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Button Quails for pets?

budgies123

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Hey guys, ive recently saw button quails (i think they were i have no idea i think they were white? there were also "normal colored" quails) and thought they looked cute. ive been researching about them but i didnt find any information on them about being pets. wanted to ask: how are they as pets? not breeding birds, not "to look at" birds but as pets? just wondering.
 

budgies123

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btw, also how are doves and pidgeons as pets? doves looked nice and pretty. how are button quails and doves as pets? i want to research them as much as possible please :)
 

expressmailtome

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@Birdbabe has a pet dove. She has made several posts about keeping doves.
 

Birdbabe

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Button Quail are usually kept to keep outside aviaries clean, or for edible eggs. Doves are calm, mostly quiet non chewing birds, Pigeons are loving and cuddly, non chewing like doves, if you get them as babies and raise them , they can be a lap bird, enjoying pets and kisses. My doves and Pigeon all eat cockatiel mix, scramble eggs, broccoli florets, cuttlebone, crumbled wheat bread and brown cooked rice. Dove poop doesn't stink, but, Pigeon poop does. Don't know why..Tiny Button Quail should be caged so you don't lose them in the house, they come in all variety, and unless you want eggs, babies,,,get a couple boys. Good luck!
 

budgies123

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thank you birdbabe! they all sound interesting :) are theyre any cons to these birds?
 

budgies123

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oh also, how are they as pets? like from handfed ones?
 

Featheredfuffs

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I've been thinking about getting a button quail as a pet too! They're so cute:)

Keep in mind they are quite hard to hand tame, your best bet would be to get hatching eggs and raise them yourself (they're precocial so a lot easier than raising, pigeons or parrots). Do NOT keep two boys together, they will fight. Even in an aviary, they need to be kept with ample space (like 10 feet) between them.

If they are imprinted on you, they will follow you around like dogs (that's what they do with their parents in the wild). Just make sure not to step on them!!!

To imprint them, you really should be there when they hatch, so you are the first thing they ever see. They need a lot of socializing too, and they are quite flighty birds. Consider clipping there wings for safety reasons (they have a tendency to fly straight up when spooked, and if they are under something like a table it could cause a concussion or death:().

Here's a good website:

Button Quail Home Page

:kqm::kqm::kqf::kqm::kqf:
 

NandayLover

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I have a pet Button Quail. We got him at an auction with 4 other Button Quail. We didn't know about them at first, but they were small quail and we wanted them. After got them home on January 31st 2016 we did the research. Turns out we had 3 males and 2 females. That couldn't be, males get aggressive towards each other if they have a mate and would kill each other. 2 of the males got along pretty good so we separated them from the other 3 so they wouldn't have babies and kill each other. Those 2 were to live in the house until we could get them friends. We named them Zipper and Snap since those are items similar to buttons.
Well time came and went and the pen that housed the 3 apparently wasn't secure enough. They were in there a week but decided to just escape one day. Button Quail can fly pretty good, these guys flew to the roof!! They went into the backyard with the dogs. We didn't see the dogs kill or eat them but we didn't see them anywhere else either. So we had 2 males, right? Nope! Turns out if two male quails are friends when its not breeding season that will mean nothing when it is. Zipper killed Snap. Zipper also sustained some injuries but he healed. Now over a year later he's tame. We didn't really try though, he lives in a large finch cage. I guess he just wanted friend again and bonded to people. He loves to be pet and will eat from our hands. We are in constant search of a mate for him (FEMALE of course) but we haven't been able to find any our area. Until then he's just one of our flock, as a pet
 
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