# Quakers.



## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

Well every morning when I do my salad prep at work a workmate asks me to keep the scrappy bits for her bird, so I finally got to meet it this afternoon.
And its beautiful!
Talks like a telemarketer and is the nicest little thing.
So I've been researching and going frantic over them.
Just wondering if any members keep them and can share some pics/advice?

Cheers, Ash


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## missllama (Nov 10, 2008)

have kept them, they are really good birds to have as tame pets
i love both the blues and greens, i find they pick up words so unbelivebly fast and one of the birds i would deffinatly get again


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## bushmaster (Nov 10, 2008)

*Quakers*

I am currently handrearing my first clutch, have 1x blue and 1x green, really good feeders


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

Pictures please!!!?
Are your older quakers talk much bushmaster?
I read somewhere else that they can be quite noisy also?


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## Freeloader (Nov 10, 2008)

They are the loudest little so and sos you can have. We have two in the kitchen and sometimes i wish they were in a pot cooking.


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## Freeloader (Nov 10, 2008)

Then the eclectus goes off.


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## Duke (Nov 10, 2008)

I strongly advise against young people getting intelligent birds. They just need too much stimulation to keep them happy.
Unless you have regular time to spend with the birds, it's not a good idea to keep one.

I'd LOVE to have one, but I'm at uni 5 days a week, and then doing assignments every night, and working weekends. Any bird I'd keep would go nuts and pull it's feathers out.


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## Hooglabah (Nov 10, 2008)

can you keep them in vic???


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## Hetty (Nov 10, 2008)

Smart birds are a disaster unless you can provide them with lots of mental stimulation.

I'd never, ever get one again. I had a lorikeet and we drove each other nuts.


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

Im moving out of home within the next 6 months with my boyfriend who is also a very animal person.
We work 5 days a week but would have all night and weekend to spend with him.

I know its a while away but I just got to excited about how lovely the little fella was this afternoon.


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

What would you reccomend then thats not as... attention seeking if each afternoon/night wasnt enough?


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## bitey (Nov 10, 2008)

Ashleigh:];1296545 said:


> What would you reccomend then thats not as... attention seeking if each afternoon/night wasnt enough?


A reptile


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## Hetty (Nov 10, 2008)

Ashleigh:];1296545 said:


> What would you reccomend then thats not as... attention seeking if each afternoon/night wasnt enough?



Budgies and Cockatiels are good. Both have some nice colours and stuff too.


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

haha bitey, birds are um... quite different to reptiles 

budgies and cockatiels seem.. abit boring to me?
budgies more so?

cockatiels cant talk or anythign can they?
do they whistle much or copy noises?

thanks for all the help.


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## Stitched (Nov 10, 2008)

Ashleigh:];1296545 said:


> What would you reccomend then thats not as... attention seeking if each afternoon/night wasnt enough?


 
I personally like Princess Parrots. Lovely birds, easy to look after, will tame easily and if you have a pair need little attention


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## Hetty (Nov 10, 2008)

Start with a tiel, if it's boring, feed it to your olive python and try something else. I don't think it's a good idea to start with a smart bird.

They can learn to talk but it takes a lot of effort.


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## froglet (Nov 10, 2008)

Here is some pics of my little girl "BUG"

They can be noisy, messy so & so's

Bug isnt that bad tho because she spend her time with my Alexanderine


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## Duke (Nov 10, 2008)

froglet said:


> Bug isnt that bad tho because she spend her time with my Alexanderine


That's a good solution 
If you have the $$$, buy two birds to keep each other company


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 10, 2008)

Within having company of another bird though, wouldnt they not show more interest/affection towards you?


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## froglet (Nov 10, 2008)

Ashleigh:];1296618 said:


> Within having company of another bird though, wouldnt they not show more interest/affection towards you?


 
Most of the time they will bond with the other bird, my guys like to spend time with me individually.
My Alex has only just started to bond with Bug (i have had bug for about 2 years)

I think the trick was that they are different species & thhey are house seperatley & they each get their idividual time with me


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## Freeloader (Nov 10, 2008)

We have a green male and a blue female, which makes the eclectus very unhappy. i think most he wishes he was out of his cage when they were out so he could strangle them. so noisy. I don't blame him one bit.


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## Freeloader (Nov 10, 2008)

Our only saving grace is that the alexandrines are out the back.


