Camden

[Camden]

Only mean to me

I have an 8 year old Caique,,,,,,,,,,,,I got him 2 years ago. He was shy to begin with but he warmed up to my family of 4 very quickly. Out of the blue, one day, he turns on me and starts biting me hard. I cannot give him food, water, or get anywhere near his cage without him lunging at me or trying to bite me. He even flew to me one day and landed on my shoulder and seemed to want to be nice, so I turned to talk to him and he bit me really hard on the cheek................anyone have advice as to why he behaves like this ONLY with me?????

 

[Camden]

Hello Community!

I consider myself a rookie in the Parrot community. I adopted a Black Headed Caique about 2 years ago. His first owner raised him from teeny tiny and now he is 8 years old. His first owner passed away from Cancer when he was 5. He was left in a house, caged and alone for about a year only getting company twice a week when he was given food and water. The house had begun stages of remodeling but came to a stop during the year he was left alone. I brought him home to my noisy family of 4. He was a little shy at first......but boy did he warm up quick! he was soooooo lovable, and he really enjoyed the attention!! Its been about 2 years now that we have had Skooty. About 6 months ago my boy turned on me. He seems to "have it out" for me. I cannot go anywhere near his cage, feed, water, or close/open the window without him lunging at me trying to bite. He has bitten me many times on the hands and one really good time on my face. My husband and kids are now his caretakers; he will not allow me. I still talk to him though and ask him how he is doing, if he has sang with any other birds, or if he'd like to come out of his cage for a while. Doesn't seem to do me any good but I try to warm him up anyway.

So, that's where I stand. I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction for what to do to get him to love me again!

 

[Allee]

Hello and Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined us.

I'll let those with caique experience answer your questions about your caique's behavior.

 

[Taw5106]

Re: Only mean to me

How old is your Caique?

 

[Taw5106]

Hi again, I saw your other post. Is your baby around 5 years old? If so that's when some parrots hit sexual maturity and are hormonal. Experienced Caique owners need to chime in but I've read this and experienced this with a macaw that was not mine. Giving him some space would be viable at this point. When my amazon is in season, I haven't pressed him for attention, just put food and water in his cage, check on him by asking him how he is doing, gage his reaction and determine if I can handle him If I can't, see ya later!!!! I'll try later in the day, then on to the next day.

I have a 2 yo Ekkie that I'm waiting for to see her hormonal. And we all thing PMS is horrible. Add a beak to PMS and it turns nasty!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome! Am sure you will get the help you need from this forum!

 

[Irishj9]

Ok disclaimer: My oldest caique is 3yrs + ( but I do have 11).

At 8 years old, your caique said goodbye to puberty a long time ago, probably at age 2 or 3.

Therefore while his current beheaviour may be exaggerated by a hormonal cycle, it is unlikely to be the main cause.

Since he tolerates other people, but not YOU, you need to
a) Examine YOUR beheaviour to look for a cause
b) Bribe your way gently back into his good books

Im sure other caique owners will chip in. In the meantime there is a very active caique board here

Caique Cul De Sac | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum


JP

 

[littlewing]

Yep, i just posted something similar just a few weeks ago. See my entry a few posts down. It seems that the little turkeys get hormonal and moody. I had been making sure he got plenty of sleep as recommended, and it seemed to be working. Last night he was up a bit past his bedtime, and today we had a lunging/biting incident. He's a little cranky today. I should have known after he started getting 'crazy eyes'.

 

[dskidd]

Because being unpredictable is one of the charms of a caique (insert hysterical laughter here), it makes it difficult to give any sort "one-size-fits-all" advice.

I definitely agree with Irishj9 (after all, who am I to disagree with someone who has eleven caiques?!).

All I can offer by way of counsel is the very, very obvious: Patience. When you see Camden's "crazy eyes", or any other signs of incipient aggressive behavior, the most effective tactic I've found is basically to ignore them. Just walk away. Unfortunately, anything else (and yes, I know it's really hard not to yell when you get bitten) translates in their minds as "Hey, THAT got a reaction!"

Believe me, I speak from experience. Eliza was definitely touch-and-go during her early days at my house!

Please keep us posted--we're all rooting for you (and Camden!)