NewQuakerMom
Member
- Apr 7, 2020
- 111
- 6
I know, there's no easy/obvious way to tell, but I'm super curious. Are there visible/behavioral ways to tell if a quaker is even in the category of 'oldish' vs 'youngish' ? Our guy is so calm - I knew another quaker once, who was only a few years old, and he was all over everything. Constantly climbed every perch in his cage, hardly sat still for a minute unless he was sleeping. Screamed his head off if he wasn't getting constant attention.
This little guy he just hangs out and preens... and squawks for head scratches, and squawks for me to sing so he can dance along to my singing, and squawks for my kid when she leaves the room. We put foraging treats around, and he has no interest in going out of his way to get anything, lol, even his favorite cucumber, which he will demolish if we put it where he can get to it along his regular route. He just hangs out in his favorite spot and occasionally climbs down to sit with me, or sit with my kid. Chews on the wooden perches, & paper stuff we give him to destroy, but isn't interested in toys or playing in any other way.
Initially, when we first got him, he napped a lot. Turns out we weren't giving him enough sleep at night! Now he gets a good 10 hours, and doesn't nap at all anymore, just sits and preens, takes baths, preens some more, squawks for stuff, or yells at my dog through the window. (By name, lol. I yell at my dog through the window if I see her eating the cat's food, and our little copycat picked it up really quickly, and now yells at the dog, using my exact same inflection, when he's mad at us, or sees the dog through the window. He's a hoot) He spends most of his time out of his cage, sitting on this huge perch-thing I made to cover the whole window - interconnected branches, in all directions, all sizes and shapes, with a thick rope thing up and down the middle, a bath, and a water dish. When I first put it up, he explored the whole thing, and seemed to enjoy climbing and so on - but after that first day he's only just gone between his 2 favorite perches, and the water, and his bath.
When he's in his cage, he also just hangs out. Eats. Sits. lol.
He seems very happy - bright eyes, alert, interested in everything, but so extremely calm, I wonder if that's a reflection of age, or if he just happens to be a very calm birdie. I've had chickens, lol, but this is the first parrot I've had, so I just have no idea what I should be expecting. The only reason I want to know if he might be old is to keep a special eye on his health & so on, and know what to expect a bit. If he's young, we have years and years and years ahead - if he's elderly, I'd hate to miss signs of his age catching up to him, if you know what I mean. I've rescued elderly animals before, and it helps to know in advance that this animal is really old, and you only have a limited time with them before they pass, if that makes any sense at all. Sounds terribly morbid when I write it out, but that's my concern. Thanks very much in advance for any thoughts you all might have!!
This little guy he just hangs out and preens... and squawks for head scratches, and squawks for me to sing so he can dance along to my singing, and squawks for my kid when she leaves the room. We put foraging treats around, and he has no interest in going out of his way to get anything, lol, even his favorite cucumber, which he will demolish if we put it where he can get to it along his regular route. He just hangs out in his favorite spot and occasionally climbs down to sit with me, or sit with my kid. Chews on the wooden perches, & paper stuff we give him to destroy, but isn't interested in toys or playing in any other way.
Initially, when we first got him, he napped a lot. Turns out we weren't giving him enough sleep at night! Now he gets a good 10 hours, and doesn't nap at all anymore, just sits and preens, takes baths, preens some more, squawks for stuff, or yells at my dog through the window. (By name, lol. I yell at my dog through the window if I see her eating the cat's food, and our little copycat picked it up really quickly, and now yells at the dog, using my exact same inflection, when he's mad at us, or sees the dog through the window. He's a hoot) He spends most of his time out of his cage, sitting on this huge perch-thing I made to cover the whole window - interconnected branches, in all directions, all sizes and shapes, with a thick rope thing up and down the middle, a bath, and a water dish. When I first put it up, he explored the whole thing, and seemed to enjoy climbing and so on - but after that first day he's only just gone between his 2 favorite perches, and the water, and his bath.
When he's in his cage, he also just hangs out. Eats. Sits. lol.
He seems very happy - bright eyes, alert, interested in everything, but so extremely calm, I wonder if that's a reflection of age, or if he just happens to be a very calm birdie. I've had chickens, lol, but this is the first parrot I've had, so I just have no idea what I should be expecting. The only reason I want to know if he might be old is to keep a special eye on his health & so on, and know what to expect a bit. If he's young, we have years and years and years ahead - if he's elderly, I'd hate to miss signs of his age catching up to him, if you know what I mean. I've rescued elderly animals before, and it helps to know in advance that this animal is really old, and you only have a limited time with them before they pass, if that makes any sense at all. Sounds terribly morbid when I write it out, but that's my concern. Thanks very much in advance for any thoughts you all might have!!
I was just hoping to find a way to know so that if he's later in life, we'll be prepared for him to pass away sooner than a long long time from now. It wouldn't change anything we do, but it's sort of nice to know if you're going to have 30 years or 3 with a loved one.
