Obsessive Baby

[njdevils42]

Hey, I'm a new Caique owner, having 3 month old White Belly named Frankie. Ive had him just over 2 weeks no, and its been a relatively easy couple weeks. Recently, for the past 3 days, he has stopped wanting to chill in the top of his cage where he has toys, ladders and food and instead is relentlessy flying to me nonstop. He just wants to be on my shoulder or cuddled up if I'm laying on the couch nonstop. I keep putting him back on top, and he just flies right back to me. I tried putting him inside with the door closed for a few minutes, then open the door and put him on top and he would stay for a few minutes then fly right to me.
I dont think this obsessive need to be on me is a healthy behavior, but I dont want him to turn cold towards me either, but it has gotten to the point where I need to keep him inside with the door closed. What is the best way to tweak this behavior so he learns to stay a little independent? Up until 3 days ago he was happy to stay on his playtop and play with the toys, coming to me sporadically. Thanks!

 

[BruceTheQuail]

While we have had various parrots for years, I'm fairly new to caiques myself. I've found ours to have quite a similar temperament to lovebirds who (despite their size) have the tendencies of some larger parrots. What you are describing is pretty typical of my experience. It can actually get quite stressful with the pressure.

I am sure out avian vet (who can be a little militant) would say "keep him off your shoulder!" (advice that is easier to give than to follow). He and his behaviorist are of the view that if your bird sits on your shoulder it will see you (or at least your head) as a mate and all sorts of unwelcome behaviors will result. They recommend keeping it on your hand, near your chest. The problem is that it is super convenient to have the birds sit on your shoulder, because you can do other things while they are there. But essentially I'm passing on their advice, which I follow (kind of!).

Next is that with the bird out and doing what it wants, it doesnt have boundaries. I'd keep it in its cage and let it out a couple of hours a day.

The other thing is that unless it has its own mate, it will see you as a mate. We always end up with pairs, because we cant stand to see the little guys lonely and it gets quite stressful seeing them trying to bust out to you all of the time. My experience has been that provided that you keep dealing with the bird, they dont lose their affection for you even if they have a true mate. It just takes the pressure off.

That's my view, I'm sure others will have better advice.