Baby parrot questions from a new (future) owner.

[Utako]

Hello everyone

I am new to the parrot and bird world in general so I have quite a few questions for those of you who know/are experienced. To avoid making this message too long, I will say that I introduced myself in the introduction section, giving details about myself and my family.

I will be getting a baby male Quaker in a week from now which is why I come now with all these questions. I thought it might be better to post them here rather than the Quaker topic since more people seem to be viewing this section.

So, in a week from now, on Saturday the 21st, I will be getting my first parrot. A baby male Quaker, hand-raised, hand-fed and DNA-tested. I am married and my hubby is just as excited as I am; we don't have any children but we do have 2 adult cats and 2 adult small dogs.

My questions are:

1. Do you think I can successfully hand-feed this baby Quaker? He will need to be hand-fed twice a day for several weeks and he is already trying other foods by himself. The breeder will only sell him like this, refuses to wean him. I know hand-feeding can be dangerous, especially if done by someone inexperienced like myself so this is a huge worry of mine. I don't mind it all, I would happily hand-feed him, I am just worried about hurting him. Also, the breeder told us that on Saturday he will show us how to properly hand-feed him before we take him home. I also plan to ask the vet about hand-feeding methods and advice when we take the baby for a check-up the next day or so. The breeder told us the baby will have to be hand-fed using a bird spoon for small birds/baby birds (stainless steel) that we already bought.

2. How do I keep the temperature of the food constant? I read that in hand-feeding, the temperature of the formula is very important. If I make it warm enough, since I will use a spoon to feed him, as the process goes on, the formula will get colder I assume. I worry that that will make him refuse the rest if it's not warm enough. Unless I reheat it but then I worry that will affect the quality of the food.

3. At what age should he be completely weaned and trusted to eat on his own?

4. Do you firmly believe I shouldn't even consider or attempt hand-feeding and just leave him with the breeder until he's fully weaned? I have thought about that myself a lot; I have asked the breeder about it and he insisted I should take him before that and after a discussion, he was extremely reluctant to agree to keep him but he said I should think about this carefully, if I really wanted this. In this case, if I leave the baby Quaker with the breeder to be fully weaned, I worry that he won't be handled enough before and after feedings since the breeder was so reluctant to accept, I worry that he will be neglected from that point of view; also, I think his brothers and sisters will be sold around the same date I'm scheduled to pick him up, which might mean that he will be left alone in the babies' box and I worry that that might traumatise him to find himself all alone and if he does get traumatised by that, that might influence his whole behaviour later on, creating problems for us when we do pick him up; also the breeder seemed quite busy every single time we visited; he had many birds and he said he had quite a few babies too and not just baby Quakers so given this I would worry that he wouldn't have enough time left to handle my baby Quaker even if he wanted to.

5. What do you think about wing-clipping? Do you advise that I should do it or not? If yes, how often/how many times a year is it necessary?

6. For those pro wing-clipping, when should the baby Quaker have his wings clipped, before he learns how to fly or after? If after, for how long should he be allowed to fly before having his wings clipped? Will it be traumatising for him to lose his ability to fly all of a sudden?

7. Do any of you also have cats? If yes, do your birds and cats get along well? I am a huge cat lover and I could never ever give them up or stop having cats altogether. I know cat saliva is dangerous to parrots but I don't think my cats would ever attempt to groom/lick my parrot. If the cats took some toys in their mouths and therefore left saliva on them and then the parrot picks up the same toy in his beak, would that be dangerous to him?

8. What about dog saliva? Is it dangerous to parrots? My dogs might attempt to lick my parrot so this too worries me.

9. For those of you (if any) that have both parrots and cats, do your cats stalk your parrots, do they try to hunt them? My cats are especially active at night and in the dark and I read that parrots have poor night vision so now I worry about the parrot being terrified of my cats in the dark when they pass/play by his night/sleep cage. Is it necessary to put the parrot's cage somewhere where cats don't have access to avoid the parrot being scared by them, especially at night time? What about during day time when I have to leave them alone (say for grocery shopping), should the cats and parrot be kept separately then as well?

10. All non-stick/Teflon cookware is dangerous for birds, right? Are there any other types of cookware/kitchen items that are dangerous to parrots/birds? What do you use instead?

11. When you cook, where do you keep your bird/s? In the kitchen with you or elsewhere? I have an open floor kitchen with dining room and lounge room; would it be safe and ok for the bird to be somewhere in the dining or lounge room while I cook so he can still see me? Would the cooking fumes still affect the bird's health even if I use no non-stick/Teflon cookware? What if the bird wants to be closer to me, say right in the kitchen or on my shoulder? Would that be safe from the point of view of cooking fumes and smells and such?

12. What do you use to clean your floors/tiles/carpets/rugs? If you use something toxic/dangerous for parrots to clean floors but remove the bird out of the room until it completely dries off, is it safe for the bird to return in that room? Is it safe for the bird to walk on that floor even if it's now all dry? Would use of such dangerous cleaning solutions on floors require extra rinsing with water?

13. Do you use deodorants and perfumes on yourself? I read that they too are dangerous for birds. Are they dangerous for birds only when the bird is in the same room when a human uses it on themselves or are they still dangerous just because someone wears them and the bird can smell them when the human approaches or when the bird climbs on the human? What about shampoos, hand-sanitizers, creams, lotions, powders, make-up, lip balms, wet tissues, etc.? Can you use them and then handle the bird or you should wash them off completely? I frequently use wet tissues, hand-sanitizers, creams and lip balms so this worries me a lot now.

