New Questions

[NewQuakerMom]

My little guy dances when I sing to him. He bobs his head up and down and squawks back at me. I was reading that head bobbing is mating behavior but he doesn't do anything else that's mating-like. he just dances when I sing.. Should I be worried about this? I don't sing pretty, but I sing often, haha, and would hate to have to stop singing for fear of encouraging him.

Also - he's not cage-protective at all. We reach in the cage when he's in there all the time - although he's not in there super much, just at night, or when he goes in during the day to eat, drink, bathe, etc. Is this honeymoon, or could he just really be a non-cage-aggressive birdie? We've had him for about a month and a half.

Thank you!!!

 

[Ira7]

Oh, the head bobbing is common in many species, not necessarily related to mating.

Most birds show SOME skepticism when you put your hand in their cage, but not always in a bad way. Often, they just get excited to be getting out.

And you might not experience any problems, but has anyone else tried it!?

 

[OzBlue]

mating behaviour looks more like when they ruffle their feathers, but they stay ruffled, and they make a quick "sighing" sound and rub their bodies around on something. Our lil Blue bobs her head at times when we have food or have the music up. You'll know mating behaviour when you se it. Keep singing!

I think Laura has a lot of experience around cage aggression and quakers.

 

[NewQuakerMom]

Oh, the head bobbing is common in many species, not necessarily related to mating.

Most birds show SOME skepticism when you put your hand in their cage, but not always in a bad way. Often, they just get excited to be getting out.

And you might not experience any problems, but has anyone else tried it!?

It's just myself and my daughter - and he just looks curiously at our hands when we put them in to change his food/water, etc. I petted his beak yesterday when he was in his cage, and he didn't seem any different. He doesn't step up at all so he's not looking at us as a way to get out, unfortunately, lol!!! He is mostly out of the cage on perches and things we have stuck to the outside, but goes in to eat and drink and take happy splashing little baths, lol!!!

mating behaviour looks more like when they ruffle their feathers, but they stay ruffled, and they make a quick "sighing" sound and rub their bodies around on something. Our lil Blue bobs her head at times when we have food or have the music up. You'll know mating behaviour when you se it. Keep singing!

I think Laura has a lot of experience around cage aggression and quakers.

Oh thank you! Yeah, he's not doing any of that at all, he's just dancing his head! Thank you!

 

[Laurasea]

The cage agressive will likely be there by next year. They need time to adjust and own it lol

You might get lucky and have one that's not agressive of cage, but 99% are as adults, and once they have lived in the cage for awhile.

Mine started out fine too, but now no way mamma can put hand in cage

Mine bib to say hi, when get excited, when happy

 

[NewQuakerMom]

The cage agressive will likely be there by next year. They need time to adjust and own it lol

You might get lucky and have one that's not agressive of cage, but 99% are as adults, and once they have lived in the cage for awhile.

Mine started out fine too, but now no way mamma can put hand in cage

Mine bib to say hi, when get excited, when happy

Well, I hope he's one of the few, but if he waits a year, I'm Ok with that as well, lol. Thank you!

 

[wrench13]

Laura is one of our Quaker gurus, she knows her stufffor sure. We had a Quaker a long time ago, who did exactly as she describes, was accepting of all at first, then one by one each family member was excluded from Brodie's cage space intil finally no one could enter their hand into his cage. Any parrot can get cage territoryal if left in the cage continuously but Quakers are very prone to this. get them away fror the cage and their sweet nature comes shining forth. Could yours be the exception? Hey parrots are each an individual unto themselves, andyou can find African Grays that never say a word, Cockatoos that are calm, logical thinkers and Amazons that never shout or yell.... so yeah your Quaker could be that one who could care less about his cage territory.

Mating behaviour has several typical forms and introductory signs. Butt rubbing, paper or other material shredding, getting louder for longer, increased biteyness, in and around the cage, plus cage territorial behaviour all are signs of puberty or mating season. In Quakers, these too shall pass except the cage territorial stuff. A good way to minimize it is to give him a well stocked play area that is well away from his cage, and lots of out-of-cage time.

 

[NewQuakerMom]

We're working on it - I've got a big perch/play area next to a window in our media room, where we spend most of our time. We're just working on getting him to step up so we can take him from his cage (bedroom) to perch/play area (next room) - once we can do that, it'll be much nicer. (As it is we're just wheeling his cage in next to the perches every day, haah! It's a huge cage and unwieldy so it's a major pain)

Well, whatever he ends up doing, we'll enjoy continuing to get to know him!!