Bigger cage not necessarily better with Quaker?

[kirbybirb]

I got a quaker parrot at 6 months old about 2 months ago. For the first month I had her (don’t actually know sex yet) she was in a cage that was definitely on the smaller end for a quaker. I got a new, much bigger cage about a month ago. Ever since transferring her to the new cage she has been unhappy in it. She never wants to be in the cage or on top which has a nice perch/play area for her. The new cage is MUCH bigger, probably 3x the size of the original. It would be the appropriate size for a macaw, but from everything I read, bigger is better. To try to make her happier with it I bought many new toys, she has multiple perches in there (in addition to her original toys). At this point, she’s been in her new cage for almost the same amount of time as the smaller cage. She persistently tries to get back to her old cage, and will willingly go inside and sit in there even though there is no food or toys in there anymore. I’m beginning to think that she feels insecure in a larger cage because we were traveling this past week and she loved being in the small travel cage, willingly goes inside and will sit happily without wanting to come out sometimes, whereas in her large cage she is ALWAYS trying to get out, squawking to get our attention to come out etc. I’m not sure what to do at this point if she’s genuinely happier in a smaller cage that I wouldn’t say is necessarily big enough for her long term. Any thoughts?

 

[kirbybirb]

I got a quaker parrot at 6 months old about 2 months ago. For the first month I had her (don’t actually know sex yet) she was in a cage that was definitely on the smaller end for a quaker. I got a new, much bigger cage about a month ago. Ever since transferring her to the new cage she has been unhappy in it. She never wants to be in the cage or on top which has a nice perch/play area for her. The new cage is MUCH bigger, probably 3x the size of the original. It would be the appropriate size for a macaw, but from everything I read, bigger is better. To try to make her happier with it I bought many new toys, she has multiple perches in there (in addition to her original toys). At this point, she’s been in her new cage for almost the same amount of time as the smaller cage. She persistently tries to get back to her old cage, and will willingly go inside and sit in there even though there is no food or toys in there anymore. I’m beginning to think that she feels insecure in a larger cage because we were traveling this past week and she loved being in the small travel cage, willingly goes inside and will sit happily without wanting to come out sometimes, whereas in her large cage she is ALWAYS trying to get out, squawking to get our attention to come out etc. I’m not sure what to do at this point if she’s genuinely happier in a smaller cage that I wouldn’t say is necessarily big enough for her long term. Any thoughts?

To clarify, by always trying to get out I mean for short periods when she is in there. Usually, we always have the door open during the day for most of the day, and she can come and go as she pleases.

 

[Jcas]

Quakers in general are very particular and opinionated and they can take months to warm up to something new. While we always want to do what’s best for our birds, sometimes we mistakenly do so in a way that can overwhelm them. A big new cage and lots of new toys all at once may just have been too abrupt of a change for your Quaker. My Quaker came in a too small cage so I transitioned him to a much, much bigger one same as you. I didn’t do it all at once. I put the small cage next to the big one and each day I moved one or two of his perches or toys from the small cage to the big cage, moving his favorite sleeping perch last of all. I tried to keep some of his perches and toys in a similar pattern to what they had been in the small cage. When I finally had moved every item in his small cage to his big cage, my bird willingly moved himself into the big cage and has been very happy with it ever since. It might be worth a try to put some of your birds things back in her small cage and then very slowly move them over the course of a couple weeks into the big cage. Hopefully then she will make her own choice to move into the big cage. Bigger is usually better and I’m sure she will learn to like the new cage eventually. ❤️

 

[clark_conure]

Quakers do hate change. Mine will grrrrr at me if I even add a toy.....but usually by the next day itby the toy or even played with it. I ttttttttttttttttttttisomething just needs to be inert a while then .....ok it's fine. At least in my experience.

 

[wrench13]

So my last parrot , a BeeBee parrot, was in a small ish parakeet cage ( BeeBee'S ARE TINY) for over 2 years. We got him a nice new BIG cage, which took a few months for him to settle into. But we got rid of the small cage. As long as he sees or is put into the small cage occasionally, I think your acclimatization issue is going to persist.

 

[Esther]

My Quaker started in a larger cage (31” x 20” x 52”) but moved to a smaller one (18” x 18” x 49”), largely because we wanted to move her to a more highly trafficked area of our apartment so she would have more out time and company. We were worried at first that it would be too small, but she took to the cage immediately - willingly went in to explore and seems very happy in it. Our bird is on the small side for a Quaker so that may help…? In any event, just wanted to let you know that it can work, provided your bird has plenty of time to explore outside of their cage.