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## ambah (Nov 11, 2008)

I love quaks, so adorable! I've heard they can be pretty noisy though


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## Kitah (Nov 11, 2008)

Ashleigh:];1296555 said:


> haha bitey, birds are um... quite different to reptiles
> 
> budgies and cockatiels seem.. abit boring to me?
> budgies more so?
> ...



Tiels are great  I have quite a few, all aviary birds. hand reared ones are GORGEOUS (I had a gorgeous lutino pearl hen that had been hand reared, she'd be extremely happy tucked up under my chin for hours while I worked on the computer) They do learn to talk and whistle etc pretty well; one of my boys wolf whistles, crows like a rooster, says "hello", "what do you want", "yum", dances, mimics my laugh exactly.. great lil boy  even one of my aviary tiels learnt to wolf whistle and is a real character


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## Australis (Nov 11, 2008)

Hetty said:


> I'd never, ever get one again. I had a lorikeet and we drove each other nuts.



Ah, so " thats" what happen to you.

Ive had aviary birds and a few "tame" house birds, one was a rainbow, and never again
the thing was awful.
I would get another aviary with native birds though.


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## ambah (Nov 11, 2008)

Australis said:


> Ah, so " thats" what happen to you.
> 
> Ive had aviary birds and a few "tame" house birds, one was a rainbow, and never again
> the thing was awful.
> I would get another aviary with native birds though.


 
Was it awful because of the mess it made or just in general? lol


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## Duke (Nov 11, 2008)

ambah said:


> Was it awful because of the mess it made or just in general? lol


 I've had a rainbow lorikeet too.

I'll give $20 to whomever shows me a more playful bird. They're amazing birds to keep, but you really need a lot of patience.
Since they're nectar eaters, their doo-doos are pure liquid, and can shoot out with some force 
Ours wasn't tame enough to aim his nasties at a bit of paper, and chose the nearest wall / curtain / chair etc instead.


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## lovey (Nov 11, 2008)

Sulphur-crested im hand rearing at the moment...ssssooo ugly lol


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## Camo (Nov 11, 2008)

'Ashleigh said:


> cockatiels cant talk or anythign can they?
> do they whistle much or copy noises?


Both my cockatiels talk thier heads off. They mimic the phone and one whistles "pop goes the weasle"

All birds with a round tongue have the abiltiy to talk or at least mimic a noise. Of course birds like finches and canaries want talk because of thier flat tongue they have. 

One of the best birds to start off with would be a cockatiel. They are friendly and they can talk and whistle pretty good. They will not talk as good as an African Grey but they are pretty good. Remember what ever you say the most is what they will mimic. In my case i come home from work everyday and say hello darling to my female cockatiel, so she says that all the time.

All your birds like Quakers, eckies, Alex's, Lorries etc require a fair bit of time and effort. Then you have macaws which are like a 3yr old child on red cordial.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask away.

Cameron


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## Camo (Nov 11, 2008)

lovey said:


> Sulphur-crested im hand rearing at the moment...ssssooo ugly lol


Nice cocky lovey.

I am currently hand rasing some galah's at the moment. I have done cockys before but. God they are gut's once they have taken to thier food. They always want more.


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## kakariki (Nov 11, 2008)

lol, Lovey! So ugly he's cute! 
If you take your bird outside during the day while you are out, he/she should be stimulated enough till you come home. And if a bird is a people bird, it will remain so. I have a Sulphur, a Galah and a western Corella inside! Imagine the noise when they go off :shock:! I put them all out on the front verandah during the day & bring them inside at night & let them out for a while ( not the Corella though. Elmo can be a bit nasty) Georgia & Corkky get on ok, but Georgia is THE boss, lol. And Cockatiel aren't boring IF you get a handraised one. Mine learnt to whistle certain tunes and a friend taught hers to play soccer with a piece of corn!


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## Camo (Nov 11, 2008)

Nice cocky kakariki. They look so plain but i am a big fan of cockys. They make great HR birds.


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## the.badger (Nov 11, 2008)

Those cockies live for like 80 years no? That's a serious comittment. You'd have to make a provision for your cocky in your will!


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## ambah (Nov 11, 2008)

Camo said:


> All your birds like Quakers, eckies, Alex's, Lorries etc require a fair bit of time and effort. Then you have macaws which are like a 3yr old child on red cordial.
> 
> Cameron


 
I agree, tiel's are great starters, I went from a budgie to an ecky, wouldn't recommend it for anyone not wanting a serious commitment! I did alot of research before I made the decision.. Intelligent birds really are like small children - except small children eventually grow up! lol :lol:


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## rebeccalg (Nov 11, 2008)

Tiels are pretty low maintenance. I would start there if its your first time with a hand raised bird. Quakers are very demanding, but I still want one...


