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Pictures Maybe not a Caique

Atomiklan

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So it has been several months now. I have had a little bit of experience now with both my new Finches and also Lada the visiting Eckie, and so I thought I should do an update on the eventual Caique journey...

I have had many of my old questions answered through hands on experience and now have a much better understanding of what to expect when keeping birds in general. Of course I never had any doubts that hands on experience was far more beneficial. Anyways, so whats the status on eventual Hoppy Oppy?

Well...

I still don't know is the short answer...

Here is the thing. I am quite content with the finches. I love them very much. They are pretty clean now that I have figured out how to arrange their cage to prevent poop from getting on everything (This has been a VERY useful skill that I don't believe is discussed enough!!!). They are quiet and I love hanging out with them outside the cage. Its a delight to have them hang out on my laptop screen or on the playstand next to me while I work. I have relaxed over time too with them out of the cage. I am a lot less worrisome over poop getting all over the kitchen as I have slowly learned how to control it by conditioning them to certain areas on the kitchen. It has become pretty manageable. Their cage is also the perfect size, elegant, and doesn't take up too much space which has been ideal for me as this was a big concern at first too. To put it differently, I have reached an equilibrium point living with the finches. I still have a lot of work to do with them as I wish they were more cuddly, but I'm sure that will come with time.

As for larger parrots, this is where things get tricky. I am not yet ready to live permanently with a big parrot AND finches. Allow me to explain. I think long term its just too much for me to keep both. I honestly dont understand how some of you are able to keep so many birds. I would be super happy, but I would also go nuts over all the cleaning! Anyways back to Finches and Parrot. At this point, I think it has to be one or the other, not both. I hate the idea of multiple cages in the house. Currently I have two in the kitchen and it is getting cramped. Even having a third travel cage stuffed away in the closet bugs me. Lots of used up space and just more stuff... In case you haven't noticed yet from my other posts, I am a little OCD regarding organization and cleaning. Cleaning has also been a challenge. I have not completely done away with my cleaning supplies yet. I have just been using them very carefully and away from birds. Changing to all SS pots was not as difficult as I originally thought it would be. I was in need of a major upgrade, so that came at a good time and not having nonstick cookware has not been a problem at all. The pots and pans have not been a challenge at all regarding stuck food which was quite surprising.

Now we have to talk about the mess though... The constant mess created by all the birds... This is still troubling some days. The finches have managed to stop being so messy outside the cage. I attribute that mostly to my choice of food placement, containers, etc. however, they still require pretty regular full cage scrub downs to keep cage up to my crazy OCD standards. This is not too troublesome by itself, but adding in additional cages and the time starts to add up. This brings me back to Lada. She can be QUITE messy and I have taken some extreme measures to help control the mess. The first week she was here, the floor was constantly covered with crumbs. This was partially my fault. I gave her lots of crumbly treats that bounced out of the cage and I delayed putting the 45 degree catch panels on the cage. By the end of the week, I was going a little bit crazy. Lada went home for a few days while I was out of town on business and when I returned, before picking her back up, I retrofitted her loaner cage with some SS and poly carbonate armor...

IMG_20171012_182315.jpg IMG_20171012_182332.jpg IMG_20171012_182343.jpg IMG_20171012_182930.jpg

It's spaced about an inch from cage bars which allows her to still climb and allows for toys and perches to still be attached, but any crumbs that try to escape strike the panel, fall straight down, strike the catch plate and fall back into cage bottom. This has reduced my sweeping duties from 100% to 2% overnight. The only crumbs I have to worry about now are when I give the finches or Lada treats outside the cage.

Poop has also been manageable. I have been using towels I purchased as "bird towels" to put down anywhere I dont want poop. I just end up doing a little more laundry every week, but that has not been bad. I also finally started using newspaper for Lada's cage. I asked the whole neighborhood online to toss their unwanted city papers on my driveway and several individuals have been contributing which makes for a healthy and regular supply of newspaper for cages.

The last potential issue has been behavior. I always knew going into this that Lada would not be a good example of life with a parrot. She is just too chill and clearly life with a Caique will be quite different. Perhaps that is still the cause of my apprehension. I need to remind myself that this is just a lifestyle test, not a behavioral test. Part of me is still worried that I will go crazy with a Caique. I should expect one to be infinitely louder than Lada considering she never makes a peep. Part of me is a little disappointed that Lada is not as active as I would like for her to be and again even though I knew that going into it, perhaps that is discouraging me slightly as well.

