Weird Caique behavior - what is she doing?

[freelucky14]

Hi - My hubby and I just adopted this 2 yo Black-headed Caique. She is very sweet but she keeps displaying this very strange behavior that I can't figure out. Essentially what she does it this: she climbs to a top corner on her cage and plants her feet on two sides of the cage. She then proceeds to take her her left leg and pull it back and over her wing. She repeats this several times in a row. Check out her youtube video at: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCSlGSeZ3nk]Sophie doing her weird thing. - YouTube[/ame]
Sorry for the bad lighting but you can still see what she is doing pretty well. Is she trying to scratch or stretch or is this a copulation behavior? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Conuregirl]

I am not sure what is going on.. It almost looks like she is masturbating or rubbing her vent lol.

 

[freelucky14]

That was my thought originally, but her vent isn't touching the side of the cage at all. It's so weird looking!

 

[Inverse]

Maybe it feels good?

 

[Irishj9]

I have 8 of these guys and I havent seen this beheaviour yet lol. But they do odd things. I have one who will go to the corner of the cage and hang from her feet facing inwards, ( like Jesus on the cross) !!!!.

But since she is new to you, its impossible to guess what her previous cage setup was, where she may have had a favourite toy in the same cage position where she played with it regularly


JP

 

[freelucky14]

LOL - they do seem to like to do some funny things! I kind of wonder if she pulled a muscle or something because she is just TOO inactive. It's actually really concerning to me. Are any of your babies inactive? I mean, Adalee has a whole bunch of toys, but she just chooses to sit on her sundeck all day. She is pretty young - about 2 or 2 1/2. I've always owned lories so maybe I'm just used to more activity, but I thought that caiques are supposed to be really rambunctious.... at least for part of the day. I think she must not feel well in some manner as I KNOW she should be more active than that.

 

[Irishj9]

Are any of your babies inactive? I mean, Adalee has a whole bunch of toys, but she just chooses to sit on her sundeck all day. She is pretty young - about 2 or 2 1/2.

OK NOW I am concerned. My babies are younger. Oldest is 18 mths, but they are VERY active, see attached. Is she clipped or not? Does she get to stretch those wings outside her cage? . What is her diet like?

[ame="http://youtu.be/gRnEO52Xc6E"]Play Fighting - YouTube[/ame]

Other Caique owners have told me their birds calm down later in life i.e. 10 years old, but it is too soon for your baby to be inactive.

When in doubt, have an avian vet checkup. Birds are VERY good at hiding illness and you dont want to get a nasty surprise later.

At two + years old, you can be sure hormones are beginning to kick in. But first things first, I'd have her checked out

JP

 

[freelucky14]

It is pretty concerning, isn't it? I got her to the vet yesterday and she passed her physical with flying colors. She really perked up when she heard those other birds... BUT the vet did say she could have been a bit more active due to the adrenaline from being in the office. We got some blood pulled to have a full work-up done, and until then we are supposed to keep a close eye on her. Adalee was also found to be a bit hormonal so that might have something to do with what's going.

She doesn't have her wings clipped and she CAN fly! I've been working on encouraging her to fly to me for a pine nut, which is going pretty well. Her current diet consists of Harrison's Lifetime Coarse, fruits, veggies, grains and the occasional treat (ex., pine nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds). I found out that she had been on an all seed diet up until 2 months ago when she was rescued so it's possible that she is still recovering from some nutritional deficiency. Hopefully, we will figure it out soon!

A caique who doesn't play... weird! ;-)

 

[freelucky14]

Thanks for sharing the cute video!

 

[Irishj9]

RE video: You're welcome, I enjoy watching and taking pix/ snaps of the mad gang lol.

Great to hear the vet is now doing some investigation. You might be on the right track with the old seed diet.

Of course there are MANY different types of seed diet. Make sure you pick a very good one. I use Versele-Laga, but I am sure you have other varieties in CA.

Keep us posted on progress!

JP

 

[freelucky14]

An update - Adalee's bloodwork came back normal, but the vet still wants me to keep an eye on her behavior.

I'm starting to really think that she is depressed because she is lonely. She gets super excited when she sees her reflection in anything. If she sees herself in a mirror she tries to play with the reflection...

 

[MeganMango]

Does she do this because she wants out of her cage by chance? Maybe she is begging for something?

 

[MonicaMc]

I've heard that caiques are like potato chips! You can't just have one! And there's nothing like watching two caiques play together!!!!

If you can afford a second caique, then I'd say go for it! If not, then try and keep her occupied with ways to forage!

 

[Irishj9]

I've heard that caiques are like potato chips! You can't just have one! And there's nothing like watching two caiques play together!!!!

If you can afford a second caique, then I'd say go for it! If not, then try and keep her occupied with ways to forage!

LOL no you cant have just one. I have 8!!!!

Please be careful with introducing a new friend to a 4 year old Caique. There are many horror stories of complete and total rejection of the new bird immediately.

That's not saying it wont work, it may just take a lot of quiet patience before they can interact safely in the same cage.

JP

 

[P.Y]

You sure it's not parrot Yoga?