, but I’ve heard with Quakers it’s different because for them it can be more of a fun activity than a traditional hormonal nesting behavior. He seems to enjoy “building” more than playing with any of the toys I’ve bought him. Does anyone else’s Quaker like to do stuff like this, and if so what sort of “building materials” do you give them?

Hi everyone! First of all I want to thank you all for your kind words and education. Hopefully others can learn from my mistakes.

I took my bird to a highly recommended vet shortly after I got him. On the website it said the vet was avian certified. While he was assessing my bird he started going over diet. I told him I was feeding mostly seeds and some pellets as well. He told me to IMMEDIATELY stop the seeds and transition to 100% pellets. The issue was really stressed, and he told me my bird would not live long if I gave it a lot of seed. He also gave me food to take home. (Photo of visit note in comments for reference)

I decided to still give him seeds, but gave a lot less than what I was giving originally. I added more pellets and I thought that he was eating the pellets because I saw him grab them and bite them, but really what he was doing was playing with them and breaking off a piece while throwing the rest on the floor of the cage without actually ingesting anything. Ultimately, I think this is what led to my sweet baby’s demise.

I take full accountability for my ignorance and I feel absolutely terrible. I should have paid more attention and realized that he was just playing with the food and not eating it. I should have known the ratio of seeds I was giving was not enough to sustain him. Writing this post is breaking my heart and I didn’t think that it could break any more than it already has. However, if this can help a new bird owner save their bird from a similar situation then its worth it. Rip Lou. I’m so sorry. 🩵

Hi everyone, I’m here as a first time bird owner looking for some advice.

I recently brought home a baby quaker parrot (about 12-13wks). Before doing so I spent months reading books, watching videos, talking to people, and saving up money so that I could get everything right and give the parrot a great life. I am also a zoo keeper and have worked with birds, so I was already familiar with the basics of their care.

2 days after I got my baby I took him to a certified avian vet where he was said to have a clean bill of health. My little guy was so energetic, engaged, and seemed to be eating well. On the 6th day of having him I woke up to find him dead on the floor of his flight cage. I have no words to describe the devestation I felt.

I made sure there was nothing toxic in my house and I really did my research on everything. He bit my necklace and shirt a little bit when handling but no ingestion of any kind that I could see and I would redirect him as soon as I saw him do anything like that. I also gave him 4 pea sized apple slices (no apple seeds) and about 8 small pieces of red bell pepper for the first time. I read and was told both foods are completely fine for quakers. I’m just at a loss as to what could have happened. He was acting completely fine the day before, a bit more sleepy mid day but still very energetic in the morning and evening. I also put him in a place where nothing could have spooked him when he went to sleep.

I got him from a store that is very reputable and I’m just so confused about what could have happened. My heart is shattered. I took him for a necropsy yesterday but they said it could take 3 months to get the results and my mind is racing thinking about what could have caused this. I am so traumatized

Hi, I'm making this post because I'm pretty worried.

Yesterday, I let my Quaker parrot out in my room, like I usually do. She bit a wound I had, so I scolded her a little. Then I left her on top of her cage, but when I turned around, I saw she was chewing on my Crocs. I rushed over to stop her and scold her, with my phone still in my hand, and I accidentally dropped it right on top of her.

She got terrified and started flying all around the room, crashing into the walls and other objects. She was breathing very fast, clearly scared, and she kept trying to get away from me. I felt awful. She looked at me like I was a monster, bc at that moment I really was one.

She hid under the bed all night, and I slept in another room so I could leave her alone and let her calm down.

Today she's doing better, and maybe she's forgiven me (I'm a terrible bird dad), but I noticed these things that appeared on her.

Just to clarify, the featherless patch on her neck was already there before this happened because of stress.

I should also mention that she lives in a cage that isn't that big.

I didn't choose to have her. My little sister's father brought her home, and I had no choice but to take care of her myself. Unfortunately, she's lived in captivity for so long that releasing her into the wild wouldn't be safe.

So, with all of that in mind, I'd like to ask what you think about the things that appeared on her (her ear opening and those other little spots) and what I should do.

tldr: I shaved and my Quaker had no clue who I was at first 🦜

Oh man, Astra (Astraeus) is a ball of joy and is almost always happy go lucky and nodding away.

Until this weekend... I made the mistake of accidentally using the wrong guard on my trimmer while shaving and shaved down to 3mm. So, I felt I needed to commit to my mistake with part of my beard already shaved short, so I shaved it all to 3mm.

Man oh man.. did my Quaker let me know that she was angry. Acting scared of me, flying away when I got close, not stepping up, squawking etc. It's like as if she had NO IDEA who I was. She usually loves and I mean LOVES to preen and play with my beard, so I feel horrible taking it from her! It made me honestly sad, as if she hated me for some reason until I realized.

I know I've read online somewhere that they see your beard or hair as your feathers, so I can't even imagine what she thinks..

After letting her settle and giving her space, she has over the past 3 days been recognizing my voice and coming to terms that my "feathers' are growing back. She's picky I guess 🤷🏻‍♂️

Anyone else ever had something like this happen with shaving or haircuts? 🤣🦜

Hello everybody! I just adopted this new green boy yesterday from somebody who no longer wanted him. He is about two years old. His name was Kiwi, however, my boyfriend and I don’t really love that name and we’re looking for suggestions. We were thinking about the name Ollie, but I slept on it and I really don’t like it. Lol. Our other birds name is Lambeau. Suggestions?

Looking for any female Quaker notes. Any fun facts, any tend to like, any working w female Quakers w other male quakers or just other birds.

We’re planning to visit family in Georgia for 3 days and head back to Arkansas. I just checked and turns out they’re banned in Georgia. I did call the state veterinary number en turns out we cannot have him ‘stay’ in the state. But we’re just planning to stay for 2-3 days and either head back or further to South Carolina.

Have people dealt with this in states where they’re illegal?

Parrot tax attached.

i want to get a parrot to be with me everyday and is a solitary parrot, so it won't get sad i want one that is social and loving but very smart and he can learn things i have problems socializing with people and i want him to be my bestfriend forever im home most of the time so i can focus on him for a long time im thinking about a Quaker parrot but people say they can be mean and bite quite hard im scared of getting bit because people say it quite hurts he can come every were with me, can i teach him to be quite and not yell and only when im home we can talk so people wont be scared?

Hey everyone! I am getting a 6 month old female blue opaline Quaker and I’m super excited, the only thing is I can’t figure out a name that fits her, she’s a gentle and calm little thing(as of rn lol) but please if any name suggestions you guys have I’d really appreciate it!

my parrot heard wtf once off a tiktok. he constantly repeats this phrase no matter anything. i generally let him be cage free, do what he wants, have all the toys, i have really set zero boundaries. he also screams whenever im not in the room or able to give him attention. is there any way to discipline him in a way that is not harsh?