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new caique mom here!

ali_and_birdie

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Hi all! I got a 10 month old caique 3 days ago. She's my first parrot (though as a child I grew up with birds), so I want to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Some background about her: she was hatched by a breeder, but she lived with someone else for about 7 months, until coming to live with me (they gave her to me when they realized they didn't have the time to give her all the attention she deserves). So she's definitely in a transitional state. That said, she has become pretty attached to me in the past couple days. She likes to climb around on my shoulders/head, and she seems most happy when I'm in the room (she gets pretty angry when I leave the room without her)!

I have a couple questions already. I'm taking her for her first vet appointment tomorrow, but I thought I'd start by running some of these questions by you folks :) I was reading a lot of the threads on this forum before I got her, and they were really helpful.

First, I don't think she is used to eating vegetables. She seems to really hate leafy greens in particular (she just runs away from them). But I have gotten her to eat cauliflower and carrots. Carrots seem to be her favorite, so I'm giving her a fair amount each day, since she's not eating other vegetables quite yet (like maybe 1/4 cup diced raw carrots daily). Is that okay? I've noticed her droppings have turned slightly orange...

Second, she doesn't seem to want to play. She likes me to hold her, and she likes to chew on things (my windowsill, my computer...), and she also has been doing some climbing on my furniture. But she doesn't seem interested in any of the toys I've given her. Do you think she just needs time to adjust? Or are some caiques just not that interested in toys?

Third, she is SUPER clumsy! She likes to sit on my shoulder so that she can be with me when I'm walking from room to room in my house, but she sometimes falls off because she's not really holding onto me tight enough. Is that a baby thing?

And last, her previous owner was feeding her Zupreem fruit blend flavor pellets. She really likes them, but from reading some forums, it looks like Zupreem might be a bit sugary. Would it be best for me to try to transition her to something like Harrisons?

thanks all! look forward to talking more :)
 

EkkieLu

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Welcome Aboard! I'm so glad you're here! Congratulations on your new baby!!!
 

hrafn

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finchly

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Hello and welcome! WOW I think a caique for a first parrot is a real challenge, congratulations!

Let’s see. The food yes I would move away from the sugary stuff, I use Roudybush but Harrison’s is also a good food. The carrots are ok but variety would be better. Mine love organic baby bell peppers.

Are her wings clipped? The clumsiness and not holding on tightly seems to be typical of young caiques, that’s how my boy was. His breeder clipped him before weaning, maybe before he fledged. He. Still doesn’t know he can fly (15 months).

Toys, don’t worry about it. Did you try foot toys? Those seem to be faves with Rio and Captain Jack. Even a few plastic links strung together, or a ‘bracelet’ with a bead on it - they play with those but not the huge nice toys I made for them. :)

There are people here who will have a lot more to tell you. I have others birds but Cakes only for 2 years.
 

WendyN

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Welcome and Congratulations!
Enjoy this bonding time. It is a very precious experience.
Some suggestions:
- give her some alone time in her cage, so she figures out how to play and have fun on her own. Provide chewable wood toys and foraging opportunities. I put pine wood, natural fiber parts, card board blocks on a stainless steel skewer. Also hide treats in paper cups with lids.
- Harrison’s it a great food. I find that Joey likes a variety of pellets.
- Fresh veggies can be offered on SS skewers, peppers, broccoli, kale, apple, carrots...
- Joey is 9 years old and is still clumsy. I love him so much.
 

fashionfobie

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Welcome to the forum! :fairy:
 

saroj12

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Hi and welcome!
You can check out my YouTube channel bonosa1 for JoJo and Chickie videos
 

Zara

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Welcome to the forum :fairy2:
 

Irishj9

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Mine are picky about vegetables, but will devour a veg smoothie to the last drop

My recipe: Water. Kale, Carrot, Spinach, Pineapple, Banana
 

ali_and_birdie

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Thanks so much for all the advice and welcomes!
One more question--is there any rule of thumb about the amount of food that a young caique should eat in a day? Like a certain volume of pellets + a certain volume of vegetables? My girl is already 185 g which seems pretty large, so I'm not sure if I should make sure her food dish is always full, or give her a certain amount of food, or what!
 

FLmom

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Hi and welcome! I also got my caique as a first parrot 8 years ago. I don’t remember life before Kai. He’s a nut ball and pretty high maintenance for sure but well worth the trouble IMO :xflove:

I second the advice of letting her spend time in her cage full of toys and foraging items. It’s good for them to have some ability to self entertain and spend time doing parrot things. When we first brought Kai home we would sit next to him in his cage while he played. His favorite thing I used for foraging was pine nuts. I’d stash those tiny little nuts all over his cage in his toys. Also small amounts of peanut butter were used as a treat when I wanted him to enjoy going to his cage.

Foot toys are a fav around here as well. Things like birdy bagels, and small wood toys. It takes lots of buying and trying to see what the favs are. Turns out most of his toys are household objects that he decided he liked. For example the kids to oatmeal containers and straws.

As far as food. Just keep offering a variety of things. Kai also loves carrots. He gets done every morning with some apple chunks and grapes or bananas. Also nutriberries are a big must have around here too.

Congrats on your caique! Get ready for the ride. It can be rather bumpy at times. But I wouldn’t trade him for the world.
 

Irishj9

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Thanks so much for all the advice and welcomes!
One more question--is there any rule of thumb about the amount of food that a young caique should eat in a day? Like a certain volume of pellets + a certain volume of vegetables? My girl is already 185 g which seems pretty large, so I'm not sure if I should make sure her food dish is always full, or give her a certain amount of food, or what!
These birds are designed to live high up in the tree canopy of the Amazon rainforest. They are programmed to eat half their food and drop the rest of it down to the forest floor - (ie your carpet) to feed other animals.

What is missing from the food bowl is not what is eaten.

Leave lots of food
Make sure birdie gets LOTS of flying exercise
 

mastrude

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Thanks so much for all the advice and welcomes!
One more question--is there any rule of thumb about the amount of food that a young caique should eat in a day? Like a certain volume of pellets + a certain volume of vegetables? My girl is already 185 g which seems pretty large, so I'm not sure if I should make sure her food dish is always full, or give her a certain amount of food, or what!
Average weight for caiques is 170 grams. Your bird may be overweight. You might take her to an avian vet for advice. One thing about caiques is that they're primarily fruit eaters in the wild. She'll have a longer, more healthy, life if you give her a lot of fruit. Hint: My caiques have all loved apple. (But remove the seeds.)
 

Danny64

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Mine weighs 132 grams.

Danny

Average weight for caiques is 170 grams. Your bird may be overweight. You might take her to an avian vet for advice. One thing about caiques is that they're primarily fruit eaters in the wild. She'll have a longer, more healthy, life if you give her a lot of fruit. Hint: My caiques have all loved apple. (But remove the seeds.)
 
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