How hard do quakers bite? And how often is it that the bird is territorial/aggressive?

[CYNToronto]

I am picking up a 2 year old green quaker for as little as $150 with a medium cage included. I do have a big cage; however, I'm told he feels safer in a smaller cage, and prefers the one that he will come with. I am told that he is tame and friendly, and the seller have exchanged photographs of the bird cuddling and perching in the hands of the current owner.

However, I'd like an early insight on "biting" habits of quakers. I've only owned young cockatiels and budgies; and aside from the initial nasty bites from my grey cockatiel, none of the others have ever bitten me hard enough to draw blood.

So I am not completely used to a bird that is by nature aggressive and will bite hard to injure out of territorial aggression. Do quakers become terribly attached to their cage as to prevent owners from getting them out? Are they skittish? Are they loud? Do they bite often? And out of 10 TAMED quakers, how many of them would you say ON AVERAGE would bite hard enough to cause an injury?

* Also, do they make a lot of mess? I know budgies are fussy eaters and mine used to poop in the water tray all the time. And while cockatiels were much cleaner, they tended to cause a lot of dust that made me become allergic to them. Any pitfalls from quakers' cleanliness?

 

[parrotluv]

Quakers if well socialized are usually quite friendly. The aggression is mostly from inside the cage. For my quaker I open her door and let her come out, then once out she will gladly step up. You should ask questions on how it's routine is for coming out. Then any cage servicing is done while the bird is out of its cage. Quakers can give a hard bite but so can cockatiels like you have had.

 

[zuzanqa]

Yes they make a mess But their not dusty. My floor is ppermanently covered with Penguin's foot toys, bottle caps etc.

Regarding th biting: it's not so bad. Yes they can draw blood but it's bearable, and I'd recommend they if you get bitten, push into the bite, it makes the bird let go quite easily. My Penguin will bite if I mess around with the stuff in his cage a lot but I try to make him get used to that by *always * messing with his stuff, on the daily. Penguin will also bite sometimes when we're playing and he gets over excited. It's not aggression, it's just excitement. I think it's good to be able to differentiate between the two. If he bites out of excitement, I usually stop playing with him for a moment until he calms down, and resume play when he's being nice again. Never yell at your bird

All in all a Quaker bite is not that bad

 

[zuzanqa]

When I said never yell at your bird I really meant try not to yell at your bird. Haha. Cause it's gonna happen, at some point. It doesn't help but sometimes you can't help yourself

 

[RJ Noodle]

Did you rehome the tiels?

 

[CYNToronto]

Did you rehome the tiels?

Yea they went to different homes. Each found a home that already owns a cockatiel.

 

[parrotluv]

When are you getting the quaker?

 

[cnyguy]

Every Quaker parrot is an individual, so it's hard to generalize when talking about them. Many people will tell you that they're noisy, but I have one who's relatively quiet. He doesn't bite often, but he is capable of biting hard. Ralph's bites can be just as painful as those I got from my old Yellow-crowned Amazon, George. Ralph isn't cage aggressive, but is possessive of his food dish, and will sometimes bite me when I need to take the dish out or put it back in.

An old parrot book I have includes the line "Parrots are inclined to be messy." In my experience, that's an understatement. Parrots tend to be slobs. Even smaller parrots like Quakers can make big messes.

Despite messes, noise and occasional bites, most of us who live with Quaker parrots wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

 

[parrotluv]

Quakers rule! Lol