Young non-weened caique begging for food

[Trent84]

Hello there,
I'm here again with something that could be an issue with my 3 1/2 months caique.
When I got him, about 3 weeks ago, he was only taking formula 3x day, and egg dry, that's it. As it seemed very strange to me, I waited for a few days adding something extra to have him taste something new. I called the breeder (this is his 2nd home already) and he told me that he should be completely weened already and to cut the middle day formula.
I offer him a variety of food, his bowl are always full of something. He's nibbiling/eating everything I give him -seeds, daily fresh vegetables, fruits (he loves it!) Pellets, you name it, he has it.
However, I'm quite confused. As soon as he sees me he does his hungry screech and it's getting worse day by day. The first 2 weeks were a dream, now he's changing and he keeps screeching and begging for food even if he's eating at the same exact moment.
The only moments I recognize him are right after I give him the formula. Then he'd be sweet, cuddy and playful as usual.
He sleeps 12 hrs in a dark and quiet room, he has about 4/5 hrs of out of cage time.
The next week I'll go to the vet, to check if everything is ok. He steadily weighs 150 grams.
I'm quite on the edge on this, this is my first baby and I didn't think the weening would have been on me.
I have the feeling that I've done something wrong, or maybe he'sj ust too upset with us cutting one feed per day. Please help, I'd like him to be happy and to see the amazing playful lad I adopted.

 

[TikiMyn]

I would give him food whenever he begs for it. Do you sit with him and play / eat the food yourself?

@Irishj9

 

[Trent84]

If I'm eating apples or bananas I'd give him some.
My routine, if could make sense, is:
I wake him up and I go prepare breakfast and his formula, I wait about 1/2 HR so he eats something on his own first. The morning goes on quite fine, as I work from home and even if he spends a few hours in the cage eating and playing with toys he doesn't have any issue.
Middle morning I give him soaked pellets. Then he goes out and play with my boyfriend and me for a few hours, I then Chop some vegetables and put it on the bowl or on a steel stick.
I often close the cage when he wants to eat, otherwise he'd just stay with us and completely forget his basic needs
He then plays again, eats and about 8pm we give him the formula before bed.
The only way for him to stop begging and eating his own food without fuss would be to move him go another room and leave him alone, but this is something I don't really want to do.

 

[Irishj9]

I call BS!

Food is more than nutrition to a caique. FOOD = LOVE and SECURITY.

HE EATS WITH THE FLOCK. Thats you and your BF.

IF NECESSARY HAND FEED THE LITTLE BUGGER. TEN TIMES A DAY IF HE WANTS IT. He will love you for it and its the greatest bonding exercise there is.

As soon as HE IS READY ( not YOU, Not the BREEDER), he will actually refuse food from you, and feed himself

For now you eat with him, and baby him and tell him you love him and watch his body language.

Continue hand feedings until he feels confident enough to fly over and steal food off your plate.

YOU ARE THE FLOCK. YOU TEACH HIM WHAT IS GOOD TO EAT

Forget his basic needs? Oh little grasshopper, you have so much to learn.

He is your master. get used to it

 

[TikiMyn]

if you still want to learn more, you can look up abundance weaning. It is much better for their mental health later in life We do the same with our baby yellow collar and we spend a lot of time with him in our laps or on the table and showing him what’s food and what’s a toy etc. Good that you are learning and do not take the breeders advice!

I would cherish Irishj9 advice he has loads of experience with raising caiques.

 

[Trent84]

Thank you for all the advices.

What confused me the most is I feel like the first weeks he was quite fine with us, and now he's regressing a little, even if he's more active and he discovers new things every day. Maybe he's just him being like that and I'll definitely stick with his needs as much as I can.

I'm quite confident because he likes every kind of food and he already flies to us and dive on our plates! Pasta, rice, vegetables, everything is good if we're eating it. If we'd eat uranium rod, he'd have some!
He also flies very well, he's confident with us and with strangers, his personality is overall very energetic and positive.

I read just yesterday about abundance weaning! I also think the breeder needs to sell the chicks as fast as they can and rush the weaning process to cash it. I know Macaws, for instance, takes really long to wean, but -in italy- they sell you the parrot at 3 months if not earlier.

I hope breeders and vets will be more aware and conscious about the social and psychological needs of these amazing little creatures to better address we owners, someday.

