New baby quaker

[Birdlover42]

We adopted a new baby quaker named skittles and have had her for less than 24 hrs. She wants to be on our shoulders constantly and absolutely does not want in her cage. She is 8 weeks old and we are giving her formula twice a day. She doesn't seem interested in eating and wants to explore and fly and do whatever she wants. She's the sweetest little girl and we love her however I'm concerned about her being unhappy in her cage. We put her in a box next to our bed last night and she slept but we had a hard time getting her to get to sleep due to her busy exploring. We also had a hard time with the feeding last night and getting her to eat. She seems extremely agitated and mad when we put her in her cage. I feel like we are making her stay in her cage to get used to it which makes her seem very unhappy. I just want to take her out and sit on my shoulder but she can't do that 24/7. When she is on our shoulders or doing what she wants she is perfectly happy and content. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Congrats on getting your Quaker. Don't know much of anything about them so hopelly one of the other members who has experience will respond and give you some guidance and suggestions. Are you weighing her daily? Does she eat anything on her own?
The one thing I can say is that she is new and may be a bit scared so staying with and near you may be more comfortable and safe for her.

 

[Nikomania]

At 8 weeks, she'll easily adapt to the parameters you set for her. If you get her used to riding around on you 24/7, she most definitely will pitch a fit in her cage, and those behaviors will be even more difficult to break the older she gets.

Is her cage ample sized? Does she have enough to do? Is there something 'scary' to her that's hanging inside her cage?

 

[Birdlover42]

So we just got her and planning to weigh her regularly. She has been eating on her own and taking her formula. She plays with her toys in her cage but seems upset to be in there and only happy when she's out exploring or on our shoulders. I do think this has all been a huge change for her so we are working to get her used to her cage. She's absolutely happy when we have her with us otherwise she seems upset. I was hoping someone had some experience with a young quaker and could give me advice on their behavior and how to deal with it.

 

[cassiesdad]

Welcome to the Avenue, Skittles!

I really don't any advice because we can't have Quakers here...but we'd love to see pictures of her when you get the chance...

 

[sunnysmom]

Have you tried sitting with her while she's in her cage. Maybe try hand feeding her some millet or even just reading to her? Often, people put birds in the cage and leave. So birds associate cage with their human leaving.

 

[Irishj9]

If she is still exploring at your bedtime she is up too late. She should become inactive at sunset, because you douse the lights in the house. Doing anything else will mess with her hormones.

At dusk you bring her to her roosting place ( her cage) and give her a treat as you put her in. She will come to love this ritual

My quaker was HIGHLY cage possessive. Yours will be similar. bring her in and out of the cage 100 times a day, giving her a small treat each time she goes in

Stay in sight during the day. Chat away to her so she knows that she is not alone

 

[Birdlover42]

We have been taking her in and out of the cage. She went to bed easily last night. We are making sure we touch things in her cage so she doesnt become possessive . Also concerning food. We have seeds millet pellets and veggies. Also formula feeding twice daily. We have been told she needs moslty small seeds. I feel like she should be eating more pellets than seed since seed have no nutritional value???