• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

advice wanted; apathetic Caique

zzezma

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
2/7/21
Messages
1
Hi, first post here. (fyi, some background - I am experienced with birds so I am not a beginner)
I bought a one-year old white-bellied caique (from someone who had a pair - the pair had a baby and the seller wanted to rehome it) and it is most likely a female, according to the seller.
Though it has been over a month and she is a handfed baby, she is very...apathetic. I was told by the seller that she was very playful and a handful. But she has no interest other than eating and mealtime. She is not scared, steps up just fine, sings, etc. but when I take her out and put her on her play stand, she just perches there. When I put her on the ground and offer toys she just walks around with no interest. She is healthy but I'm concerned she may be unhappy.
When I asked the seller, she said we spoiled her, so we lowered her time outside for the time being until she looked forward to coming out, but this has not worked so far.
I researched that caiques were very outgoing, playful birds, which is the primary reason I bought one, because I am home ALL day and can give my attention 24/7. I'm aware many of you will tell me that every bird has a different personality, I shouldn't generalize with what I see on the internet, etc. etc. but my main concern is that she is unhappy. Is she still warming up, even though it's been over a month? I guess I am asking for advice, if any caique owners had an apathetic bird that later warmed up and became joyful. Because if not -- Seller seemed very loving, and told me that if I were to ever consider rehoming, to return it to her instead -- I want her to be happy and return her back to her original home, back to her parents.
P.S. I am aware that birds usually take a while to warm up to a new environment, but I handled many handfed babies in the past and they became comfortable in 2 weeks max.
Thanks
 

saroj12

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
10/15/09
Messages
60,177
Location
fl
Real Name
saroj
Same experience until I got another caique. Both were three four months old so got along fine. JoJo my male caique was lonely and I was a poor substitute.
 

Irishj9

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/25/12
Messages
3,672
Real Name
JP
An apathetic caique? Never heard of such a thing. More likely a frightened bird or even a health issue.

Can we see some short vids?
 

LanaNana

Meeting neighbors
Joined
12/14/20
Messages
32
Real Name
Lana
Hmmm... apathy. Perhaps an illness? A well bird visit with an avian veterinarian is often recommended for all new birds. And whatever tests the vet recommends such as CBC and cultures, etc.

OK, after ensuring health, you could try adding excitement and teaching play. Some ideas based on what I've been doing the past 6 weeks with my baby caique:

Watch videos together of caiques having fun. He loves to stand immediately in front of the laptop screen and sing along or lick at the caiques in the video. I put a notebook over the keys so he doesn't press as many keys. I play with him with a foot toy while we watch together. He loves them so much he abandoned a nut and flew over to the laptop as a video played.Some my 4 month old caique loves:
(1)
(bird singing in the shower)
(2)
(caique being raised from nestling to adult)
(3)
(baby caique nestling meeting adult pet caique)

Lots of toys. Play with the toys by yourself and with the bird. I may have spent $500 on soft chewable perches (like bottlebrush and rope) and toys, which I change out and rearrange at least a couple times a week. Try many kinds - preening, softwood, hardwood, acrylic, cardboard, as well as sizes from tiny to huge. Let your bird see you open the toy boxes and rearrange everything. My bird sometimes jumps on the perches and toys as I move them.

Lots of space. My caique's cage is 2 flight cages put together so it is 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep. The top is covered in branches he can chew and other toys. There are also several bird stands covered in toys, both hanging and tabletop. He flies back and forth to the stands and cage most of the day. To encourage this I call him over holding a treat like a piece of banana or pear.

Food! Have dinner together - Let the bird see you eating it and then give them a bit (I do this with raw produce only). Sure some may say pellets are a gold standard but variety is exciting. There are so many greens, vegetables and fruits to offer. I find bigger pieces are more used as toys (such as a whole carrot, shred to bits with perhaps a pea sized bit eaten) but that is good too. Offer some routinely and add new ones from time to time.

Also, birds prefer to work for their food -- their brains expect them to spend most of their day foraging. So! Foraging! Let your bird see you spread a film of almond butter in a rubber chew ball that he can play with and lick to get to the food. Get those seagrass matts with other toys on them and let the bird see you stuff it with treats. The hard acrylic foraging toys of various complexities are fun. There are lots of tutorials on how to make foraging toys too.

Excitement needs sleep as a foundation. Mine doesn't nap much so he gets 12 hours of dark quiet undisturbed sleep in his night cage.

Wow I wrote a lot :)
 
Top