I'm sure I am missing a lot of things, but anyways, in summary. I am still not sure if a Caique is right for me. This is now the true test. Lada is her to stay for quite awhile as I have no plans on going anywhere until at least xmas. We'll see how I feel about all of this in a month or two. I will say one additional thing. The polycarbonate panels have been a HUGE help. I dont think I could make it without them. This also reminds me. I have also learned from this whole experience that if I decide to get a Caique, my original idea of putting the cage over carpet is now shattered to pieces. The cage MUST been in kitchen or over hard floors. Sorry, but mats upder cages on carpets just wont cut it for me. Too much mess with all the crumbs, and wet food like fruits and veggies. This has greatly influenced my reasons/desire for keeping so few birds. I completely understand now why so many of you have "bird rooms" with hard floors.

I'll leave you now with Lada chewing up a small flat rate box and Charlie being mischievous... Emma is being camera shy.

IMG_20171016_180047.jpg IMG_20171016_180117.jpg

Feel free to comment on anything. Life stuff, being a Caique parront, living with birds, tips and tricks, promises that it does get easier, etc.
 

finchly

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How about big plastic runners under the cage? Like the ones you put under a computer chair?

Have you met a caique in person yet?

I don't consider mine very loud. He chatters, and at 7 months has quite a vocabulary although I suspect only I can understand it. He is hilarious but also demanding of my time. Hubby resists getting another, but I'm the one who is forced to play with him (yesterday 2.5 hours , he'd have gone longer but I was busy).

He is not too messy, I have plastic under the office cage and we vacuum the bird room every morning. He has learned to throw treats to the dog though.

I'm being pushed to eat dinner. Will come back later.
 

sunnysmom

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Finches are adorable little birds. I think sometimes there's this inadvertent pressure to get bigger birds once we've gained more bird experience, etc. But there's nothing wrong with just being a small bird person. And bigger parrots are messy. Much more messy. LOL. I never would have thought the mess difference between having a cockatiel and a cockatoo would be as huge as it is, but it's huge. In comparison, my tiel wasn't messy at all. I spend every night cleaning up the mess on the floor from my 'too. And he's potty trained. (I didn't potty train him. He came to us like that.) So I'm not even cleaning up poop. I'm cleaning up literally hand fulls of pellets, and wood chips, and plastic pieces, and nut shells, etc. It is crazy how much of a mess he makes. So, if mess is something that bothers you, perhaps you should stick with the smaller birds. And that's completely fine. :)
 
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Distaff

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It's not like there is some sort of achievement goal you need to meet; if you don't want to deal with the mess and hassle, then stick to the small and lower maintenance birds.

My only big birds are chickens - they live outside for a reason. I'll be getting some tumblers, or maybe ring-neck doves at some point, but again they will be outside. Love indoor budgie chatter and canary song, but I know my limits.
 

Atomiklan

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Yeah, I definitely don't feel pressured to do anything. I just fell in LOVE with Caiques. If anything, the only pressure I feel is not from external sources, but from myself to get used to being ok with the mess. Oh by the way, this was my solution during fresh fruits and veggie time too hahaha. The acrylic bending rig returns to save the day again! Then just rinse off in sink. Worked like a charm!

IMG_20171016_182450.jpg IMG_20171016_182456.jpg IMG_20171016_182443.jpg

So really, this is all I am working on getting used to:
  1. Crumbs - I have a pretty good solution so far with the poly panels.
  2. Family - Ideally would like my Caique to travel at holidays. Father met Lada yesterday and now loves her, mother not on board yet haha (She has not met any birds yet... She'll come around once she meets one in person). I do have several boarding options if needed, but I would rather have my family interact with any birb I decide to get.
  3. Noise - Lada is silent... I need to prepare myself for lots of Caique talk and occasional screams. Perhaps I need to request a different foster parrot at some point to get some more typical constant parrot talk to see if I go nuts.
  4. Cages - Either get used to having two cages in kitchen, or wait several years to get a Caique.
At the end of the day, a lot of this stuff above is for me personally, but most is also for the benefit of the bird. I want to think of future Oppy's well being. I am just working on preparing myself FULLY before I commit as I want him to have the best possible life. I refuse to put myself in a situation where I rehome him shortly after bringing him home. I will NOT allow that to happen. Its clearly not fair.
 
