rehomed Quaker- first time out of cage?

KurtG

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Apr 21, 2014
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Quaker Parrot
How to transition a quaker out of the cage?

We (family of 5) just adopted a rehomed Quaker that is about 3 years old. He/She is in an ~18X18X30 cage. We've had "Louis" for a bout a week now. At first he was a bit nippy, but he's warmed up quickly to us and has become quite the chatter in a short time. Says- Good bird, Pretty bird, Good boy, good girl, whatcha doing, uh oh, whistles and mimics laughs.

I asked the prior owner and got the look of disbelief when I asked if she picked up Louis,,, the only answer that was muttered was soemthing about a glove so understood the real answer was "no"

He's a bit territorial with the cage but has gotten better about letting us pet and scratch him, I am also able to put my fingers on his legs and feet without eliciting a nip.

So how do we go about trying to let him out of the cage? I've handled big parrots long ago as part of a bird show (but they were already trained). I am a bit out of my element here and have bad memories of being gouged by a big Hyacinth Macaw.
 

Kalidasa

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May 8, 2013
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Quakers do get territorial about their cages, but after a week I would go ahead and let him out, and and see how he does. A Quakers bite is nothing compared to any type of macaw, more like a conure bite. If he's being that friendly you'll be able to deal with him surely. I had a rehome Quaker a while back and let him out the next day with no problems. It's best not to go into it assuming you'll be bit, because he'll pick up on it and oblige you :D they are usually much friendlier birds outside their cages, so if he's letting you touch him while he's inside the cage, his behavior will most likely be even friendlier when he's out. :)
 

MonicaMc

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Sep 12, 2012
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You might want to consider target training as a means of working with your new quaker and teaching him where to go without getting bitten.
 
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KurtG

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Apr 21, 2014
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Quaker Parrot
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Louis was having a bad day so he did not come out. There are times where he is the sweetest bird and times where he literally bites trhough the wire on his cage. We have two dogs so that complicates giving him free roam to come out on his choosing. The dogs have to be outside to let him free. He did, angrily, shout through his growing vocabulary, lol, telling himself he was a good bird, pretty bird. Going to need a new cage soon with the bitten through wires.
 

Empath

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i'd kick the dogs out of the house and open the cage door sitting near it and let him choose what to do. he might choose to stay in, or he might eagerly climb out. once out i'd let him just wander around (within reason) and see what he does. he may explore, he may come straight to you

for my birds who don't always like to step up, i've noticed they will step up when it suits them i.e. to get out of the cage or to get picked up off the floor. you might find he'll step up onto you once he's done enough exploring
 

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