What to do?

[quaker_max]

i just got a quaker parakeet and i dont know how to make him talk. His name is Max. All Max does is purrs. How 2 make him talk or at least whistle? :?: [/img]

[LtlWngdAngl]

It took my quaker about a year to learn to talk, and at a year and 4 months, he still doesn't speak clearly. There's no way to make them talk...you just have to work with them and encourage them. It takes a lot of time and effort....and even then, some birds still don't talk.

What's with the truck pics?

[pheonixfire]

hmmm... give him time. He'll need time to settle into his new home before talking. My advice is don't give him those tapes that say words over and over, and if you do only play them for 20 minutes or so. If you don't he will learn to block this sound out. The most successful way to teach your bird to talk is to use the same word constantly. Greet him with the same word every morning, and my guess is soon when you wake up he will say that word to you. It takes time though. The quaker is one of the better talkers, so I bet he can learn about 100-150 words/phrases if you just keep trying, but remember not to push.

Hannah :D
Good luck training Max!

PS. do you have a cat that he might be getting the purring sound from? Other wise, birds usually purr to show happiness, and affection

[The Outlaw]

Frankly, my quaker is a great little talker. I simply talk to her and she responds. I haven't found that repeating anything to any of my parrots ever made them talk. In fact, I show them an object and tell them what it is. Then I ASK them things about it later. For example, when I feed a treat, I'll say "Cracker, is it good?." The next time they want a cracker, they'll say
Cracker? and when I give them a cracker, they'll say, "is it good?". I associate an action and a reaction.

My birds will compose sentences as a result of that training. Here's an example:

I have a dog named Joey. When she's good, I tell her good dog. When she's barking, I tell her Joey, Bad Dog. Consequently, when the dog barks, they all say "Joey, Bad Dog". However, when they want to play with or tease her, they simply call "Joey". And, Joey is a SPECIFIC dog. They do not associate any other dog with their own. However, when the occasional stray shows up, they'll say "Bad, Bad dog". They understand, to some extent, our English language.

Here's my favorite story. I have a macaw named Margarita. She is a great parrot. One day, while playing in the florida foom, she kept repeating
Quack, Quack, Quack over and over again. I was cleaning the kitchen and didn't think much about it. However, she kept on repeating it. When I finally went out to take a look, I was delighted to see two wild mallards that visit here every spring standing on the steps just on the other side of the slider. It was their first visit of the year, and they've gotten so tame they come to the house and tap on the glass for a free meal. Margarita had been trying to tell me the Quacks were back.

THE OUTLAW

[proud fid mom]

My quaker too is a great little talker. I agree with outlaw about how to get them to talk though.
My quaker is a year old now and she can sing a song she sings,
"I'm a little quaker green and stout, open up my cage and let me out, better let me out or else I'll squak, rub my tummy and then I'll talk."
It is the cutest thing.
She also says phases that I say to her on a daily basis throughout our routine, like "step up", "i'll be back","hello","what?".
It is just part of her routine now.
She also purrs like a cat, blows kisses, barks like a dog and growls like a dog. She also loves to laugh.
You just honestly have to work with them and be patient because some may never talk.
Good Luck with your baby.

[SavvyMoon]

Didn't our ...umm... 'Interesting' Korean friend post pictures of trucks and such instead of birds? Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I know someone else posted those pics of that SUV before....

[Majj]

Hi !! How old is Max....???

Buddy our year old Quaker said his first word about 5 months old Hello !! now he said "come on" I use this instead of the step up command ..."Who`s a pretty Boy" and his name Buddy Buddy Buddy ....I use the phrase I love you...and what are you doing a fair bit so I hope one day he will come out with those too , but it doesn`t matter to me if he speaks or not , he is a sweetie anyway..
Just be patient and as The Outlaw says just say things to him clearly one day he will just pop out with something wait and see ..Do you spend much time with him ..??? Birds usually mumble and practice words by themselves before coming out with them , so just be patient , Quakers are reported to be Good talkers ....Best of Luck Majj

[Christina_1125]

My Quaker Simon is a great talker as well, He started about 2 weeks after I got him saying peek- a - boo, He now says right at 100 different things. He loves to sing twinkle twinkle little star the most *LOL*

All I did was talk to him, he started picking everything up very quickly and continues to pick things up (some I would rather he not)

Also I discovered that he loves the see n say toys, my neighbor had one over at our house and Simon immediately began to repeat them, might be something to look into if you cat stand moo goes the cow and quack quack quack says the duck *LOL*

Chris

[primrose04]

[b][i]My quaker PeeWee is 3 1/2 years old. I got her about 6 months ago. she was a rescue from an elderly lady's home that didn't give her any attention. She could only make kissy noises when I got her. she now says about 15 different things. like commere, What?, love you,cracker(that refers to anything to eat),shut up (thanks to my son) and several other things. I think she has done very well for not learning as a baby. constant repeating is the key. she is on my shoulder now and said pretty bird. I love my Quaker.
Give your bird time and it will talk.

[Majj]

Yep time and of course plenty of attention , it won`t learn if you are not interacting regularly with him...Good luck be patient..