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finchly

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My caique ...oh wait. I started to say he doesn't make constant noise but then I realized that is him making all the noise. I guess I tune it out. :D

I don't feel like he is that noisy. Even when he is in the office, I've only once had to shush him so hubby could do his conference call.

Traveling, birds seem to enjoy travel. Not finches, but others. So I don't think you will have a problem. I am glad Rio is a baby because we have already started with travel, the harness, etc.
 

Irishj9

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Caiques are treetop dwelling birds and nature has designed them to drop food down so that other species can share in the bounty from the canopy. So I am used to my two adorable youngsters leaping in feet first to their food dish every morning.

Their carer was quite worried when he went away for the weekend on a Friday and I would not arrive till Saturday morning. He said It doesnt matter how much food I put in their dish. most of it will be on the floor, under the cage in ten minutes.

He arrived at a solution by spiking food on branches, apples, corn cobs etc.

They DO test your inventiveness!!!
 

Atomiklan

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Yeah I saw something like that the other day in the store (At least the general concept). It was essentially a skewer similar to those used for kabobs but designed to be bird safe. It was poorly/cheaply manufactured though so I did not buy it and will instead just come up with my own design at some point that will be a lit more industrial strength.
 

CristineK

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@Irishj9 Ha, I was wondering why Kooki likes to leap feet first in her food dish...now I know why lol. @Atomiklan I don't have enough experience with Caiques to say much but I am 2 weeks into my BHC's life and so far she has not been very loud at all. She does make some very cute sounds when she is happy, but to me it sounds like she is telling jokes. I have her in a big cage and that is where she eats, so the mess is not too bad either. She is also a super chilled baby, I am sure that will probable change. lol
 

Atomiklan

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I don't have enough experience with Caiques to say much
That's the idea, ie that's why I followed you. I want to see what your experience is like with a new Caique day by day. I am looking forward to all your posts as you and Kooki start bonding! Also as she starts testing you too haha.
 

Porter

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If it is mess... size and cage space that is bothering you...
Look into Parrotlets.
They are sweet cute little birds... and have the personality of a 'macaw' in a small bird's body.
 

Atomiklan

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@Porter do you mean for me? Thanks, but I have my heart set on a Caique still. Have been researching them for about a year now. Still not ready yet though, so just experiencing them though others for the time being. Originally just been worried if I could handle one. Anyways, I don't want to hijack thread though. Thanks!
 

CristineK

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@Atomiklan No, not yet, she is still a sweetie. Last night I was playing with her and she rolled on her back (for the first time for me) and played with my fingers....ohhh my goodness, that melted my heart :). I still have to find a way to post videos somewhere and then copy the links here, I have a few on my phone right now.
 

tka

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I dealt with the thrown stuff problem by buying a length of vinyl kitchen floor covering - it was the end of a roll so discounted, and cheaper than trying to get big enough computer chair mats. It extends a good 2 1/2 feet beyond Leia's cage so does tend to catch most of the thrown food, moulted down, shredded bird toys and so on. I have a vacuum cleaner next to her cage and hoover at least once a day because stepping on sharp pellet bits with bare feet is unpleasant.

It helps me to think about parrot mess in the wild. Loads of plants depend on parrots eating their fruit and dropping half of it. In a jungle it's a little like having feathery gardeners, but in the home it's an argument for having as many wipe-clean things as possible! I keep F10 and Poop Off spray next to the cage, and wipe up any poo before it has a chance to dry.

It's fine to fall in love with a bird species but ultimately decide it wouldn't be a good match for you. The first species I was interested in was parrotlets but I realised they were too forceful for me and that I'd be happier with a more chill, more independent personality.
 

Archiesmom

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Any chance you would market and sell those panels? :D I could use those for sure.
 

finchly

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Any chance you would market and sell those panels? :D I could use those for sure.
We keep trying to get him to sell his inventions. He made a great little perch too. Help us pester him about it, ok?

@Atomiklan if you come to SW FL for vacation I can loan you a caique for a few hours. Then you'd know for sure what you are getting into. Look into Allegiant Airlines.
 

Atomiklan

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I will see what I can do about making a few extras next time of whatever I build (excluding the window perch) and I will make a store on eBay.
 

Archiesmom

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I will see what I can do about making a few extras next time of whatever I build (excluding the window perch) and I will make a store on eBay.
Excellent! I could definitely use those, especially against the back wall for my cages. I have birdies that love to take VIGOROUS water bowl baths.
 
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