Considering Quakers!

[Jadakins]

So, I've had birds in the past and I have been wanting to adopt another one for a while now, at first I was thinking about a conure but after having done a TON of researching different types of birds, I've pretty much settled on a Quaker. I love spunky personalities in animals and people.

I've been through all of the pet shops here and there's only one Quaker in town but he/she's over $600, not DNA'd and they arent sure of his/her age so after ruling that out I started to look into breeders and search through local ads. I dont know if everyone has this kind of trouble finding these little guys but Ontario, Canada is just NOT the place to find Quakers...

Anyways, I did manage to find one breeder that's less the 3 hours away and he only wants $200 for the bird, but he says that it has breathing issues? He says it breaths heavy, almost laboured and his one foot is damaged from a run-in with a larger parrot.

I feel really bad about the little guy and I don't want to NOT adopt him because of health reasons but I'm worried that if I do take him, I'm going to wind up with some massive vet bills and possible behavoural issues...?

Also, this "breeder" says that he keeps the quaker in a glass(?) cage in his basement... along with other birds that he's breeding, I'm not a breeder and I've never had a Quaker but... it sounds wrong?

The Quaker is apparently only 3 months old so I think that with lots of time and tlc I could curb any negitive behaviours but, again, I don't know what to think about the breathing issues. I would think that ANY kind of breathing issues would be a pretty serious thing.

I guess what I'm asking for here is advice and insight? I'm hopefully going tomorrow or the day after to see the quaker and I plan on taking pictures of everything if I can. So I'll be better able to assess the whole situation.

[Astrid660]

aw.. darn if I had the money, I would probably take that poor thing in.. but it might end in heart break, as it does not sound like a very healthy bird.. they all need loving homes regardless though. Who knows, the vet bill might not be that much to save him. Otherwise he is probably doomed to suffer. There are lots of kijiji ads for birds in your area... You could try waiting it out for a while and see if a quaker comes up. I do see them on there from time to time. I love quakers. I had one that I adopted when she was about 15 and I was the same age. Her name was tequila.. and she was such a little cutie. She loved to talk and snuggle with me.. She was actually quite bitey towards anyone else that tried to touch her. We only had four years together before she passed, but I would get another quaker someday, as they are feisty little birds Good luck in your search!

[Jadakins]

I went to see it today and it does do a strange heavy breathing thing but only after it's been flying, when he was sitting on my shoulder he was very cuddley and kissing or preening my face and was breathing completely fine.
The guy said that he only started breathing like that after he started flying but they do also have about 4, very large African Greys in the same room so I'm wondering if it's stress-induced since he's already been attacked by one of them?
As far as physical appearence goes, he seems healthy. His feathers are all intact and bright and he's not underweight at all. His eyes and nostrels are clean and good. I did notice though, after he flew around and started breathing heavy he would sneeze a few times, does that mean he has a cold maybe?

I'm thinking about adopting him, he took to me right away and would fly away from the breeder when he tried to grab him, then come right back to me. He even mimiced my kissing sounds a tiny bit when he was trying to preen my face lol. It was too cute, I think I'm hooked...

[Astrid660]

Maybe the dust/dander from the greys has caused him to inhale a lot of particles = breathing problems ? It might improve if you have him away from dusty birds...Greys are dusty, I have two and I can vouch for that fact! Some birds can be really affected by it. hmm I would see what a vet says about his breathing, as I am no expert. He does sound adorable though!

[Chico's Mom]

Yep, I would see if the owner would let you take him to the vet and then decide depending on what the vet says. He sounds sweet and adorable though, and I paid almost 200 for mine here in Florida where they are plentiful, so check it out!

[Jadakins]

Ok well, I'm setting up an appointment with a vet to give him a once-over and if all is well, he's going to be coming home with me on the 29th!

My boyfriend and I were looking into names, I wanted to go with Olive, because he/she's green AND if it turns out that the quaker is a boy we can easily switch it to Oliver lol, but my bf's grandmother's name is Olive so he ruled that out right away. We eventually settled on Hunter (as in hunter-green). I had two cocktiels named Killer and Rocky so Hunter kinda fits right in there lol. I don't know how we'll twist it into a girly name if she/he turns out to be a girl though... Hunterella? Hunteress? Hun?

I'm pretty excited about this, I feel like I'm about to adopt a kid... will he like the toys? is he going to like it here? is the cage large enough? ... not that i would keep an adopted kid in a cage lol... then again *thinking about the Orphan movie* ... :P


So the countdown is on... 9 days... 9 long days...

[Astrid660]

Huntress, lol. I'm glad you're bringing the quaker home. I have been checking this thread a few times, secretly hoping you would come back and say that.

[Chico's Mom]

Hooray!!!!!! I'm so excited for you!! You MUST keep us posted as to his progress in his new home!

[amsue0222]

I am excited for you too!! I love my Quaker and wouldn't trade her for anything. THey do have their personalities though! Good Luck with your new baby.

[Jadakins]

Hunter's home!

And such a little charmer. He already figured out that when I say "Kisses, Mwuh!" he can stick his head through the cage to give me a kiss lol.
My brother tried to teach him "wazzzzz uuuup" but the thankfully didn't pick that one up lol.

He's mimicing my newly accquired lovebird, Bella, but she's wild and unfriendly at the moment so she wants nothing to do with poor Hunter, or anyone else for that matter. Of course, Hunter just tries that much harder to win her love.

He also likes to laugh when he eats, we didn't teach him that lol. He'll grab a bit of food and make a sort of "ha-ha!" sound, it's all too cute. I'll have to take some pictures here shortly, he's a little chubby thing, he's gained a lot of weight since I had seen him last so I'm going to be watching his diet extra careful.