Recently Adopted Caique

[BostonBirdLovers]

We are so excited!
My wife and I have been talking about getting a parrot for some time. Recently we had an opportunity to adopt one from a friend of a friend. We picked him up last night, he is Sunny.
Sunny came with tons of food, snacks, and toys and a real nice roomy cage. He's 3.5 years old, the original owner had papers on him, receipts, verifications, etc. and she was a little distraught when we came to get him. She is having some health problems and her husband has come down with dementia and she had been deciding over some time that she couldn't care for him in the long term. She had been looking for a suitable home for him for some time. I don't think he was getting much stimulation there, but she was very sweet with him and he was well loved.

Sunny has been adjusting already, does not seem to be frightened or upset. He was eating right away but a little defensive to hands last night, so we are giving him some space for now. We have 2 parakeets and they seem to be acknowledging each other. He's talking a lot and making all his noises. He whistles when we were out of the room - distinctly different calls than when we were right there.

We had done a fair amount of research in the days leading up to the adoption, but only what a week would allow. I have ordered a book on Caiques and will get it next week. We are intuitive animal lovers and conscientious, but understand the undertaking we have in front of us. We want to be good stewards of Gods creature.

Currently we have 3 cats and are used to shuttling them out of the house for fly time. Sunny will now be part of that procedure.

We are open to any suggestions, especially during the transition period. I posted on another parrot board for some pointers but then found this board just for caiques. At this time we are leaving everything as is and just letting him get used to the new sites, smells, sounds.

thanks to all for providing a forum to help us make Sunny's life good!

Mike and Sue -- BostonBirdLovers

 

[Dopey]

Welcome. Congrats on the new bird and thank you for adopting him.

 

[Christinenc2000]

Welcome. Sounds like Sunny found a good home

 

[dskidd]

We are open to any suggestions, especially during the transition period. I posted on another parrot board for some pointers but then found this board just for caiques. At this time we are leaving everything as is and just letting him get used to the new sites, smells, sounds.

Heya! Welcome to these wonderful forums! It sounds like Sunny found a lovely home, with people who really want to make it the best home it can be for him. That's always heartwarming to hear.

Okay, let's see...suggestions. Well, you'll want a tranquilizer dart gun to start with. Oh yes, and tequila. One bottle for you two, one bottle for Sunny. Can't think of anything else... :09:

Seriously, based on what I've read here, you're already doing it right--letting Sunny take things at his own pace. If you 're looking for additional reading material, Barbara Heidenreich's (sp?) book "The Parrot Problem Solver" is very good. As I've sure you've gathered from here, caiques are very intelligent birds, so variety of toys and activities is always a good thing. There will be ups and downs, but don't let that discourage you. The rewards they will give you MORE than make up for any setbacks! Once again, the fact that you're taking the time to do the research is great.

There are many more people on these forums far more knowledgable than I--you'll find this a great resource too!

Once again, congratulations!
Derek

PS Is it too early to start bugging you for pictures yet?

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

hey all!
so far so good. We picked up sunny on thanksgiving evening and have been surprised at how quickly he seemed to adjust and how sociable he is. He loves our son (18) and daughter (13). We rearranged his cage and rotated some toys and he has been walking around and exploring with our constant supervision.

We have a small book on Caiques and have read it through. It has been very informative but we have a couple questions.

I know these birds like to "rough house" but we are generally calm people and don't want to encourage that type of behavior (not to mention he does use his beak...). The dilemma is to wrestle with him (perhaps with a glove on), or just try to reduce this natural tendency. The old Darwinian nature verses nurture question I guess.

Also his cage is too small based on what we've read. We are looking around for a bigger cage so any ideas on that would be welcomed. Currently he has 5/8" spacing and about 2' x 3' by 3.5'.

He was funny watching the parakeets fly around and he was going to town on this plastic perch he has...very entertaining.

I'm not real good with technology but will try to post some pictures sometime soon.

He says "whatareyoudoin'?" and "heybaby".

Mike and Sue

 

[Jowelbg]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!

My vote on the wrestling is for an ungloved hand. He'll learn what pressure is appropriate to keep from hurting you quickly. In my (limited) experience, gloves confuse birds.

B&B's favorite tequila is the Reserve de la Familia from Cuervo. They pair it with a nice Mac keyboard.

Great to have another Caique owner .

 

[dskidd]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum!
My vote on the wrestling is for an ungloved hand. He'll learn what pressure is appropriate to keep from hurting you quickly. In my (limited) experience, gloves confuse birds.
B&B's favorite tequila is the Reserve de la Familia from Cuervo. They pair it with a nice Mac keyboard.
Great to have another Caique owner .

I absolutely agree with Joel. Playing/wrestling is just one of the myriad of characteristics that makes caiques so much fun! Basically, when Sunny bites too hard, stop playing. It gives him some time to process the fact that--when he bites too hard--fun time is over. Sometimes, caiques can get too excited and will bite anyway; the trick is to read the signals, and stop playing before it gets to that point. However, in that situation, what I usually try and do is immediately give E and/or H something else fun to do, which keeps things in a positive light for them.

