Quakers and Conures together?

[noodlehan]

I made the mistake of falling in love with a quaker at my local bird store yesterday. He is about two years old (being sold WITH his cage, overall not a bad deal for him) and on his cage is written about how he doesn’t really like females; however, i walked up to his cage and he came right up to me and he allowed me to take him out without fuss. Even the lady in the store was shocked & claimed he doesn’t even let her near him. I am not sure why, but I fell in love with this bird.

My parents are saying I shouldn’t - money reasons mainly, but also because i already have a conure (i’ve had him for 2 years now and he is the love of my life. truly adore him). I am curious to know if anyone has had a conure and a quaker at the same time? Is it successful (obv they will not be caged together, but i would like to be able to have them out together at least)?

I left the store feeling so sad about not getting him & i really am considering going back for him this week. Is it hard to go from one bird to two? Plus, my conure is really clingy and a part of me is worried that introducing another bird will change his behavior (BUT i do work healthcare, so another part of me is thinking it could be good for him to have a bird to chatter with while i’m at work). I’m conflicted!!

 

[nkrbkr]

Hi there. I know the feeling well. I was recently at a pet store and fell in love with a tiny little Nyasa Lovebird. However, my husband and I pinky promised “no more birds” after we got our Amazon in June. I also have a peach-faced lovebird. Unfortunately, the little Nyasa will not be coming home with me.

From what I understand, Quakers can be pretty territorial, & may not be the best with other birds, as they may be a bit aggressive. Of course, that depends on the bird’s individual personality, which you wouldn’t know until it comes home with you. If you do adopt it, be fully prepared that your birds may not ever be able to be out of cage together. That said, birds can be company for each other while caged. My birds are never out of cage together (too big of a size difference), but they are still company to each other when we’re not at home. Just be sure you want the Quaker for you, & not for your conure.

 

[noodlehan]

Hi there. I know the feeling well. I was recently at a pet store and fell in love with a tiny little Nyasa Lovebird. However, my husband and I pinky promised “no more birds” after we got our Amazon in June. I also have a peach-faced lovebird. Unfortunately, the little Nyasa will not be coming home with me.

From what I understand, Quakers can be pretty territorial, & may not be the best with other birds, as they may be a bit aggressive. Of course, that depends on the bird’s individual personality, which you wouldn’t know until it comes home with you. If you do adopt it, be fully prepared that your birds may not ever be able to be out of cage together. That said, birds can be company for each other while caged. My birds are never out of cage together (too big of a size difference), but they are still company to each other when we’re not at home. Just be sure you want the Quaker for you, & not for your conure.

I would just hate to have to have one caged while the other is out, because then i’d worry i’m not distributing their time evenly! However, i am fully aware that there is a possibility of that and that is why i didn’t bite the bullet and purchase the quaker. I want it to be a right fit regardless of how much i fell in love with that bird haha.

I tried to ask how he was with other birds, but they haven’t had him long enough to know his temperament yet. I think I will go back soon and observe/ask more questions to get an idea . Thankfully the size difference between my conure and this quaker won’t be too vast that i’ll worry about injuries should something happen. Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[LaManuka]

I would just hate to have to have one caged while the other is out, because then i’d worry i’m not distributing their time evenly! However, i am fully aware that there is a possibility of that and that is why i didn’t bite the bullet and purchase the quaker. I want it to be a right fit regardless of how much i fell in love with that bird haha.

I tried to ask how he was with other birds, but they haven’t had him long enough to know his temperament yet. I think I will go back soon and observe/ask more questions to get an idea . Thankfully the size difference between my conure and this quaker won’t be too vast that i’ll worry about injuries should something happen. Thank you so much for your reply!

Like most pairings, this could be a case of them getting on ok, loving each other to bits (maybe even a little TOO much, to the exclusion of YOU even), or hating each other on sight! Or they may start one way and end up another. One of our members here had three quakers and a GCC and they all got on very well, so you just never can tell. Actually one of our mods, @zERo, has one of each too, so she may be well placed to advise you. Both quakers and GCCs can be VERY territorial about cages, that is very true. Obviously you will need to supervise them closely, but as you mentioned your parents are not fully on board so that's a factor here too - this does not appear to be something that has their full support, so consideration will need to be given there. I've had both a Quaker and a GCC though not at the same time, and my Quaker was WAY louder, much louder than my GCC, so you may need to be mindful of your and your neighbours' eardrums as well!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I've also heard of people being able to handle a bird in the store and having him act completely different when they get him home. That would be very disappointing. You just never know.

 

[onamom]

Have you heard of FlockTalk on YouTube? She has a Quaker and a Conure that are bonded.

I recently went from one bird to two because of the exact same reason - just fell in love with her at a pet store! Mine are both Conures though. I think it would be possible to bond them, but it would likely take time. Mine took about three weeks to bond. And they may never bond as well. Slow and steady, positive and controlled interactions are key.

If you decide to go for it, you just have to be prepared to rotate their time out of cage if it comes to that. And at first at least, you’d need to do that anyway as they acclimate. Also know that it’s generally recommended for any new bird to be quarantined for four weeks to make sure they have no illness they could pass on.

My advice - follow your heart! But then again, you’re listening to someone who had 5 pets recently.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Clarke_conure has both a quaker and a conure. To be exact. He has a sun conure, a green cheek and a quaker plus a bunch of budgies. They are all let out at the same time to play and hang out in his "man cave" in his basement. Hello, @clark_conure ! Would you weigh in please! How do they really get along and was there ever a problem?
Personally, I think it's an individual bird thing. Every bird has its own unique personality, likes and dislikes. I have 20 budgies and they are all different.

 

[kme3388]

I have 2 bonded conures. Ones a sun, and the other a jenday. Since they have became mates they could do without human interaction. I had them flight trained, and they knew many tricks. When i take them out to train they just fly back to one another. There are days Ive had their cage door open for hours, and they wont come out. They just want to be together. If parrots bond you could end up with this outcome as well.

 

[Demeter]

I made the mistake of falling in love with a quaker at my local bird store yesterday. He is about two years old (being sold WITH his cage, overall not a bad deal for him) and on his cage is written about how he doesn’t really like females; however, i walked up to his cage and he came right up to me and he allowed me to take him out without fuss. Even the lady in the store was shocked & claimed he doesn’t even let her near him. I am not sure why, but I fell in love with this bird.

My parents are saying I shouldn’t - money reasons mainly, but also because i already have a conure (i’ve had him for 2 years now and he is the love of my life. truly adore him). I am curious to know if anyone has had a conure and a quaker at the same time? Is it successful (obv they will not be caged together, but i would like to be able to have them out together at least)?

I left the store feeling so sad about not getting him & i really am considering going back for him this week. Is it hard to go from one bird to two? Plus, my conure is really clingy and a part of me is worried that introducing another bird will change his behavior (BUT i do work healthcare, so another part of me is thinking it could be good for him to have a bird to chatter with while i’m at work). I’m conflicted!!

I have a Quaker girl and a half moon conure boy I added later. They have spats when I'm present if she feels he is crowding her or if he feels his food is in danger. Fortunately neither is super jealous. The Quaker girl is smaller than the average, when I first got her at 10 months she was only 65 grams! Now she's about 90. I hadn't intended on them sharing a cage but while traveling they shared a

bit then wouldn't let me separate them at night.
Neither has ever harmed the other that I can tell but when I put my hand between them and they bite it it's painful so I worry it's hurting them! They seem brief though. I've yet to even find a toe scrape.