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## waynej (Nov 11, 2008)

*Quaker*

Get a Quaker they would be the best companion bird around. I've got 1 Green and 1 Blue. They are a very smart bird.


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## kakariki (Nov 11, 2008)

the.badger said:


> Those cockies live for like 80 years no? That's a serious comittment. You'd have to make a provision for your cocky in your will!



Georgia, the Sulphur Crested is 16 years old, and Corkky is around 2years old ( and plays like a kid too. My son was playing ball with him last night. He can chuck it a fair distance!). So yes, we have them for quite a while, hopefully. I wouldn't be without them, they are just sooo funny, and they both love a cuddle. I don't think I'd call them plain though Cam. ( OK so I might be a wee bit biased, lol.)

What about a Kakariki? I don't know if they talk but they are such characters! As soon as I can get mine breeding, I am going to handraise some for sure.


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## mblissett (Nov 12, 2008)

I have had kakariki's in the past.... even aviary birds tame down well.... and once they are tame stay that way!!

As for Quakers I can't really comment too much, apart from I know they are noisy... I have had my pair for 3 weeks now.... Have a box that that they spend most of their time in..... although they build their own nest out of sticks.....


As for a tame bird, I have both galah's and lorikeets and apart from the mess would say the lori all the way!!

She tells the dogs to 'go to bed", says scratch, wolf whistles, dances and comes to her name......

The galah says "hello"


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## bundy_zigg (Nov 12, 2008)

I have had rainbow lorikeets, scaleybreasted lorikeets, sun conures, nanday conures, greencheek conures, quakers, plumheaded parrots, cockatiels, a galah, and close friends of us have birds like black cockatoos, sulphers, counures, alexandines, bleeding heart doves, eccys and LOADS more - in saying that with so much experience with so many different birds I really could not pick a fav(although the blacks would be at the top of the list but they are not for every one hahah). I think that people looking at getting a bird should visit some breeders and get to handle a few different types of birds and have some good talks with breeders as to good points and bad points, that way you will get some very good advice. You will also find that what you though you wanted may not infact be what you want.
I do agree with many on here about lorries being the most playful, they are like a 2 yr old kid with endless energy and our 2 boys talked better than any of our other birds.


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## Australis (Nov 12, 2008)

ambah said:


> Was it awful because of the mess it made or just in general? lol



Really just the mess, it could shoot its liquid **** out of the cage, also the noise wears thin.
I doubt i would ever get a indoors/tame bird again, but if i did it would be a Bourke parrot
or something along those lines.


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## Jonno from ERD (Nov 12, 2008)

Duke said:


> I strongly advise against young people getting intelligent birds. They just need too much stimulation to keep them happy.
> Unless you have regular time to spend with the birds, it's not a good idea to keep one.
> 
> I'd LOVE to have one, but I'm at uni 5 days a week, and then doing assignments every night, and working weekends. Any bird I'd keep would go nuts and pull it's feathers out.




Hey mate, you can tell people this until you're blue in the face, but nobody ever realises just how demanding a true companion bird really is. I was the same until a year ago when I met my partner, and she has a companion Rainbow Lorikeet...never again!


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## grimbeny (Nov 12, 2008)

If you want a smart bird, get a hand raised cockatiel. I could never handle anything more interactive than that. He was very attention seeking and would love a good chat. But for a small bird he was still pretty demanding, i cant imagine how one of the larger parrots would be to care for.


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## Ashleigh:] (Nov 14, 2008)

Thanks for all the advice guys 
Much appreciated.
Id love to see pictures??
Of all sorts, spesh tiels now since you've all convinced me haha.


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## Kitah (Nov 14, 2008)

Heres a couple of tiel pictures  there are TONNES of colour morphs out there! The majority of my birds were rescuees; I've got 3 normal males, 2 normal females, 2 pied males, a cinnamon pearl female, whitefaced pied female, whitefaced pearl pied female and a lutino pearl


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## ambah (Nov 14, 2008)

Australis said:


> Really just the mess, it could shoot its liquid **** out of the cage, also the noise wears thin.
> I doubt i would ever get a indoors/tame bird again, but if i did it would be a Bourke parrot
> or something along those lines.


 
I thought that may be the case! lol Love them, but thats the only reason why I wouldn't get one.. I'm in the process of toilet training my ecky, he's picking it up suprisingly quick!

Here's a pic of Charlie, my Eclectus


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