Quail pacing often - don't know why

[quail39572]

Hi everybody,

No other threads about quail pacing could really answer what's going on with my button quail. I'm sick and groggy so this post is a little rambly, bear with me.

She has been pacing a lot for a while, probably over a month. She used to do it for a short while and then would stop, but it's picked up a lot lately. Some possible theories I've had:

• Trying to get poop off her feet. She gets poop on her feet a lot - I stopped putting pine shavings on the top plastic platform of her cage because it would all get kicked out onto the floor within a day, but yesterday I figured out how to keep it up there with some tape on the sides of the cage, so hopefully that will help. I clean her feet when I can.
• Stress. Her partner died a few weeks ago and I'm not sure if she's been pacing more or the same as she used to before that. I moved a couple months ago to a new apartment as well so maybe she is still stressed about the change. I also have been moving her and the other birds around a lot trying to find groups they won't fight in - it seems like the pairings I come up with work for a day and then everyone's unhappy again. I have been letting her roam the apartment now that it is decluttered enough for her to do that and I think it helps some.
• Loneliness. Again, she used to pace before her partner died, but maybe she saw the other birds and cages and wanted to be with them too (but as soon as I try to pair her with anyone she attacks them, even in an environment they're both unused to).

Any advice or questions about things I might not have thought to mention to try and help solve this would really be appreciated. I'm sensitive to repetitive noises so the sound of her pacing has been driving me nuts, and I've considered rehoming the other birds so I can focus more on her if the issue is stress which might be caused by the other birds, but I am trying to avoid that. Thanks in advance.

 

[el dorado quail]

What kind of quail would help people help you identify an issue

 

[quail39572]

What kind of quail would help people help you identify an issue

edited to say they are button quail

 

[le_bwah]

Most animals will pace when they are A) feeling trapped and stressed or B) bored. With her being alone, my bet would be on a mixture of the two. What does she have going on in terms of enrichment—cover, different levels, bedding, treats, that sort of thing?

 

[quail39572]

View attachment 1758680

(This is true for both my quail cages as they're replicas of each other): There's an upper level that provides cover (it's a platform that's a third of the length of the cage with a ramp attached) and she used to have a plant in her cage, but she and her partner kept eating it so I had to take it out and put it on top of the cage to let it recover until I can get them a fake plant that they won't eat. I use large pine shavings and some hay on the bottom and smaller pine shavings on the top platform. There's a fake log in there that she likes sitting on and using to hop up to the second platform, a critter-cage-turned-dust-bath with potting soil, and a small nesting box with moss in it. I also got tiny wicker balls a while ago but she doesn't seem very interested like I thought she might not be lol. The size of the cage is decent, 32" x 18.5" x 17". Sometimes I feed her scrambled eggs which she loves and I've crushed up dried mealworms before because she usually isn't interested in eating it when it's whole but haven't done that in a while. She doesn't seem to be interested in fruit very much. She used to be in a glass terrarium with all the other birds before they matured and now they are all in wire and plastic cages. I put some apple cider vinegar in their water and I feed them chick game feed with 24% protein and stopped feeding them when they stopped laying eggs (two of them only laid once, quail the post is about never has).

Are there some other staple items I should get or things I should change about the cage?

 

[el dorado quail]

Based on what I've read about buttons they will be sad / lonely after their mate dies. I'd do a see but not touch separation?
Try frozen fruit cubes for fun and snackage?

Your attachment doesn't work btw

 

[quail39572]

What's something I could use to create a see-through barrier? They've been known to try to eat plastic wrap before so I can't do that.

I like the frozen fruit cube idea.

Can't figure out how to get the image to be posted directly into the post like it usually does instead of as an attachment you have to click.

 

[el dorado quail]

What's something I could use to create a see-through barrier? They've been known to try to eat plastic wrap before so I can't do that.

I like the frozen fruit cube idea.

Can't figure out how to get the image to be posted directly into the post like it usually does instead of as an attachment you have to click.

Piece of hardware cloth seems like the easiest way.

Melon chunks are good I hear

It says attachment is broke or something when you click

 

[quail39572]

They have that at the Lowe's near me so I'll go snag that.

I just squished done bluberries and popped them in the ice cube tray and I'll see how she likes it.

It was just a picture of the cage with everything I described in it.

 

[Ebony Rose]

What's something I could use to create a see-through barrier? They've been known to try to eat plastic wrap before so I can't do that.

The glass from a cheap picture frame at your local dollar store would do the trick.