could quails make friendly pets ?

[bantam_crazy]

as the title suggest. could quails make friendly pets if interacted from birth ? and regularly ? what are the chances

 

[WildNectarine]

as the title suggest. could quails make friendly pets if interacted from birth ? and regularly ? what are the chances

Yes, and no.

When interacted with from a hatchling stage, they imprint. This will mean that they will see themselves as a human, and you, mother. Specifically you. They will follow you, want attention and food from you, want to be with you always, they will love you. But, the moment those adult hormones hit after 8+ weeks, they’re going to want to love you in a very, very different way, and if you don’t let them, then you’re a rival, and they will attack.

It is, in my opinion, astronomically better to buy them as low-interacted with adults, that you know are healthy and have their full hormone riddled personalities, give them a plush quail as a mate, of which you’ll have to buy multiple exact copies of for cleaning time, because they will lose their marbles being alone for even a few minutes, and you’ll need to clean it every day/every couple of days, and slowly, slowly tame them; it will take time, the best way to do that I’ve found is to let them settle for a week, then offer an array of treats over a few days to find their favorite, and yes, every bird will have its own tastes, some’ll greet you every time you get close to the enclosure, and I say enclosure because cages are not to be used ever, use “pop-up” mosquito nets made for beds, in hopes of a mealworm treat, others will turn their beaks up at it, and then proceed to give them that treat on a routine for about another week, then stop giving them anything for yet another week, meal feed them their normal crumble, and get them first thing in the morning when their bowl is empty and they are hungry with a handful of the chosen treat, and they will eat out of your hand, after that, feed normally and do not get them hungry for treat time again, that part’s only to “break” them, never, ever, starve them, use hunger as a tool, not a forcing concept; but even still, they may never be cuddly, you will have to handle them daily when you clean the enclosure, and for checkups, for nail trims and foot baths, of which I cannot stress the importance of, and wing trims, if applicable, and they’ll always hate it, it will ruin the taming over and over again, but, you can get them hungry again, and they’ll eat out of your hand again, and learn that when the hand is down, treats, when the hand is up, they’re going to get picked up; never use treats to lure them when you need to pick them up, as you’ll ruin the concept, instead, use treats as an “apology” and reward after handling, and they’ll fair fine.

But, I will say, that, I personally find that I vastly more enjoy just letting them be birds, crafting new toys and climbing structures and all sorts of enriching things for them, and just watching them enjoy it. They’re wicked smart when you give them the opportunity, some of the best toys are foraging ones, and they’ll figure things out quick when it comes to their favorite treat, one of my boys figured out that with a seed-stuffed pinecone, he can just pick it up and whip it to make all the seed go flying out, instead of sitting there meticulously picking at it.

You could get lucky, though, of course, and have a perfect little angel, and I could be totally wrong, but, this is just my experience, and if you decide to go my route, I’m happy to answer any questions you may need, there’s a lot people don’t understand about these birds, and their care, and trust me, when I say I’ve tried everything, I have, I’ve tried every bedding, every method of housing, every enrichment, but I don’t want to fill up this post with my complete care-sheet ramblings. Thank you for reading to this point, I hope any of it can be of use to you.

 

[Nabiki]

If you spend hours every single day with them, they can become friendly. However, they are quail. They are prey animals and not tame or good house pets by nature.

 

[bantam_crazy]

thank you two for the answers. esp nectarine with the thoughtfull answer !!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Quail have two settings: eat it or it eats me, you are too big to eat thus by their reckoning you will eat them. Even hand raised they’ll be a little spooky, won’t like being held, and won’t be your ‘friend.’ But they are cute and quirky and lots of fun but they aren’t philosophical or even very smart, they are quail! It is far wiser and healthier for them and you to let them be what they are, provide for their social and physical needs, rather than trying to force them into a shape and existence dictated by human desires and ideals. Intentionally keeping them isolated from other birds for your own benefit isn’t in their best interest considering their social nature. Certainly you should enjoy your birds but not coerce them into behavior or a lifestyle opposite to their nature for your own benefit.

 

[WildNectarine]

Quail have two settings: eat it or it eats me, you are too big to eat thus by their reckoning you will eat them. Even hand raised they’ll be a little spooky, won’t like being held, and won’t be your ‘friend.’ But they are cute and quirky and lots of fun but they aren’t philosophical or even very smart, they are quail! It is far wiser and healthier for them and you to let them be what they are, provide for their social and physical needs, rather than trying to force them into a shape and existence dictated by human desires and ideals. Intentionally keeping them isolated from other birds for your own benefit isn’t in their best interest considering their social nature. Certainly you should enjoy your birds but not coerce them into behavior or a lifestyle opposite to their nature for your own benefit.

If you give them a plush quail, they won’t know the difference, I use it with my aggressive roosters who have to be separated, instead of culling, they don’t even crow!