That's an interesting point about gloved hands. I've never tried it, so I don't know if E&H would be confused by it. On the other hand, if it's NOT on my hand, it makes a great toy: I dropped a glove once, and it wound up being dragged all over the house in an epic game of tug-of-war.

E&H also definitely prefer Mac keyboards. (Picking up the trackpad and banging it on the desk to startle their dad is another favorite pastime.) Though E&H share B&B's fondness for top-of-the-line tequilas; as the wintry weather sets in, their preference has turned to single-malt scotch, such as Laphroaig (sipped neat, of course).

Also, pay no attention to Joel's phrase "Caique owner." There's no such thing. I can only think he must have temporarily wrested control of the keyboard away from Bunsen and Beaker...

 

[punkindave]

"The sock game" is a favorite with Scooter. In the morning he "escapes" when my Wife changes the water bowls and comes in to "help" me get ready, there's a perch on the bathroom mirror and he shouts and cheers encouragement at me while I shave, he'll poop in the sink and sometimes he'll even jump up for a foot massage "ride" on my electric toothbrush.

When I lay out my clothes, I'll throw my socks (one at a time) directly at him. He fakes falling over very dramatically and proceeds to wrestle with them on his back while cheering away! When he's done, he brings them back to me and runs away waiting for another go. Hysterical!!

The other three play too, but Scooter is the MASTER!!

 

[dskidd]

When I lay out my clothes, I'll throw my socks (one at a time) directly at him. He fakes falling over very dramatically and proceeds to wrestle with them on his back while cheering away! When he's done, he brings them back to me and runs away waiting for another go. Hysterical!!
The other three play too, but Scooter is the MASTER!!

This sounds hysterical! Okay, we need video of this. (Assuming, of course, you're otherwise fully dressed when this event normally occurs!)

 

[punkindave]

When I lay out my clothes, I'll throw my socks (one at a time) directly at him. He fakes falling over very dramatically and proceeds to wrestle with them on his back while cheering away! When he's done, he brings them back to me and runs away waiting for another go. Hysterical!!
The other three play too, but Scooter is the MASTER!!

This sounds hysterical! Okay, we need video of this. (Assuming, of course, you're otherwise fully dressed when this event normally occurs!)

Sadly whenever the camera or cell phone comes out, his ADD kicks in and the camera becomes the focus of everything!! LOL
My avatar pic is one of the few times he's been still enough to take a funny picture!! LOL

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

you guys are great! thanks for the responses and helping us with our concerns.
Sunny's been with us over a week and it has been quite a week getting to know him and having him get to know us. We have learned a lot.
We are not promoting the wrestling for now, but I have noticed how his nips change in intensity depending on what he wants. He has a real light one when he is doing "kisses" and loving on us, but then a strong one when he doesn't want us to take away food or put him in the cage.
We've both been bit hard a couple of times and have learned the warning signs pretty well -- it's all in the circmstances and his body language forecasts what's coming; so it's up to us to pay attention to what's going on.

I think this bird was understimulated and he doesn't play much with his toys or other things we present. He was also clipped and has begun to fly short distances. I believe he is blossoming in some ways based on the increased activity in our home, the variety of attention he's getting and the fact that he can move more freely around.

We're having a lot of fun and look forward to participating more on the boards and joining discussions when we can!

Mike&Sue

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

Sunny has been flying more as his flight feathers are growing in. He crash lands a lot though and I'm afraid he might hurt himself. Any suggestions on how we can help him develop his in-air flight plans? Any resources we can check out?

Mike

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

Also, we're having trouble getting this bird to eat vegetables. He seems to only like fruit. We've tried all sorts of things and he just ignores them. Fruit - no problem, but I know he needs veggies.
(As we speak he's eating his first carrot since the rehome, but I'm still concerned).
Any tricks? (my son wont eat them either, but he's 18 now and I can't hide them in things anymore, he's too suspicious).

Mike

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

There are lots of good recipes for chops, mashes and birdie breads on this forum if you do a search for them.

Lots of ways to "hide" veggies in things he may like.

I suggest making small batches to find out which ones he likes then you can make larger batches and freeze in small portioned bags for later use.

That's what I do. Makes it easy to defrost a bag in the fridge over night and serve in the morning for breakfast!

 

[Christinenc2000]

When it came to veggies I tried everything cooked , raw, cold, warm LOL Finally had a bowl of Green beans standing at the cage wondering what to try next . I picked one out of the bowl and ate it. CLEAN cooking bowl That got his attention lol From then on anything I eat he wants . He Still hates Carrot

I warm up to room temp for most veggies

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Zilla won't eat ANYTHING cold! I have to warm everything I give her to at least room temp or luke warm!

But she HAS to have ice cubes in her water EVERYTIME I change it (4 to 6 times a day with her kidney issues) Also won't drink her cranberry juice if I don't put ice in it.

Can we all say SPOILED parrot???

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

those are great ideas and we will be looking up some more recipes.
his flying is getting better also.
Mike

 

[BostonBirdLovers]

this is a picture of sunny from this morning after we left the dog food container out on the counter.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

He's just having a little snack!

 

[dskidd]

this is a picture of sunny from this morning after we left the dog food container out on the counter.

LOLOL! A perfect illustration of one of the Caique Rules of Life: Always go directly to the source!