 

[Trent84]

This is him signing "more than a feeling" by Boston at the top of his lungs

 

[TikiMyn]

That’s great to hear! Regressing is fairly common, nothing to worry about from what I gather it is even more common around when they start flying, they start taking lesss and then more formula, to then start actually weaning. But each bird is different and has a different weaning schedule, listen to your baby and he will tell you if you are on the right track. My baby only yesterday ate almost no formula, and now had taken a full feeding this morning and too busy flying to eat enough on his own.
He is a cutie!! What’s his/her name?

 

[Trent84]

Thank you! He's Michelangelo (like the Ninja Turtles one, because of his colors) but we call him Micky.
Thanks for your encouragement! How old is yours and what's his name?

 

[TikiMyn]

Thank you! He's Michelangelo (like the Ninja Turtles one, because of his colors) but we call him Micky.
Thanks for your encouragement! How old is yours and what's his name?

Love the name and that he is named after a character. I also have two with a full name and name we actually use. My partner wanted to name our Illigers Ori, I did not love the name but agreed to make his full name Orion and now I love his name
Mine is a yellow collared macaw, he is 68 days old/10 weeks. Such a sweetheart, now starting to become a real bird flying and testing boundaries. I have k my had adult birds before and I must admit I love showing him what’s what. His name is Jóna

 

[Trent84]

Testing boundaries, that's a great description on what's going on with their little baby brains!
Jóna is a great name too!
I totally see this on mine too. He feels people and I'm quite sure about it. I'm pretty much always rushing and doing something at home, so he's always super active and curious about what's going on. My bf is more relaxed and he can stay on his shoulder to chill out and relax.
It was the same when people came over, he'd play with the kids, but he flew on my dad's chest to relax when he was falling asleep on my sofa watching TV.
We never force him to do anything, he just loves people and adapt to their mood as long as he's with someone.

 

[TikiMyn]

Omg that is so adorable!! A caique was one of our possible choices when we got out first larger parrot, maybe some day. Micky sounds awesome, ours is just starting to play hard which is so much fun. Before he was mostly snuggling, sampling food and nibbling toys the entire day. In two days he went from clingy to mister explorer. Does Mickey already like to wrestle like a lot of caiques do?

 

[Trent84]

He is awesome, such a curious, sweet, LOUD (didn't expect it, but we're talking about sun conures loud on his high pitches) and, overall, a bundle of joy.
He wrestles a lot, fly a lot, he plays with his ball and with phone covers. He doesn't really dance or jump yet but he loves to sing. I think his favourite moment of the day is when I turn on the volume and sing with him, so he can be as loud as he likes. Hope my neighbours don't mind!
He's definitely a handful. It sounds like yours is too!

 

[Emma&pico]

Love the name and that he is named after a character. I also have two with a full name and name we actually use. My partner wanted to name our Illigers Ori, I did not love the name but agreed to make his full name Orion and now I love his name
Mine is a yellow collared macaw, he is 68 days old/10 weeks. Such a sweetheart, now starting to become a real bird flying and testing boundaries. I have k my had adult birds before and I must admit I love showing him what’s what. His name is Jóna

Have I missed your new baby ?

 

[Emma&pico]

This is him signing "more than a feeling" by Boston at the top of his lungs

He looks so happy

 

[Trent84]

He looks so happy

ahahah he is! The louder the music, the better! I think he was a DJ in his previous life

 

[Emma&pico]

ahahah he is! The louder the music, the better! I think he was a DJ in his previous life

Have to get him some little mixing decks haha

 

[Trent84]

oh trust me.. he tries very very hard, but he's not the singer he thinks he is yet atm, he screams and chirps randomly. But he's trying to mimic some very basic instrumental parts of the song.

 

[Emma&pico]

oh trust me.. he tries very very hard, but he's not the singer he thinks he is yet atm, he screams and chirps randomly. But he's trying to mimic some very basic instrumental parts of the song.

Love it you will have to try record him and share with us

 

[Pixiebeak]

You should do formula first thing in the morning then offer his other foods. It sounds crazy but babies are much more willing to try and explore foods after a feeding. Good security. There is lots of information on that in weaning by abundance articles.

Delayed weaning can be linked with a chronic low grade infection. Often those are difficult to detect but very common in unweaned/weaning babies

Good luck with your cutie !