14. How often do you use external and internal deworming for your parrots? Monthly? What kind of products do you use for this? Tablets, sprays, etc.? I will ask the vet about it, of course, but I'm asking here too to have an idea/know what to expect.

I think these are all the questions for now. I'm sure I'll be back with more, sooner or later!
Thank you in advance! Any other suggestions or advice will be more than welcome

 

[strudel]

I don't know anything about hand-rearing.

I do have cats, they are not interested in my birds. You will need to observe them and see how they seem. Have a look at a recent thread asking about getting a kitten or rabbit, OP and I were talking about cats in that and I put a link to some info that might be helpful for you.

There's also a thread about wing-clipping. It's quite a Hot Potato of a topic, in that people feel strongly about it.

I use a steam cleaner or my scooba (water and vinegar in it) on my floors and I don't use any perfumes or sprays (as much for myself as for my birds). I do use rollon deodorant.

I wouldn't let the bird in the kitchen when cooking, he could fall into the sink or on the stove or something, or cause you to have an accident yourself if he was startled and you dropped a pot or something.

 

[cassiepengo]

hi!! welcome to the forum! im no expert, but i think i can tell you some of the things. right, here goes
1. yeah, its not that tough,(i think) but its not really easy either. google says you can do it all by yourself
for 2. and 3. i got you this- http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquakerhandbook.com%2Fhand-feeding-babies%2F&ei=HS-sUvuxC-WRiQeK04DAAg&usg=AFQjCNF8bgChaAugnpiNKiOkkDNboEl5UQ
4. i think you can do it. but if your doubtful, then i think you might consider getting a young quaker. not the hormonal ones, heck no!! but get a quaker that can eat by itself, and is at least 2 months old. it will be easier, though bonding may take time.
5. see how friendly your baby is. if hes really nice and sits with you, you dont have to. i think you can do it around once an year. it takes almost 6 months to grow back
6. hmm.... i think you can let him get used to you first, and finally when he is kinda more used to you, like after a month or two with you, you can clip him. i dont know much about clipping so i hope someone better comes along to tell you
7.i dont have a cat, but many members here do. from what i know, yes, your cat wont harm your birds, and the birds dont mind the cats, but sometimes, it may stress out your bird, even if kitty doesnt do anything. i would not advise you to leave them together, without you being there. dont let your cats take his toys!! i dont think that will end up good
8.nope, no dog salive either.
9. oh well, will they sleep in the same room? i think your bird will be sleeping anyways, he might not notice
10. microwave radiations arent good either. you dont have to change your pans and all, just keep your bird away, especially when ur using them
11. naw, thats not a good idea. where are you planning to keep your bird?? my bird is in my room. but you shouldnt really bring him in when your cooking. you can eat with him, though!!
12. my budgie walks on the floor, all right! ususally we use very very mild stuff for my room. i dont think it will bother your quaker, unless your using something really strong, or smelly
13. yeah, its not good at all. but i dunno much
14. no idea, sorry
i hope that helps!! good luck and dont mind the millions of spelling mistakes, im bad at typing.

 

[Jayyj]

The bird and cat thing: it very much depends on the bird and the cat, but it's certainly possible to have both. Here's the crucial bit though: if you keep two animals together, and they do seem to get on, there's always the potential for a squabble somewhere along the line. If it's two mammals and they're not ridiculously mismatched then chances are no harm will come of it, where as if your cat loses its temper with the bird, it only needs to break the bird's skin with a tooth or recently washed claw, and you have a life or death emergency on your hands. So, no matter how many cute Youtube clips there are of cats and birds playing together, it's better to be safe than sorry and keep a safe distance between them. And yes, dog saliva is just as dangerous, as is human saliva - all full of nasty bacteria that is potentially fatal if it gets into the bird's bloodstream.

Generally my bird and cat studiously ignore each other except for mealtimes, where they gang up on me to try to take things off my plate - there's a suspiciously high level of coordination going on, and the bird is definitely the ring leader! The cat was such a good girl before the bird arrived... But in the last hour I've spotted the bird sidling in the direction of the cat with beak open and a "no good can possibly come of this" glint in her eye, and had to intervene to avoid them coming into contact, so it always pays to keep an eye on them.

I can't comment on the hand feeding thing, but there are plenty of breeders on here who will be able to advise you.

Wing clipping, that's a dangerous question! I would suggest if you have cats it might be better to keep the bird flighted: it gives him a means of escape if he feels threatened or cornered by a predator. Alice is not a keen flyer but if anything scares her she'll typically shoot up in the air a couple of feet, then consider her options, which inevitably are fly to me or fly back to the cage. When she was clipped (she had a horrible one sided clip when she arrived) she was far more stressed by things that scared her, and took a while to calm her down afterwards; often she'd try to take off anyway and crash land, which would distress her further. Nowadays as by the time she's found a landing spot and had a quick look round she's usually straight back to normal.

I believe where a bird is going to be clipped it is more common practice to let the bird learn to fly first.

Teflon is generally considered dangerous beyond a certain heat - and it's far better not to take the risk. Plenty of decent alternatives out there.

This is the stuff I use for cleaning carpets and cages: Product

Hope that helps!

 

[thekarens]

I think you've been given excellent advice. I will say I have cats, dogs and birds and it can be done, but you'll have to watch them to see how they do together.

Personally I wouldn't do hand feeding if you're not experienced. You could easily kill your baby.

 

[Utako]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm learning something from each one of them. This forum is wonderful, lots of interesting and useful information. Really glad you exist!