Anyone with an *Indoor Pet Bobwhite Quail*?? Beginner questions from Long Island, NY

[JKav]

Sill, thank you. At first we were going to try release her again this weekend, but after a lot of reading and observing, I have come to the same conclusion. Will be upgrading her habitat this weekend. Great idea for the dust bath. I also want to give her some sort of natural hide-a-way.

At the moment she is enjoying some outdoor time.

 

[Sill]

Jkav be careful leaving her outside in an enclosure like that. Any predator worth it's salt can reach in and grab her. Only put her out in that if you are going to be nearby to supervise her. She would be much safer in something made out of hardware cloth.

Love the wood mailbox house!

 

[JKav]

Thanks, Sill. I was close by. Lots of cats around here.
Isn't that mailbox house great?! I found it in a grocery store parking lot with other junk someone dumped. Planned on putting in a tree for bird/owl nest. It will probably get more use this way

 

[JKav]

Actually, that's a great idea to screen it in. I just bought a roll for his new huge Sterilite. Then I could relax a bit more. Thanks!

 

[Sill]

Thanks, Sill. I was close by. Lots of cats around here.
Isn't that mailbox house great?! I found it in a grocery store parking lot with other junk someone dumped. Planned on putting in a tree for bird/owl nest. It will probably get more use this way

Yes it's a super cute quail house! Perfect for a pet quail. Better use than a wild bird.

Actually, that's a great idea to screen it in. I just bought a roll for his new huge Sterilite. Then I could relax a bit more. Thanks!

I'll relax too, I was worried for you! Quail are so small almost anything can eat them. I had a road runner try to pull the wing of one of mine through 1/2x1" wire, I had no idea one could get it's sharp beak through that! Her wing was stuck in the wire and a bit mangled but surprisingly did not have missing skin, just tears and what seemed at the time a lot of blood loss. I think it helped that my cages are all elevated and the road runner couldn't get a firm place to stand so was trying to grab her while holding on the side of the cage. She healed and is fine now, but anytime I see a road runner I send my dogs after it.

 

[JKav]

Wow, the only one I've ever seen was on TV in cartoons

Glad she's ok. Poor birdie. Around here it's mostly cats & dogs to worry about. The cats are good hunters and she's not scared enough of them. One of my cats is 17yrs old and declawed. So the two roam around and properly ignore each other. Still, I would not leave the two unsupervised. But my 3yr old cat is not to be trusted. He gets locked up when Omelette is out. She's perched on top of my TV at the moment. I think she likes the warmth.

 

[JKav]

 

[Sill]

A roadrunner will eat anything it can catch. I've seen them catch sparrows and other small birds but they usually eat bugs and lizards. I bet they eat lots of wild baby quail in the spring, Gambel's are everywhere here.

 

[Quail lady]

Hi there,
Our Bobwhite Quincy has an instagram account
Quictagram
She's an indoor bird and snuggles etc. Also is a warmth magnet ( we don't have a TV, but laptops are fair game)

If you keep their space clean they learn and know that poop is gross and well just don't do it on the bed etc. But if we let things slide in her house, so does she.
Because they've a crop like a chicken and need to eat stones I use shell grit as her house flooring. (When she was little and I had not started using that yet she was sometimes eating her poop, gross I know, but that's how I worked out I needed to do something). I didn't want any egg issues as Quincy is a girl so for stones and calcium, oyster and shell grit wa steh answer. She doesn't sand bathe in it because she has sand too and well grit is just not as plush. She is a princess when it comes to texture. Real sensitive feet pads for silk and wool.
You can train them to come on command with treats and tapping/calling which is useful if you want to let them out and about.
I'll think of more stuff and write you again later. But I def recommend the grit as flooring, keeps it all dry too, easy to clean up.
Give it a chance, they make the best companion birds!

 

[Quail lady]

I see she's a she