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Caique Flying into Hair

bingbong

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When we got my Caique his wings were clipped. He has just started growing a few of them back. Not enough to fully fly but he can go short distances. I have started working on the basics of flight training and all is going well. The problem is whenever he gets the chance he will fly into my hair. He is not allowed in hair because our family's hair is very curly and he gets tangled easily and becomes extremely aggressive when we try to remove him. Does anyone have any suggestions of discouraging this behavior?

Thanks!:wbc:
 

finchly

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Wear a hat

Point where you want him to go

Hold a finger out in front of you and ask him to fly to it

They squeal when you take them out of hair, away from what they want, etc. but -- that's just part of having a caique.
 

finchly

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I know! I just finished trying to get one of mine into her cage— for an HOUR.
 

Laurie

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Welcome!

I had one who was super persistent about getting on my head. You just have to be even more persistent. The moment he gets in your hair you need to get him off as quickly and calmly as possible. If he is biting then walk to a cage or somewhere he can climb off on too, preferably higher than you head and get him to get off. Then pick him up and give him something interesting to do. Repeat again and again until he loses interest. It could take awhile but consistency is the key. It took about two weeks with mine.
 

Kokako

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Does nodding as he lands work? Not quite ducking, almost bouncing them from the first touch of weight like a mini-tramp at a 45 degree angle. Mine get stuck if they have time but sending Em flying is often the best way to get her untangled for me. I’m pretty consistent with the nod now after ever so slowly developing bangs, and then a baby mullet on certain curly days. Given the projected bowl cut with triangle expansion, nodding “Yes, I do want my hair” every time is easier ;D When (eventually, always) someone gets really stuck a nice bit of puffer or other thick jacket/potholder is great for gently flattening the protester so you can detangle, unwind, fingercomb, reach for scissors...


We also train recall every morning during toothbrushing (chosen reward: leaning against the electric toothbrush) and she continues to slowly get better at landing on a hand instead of head or shoulder. She is actually making better progress with waiting or stationing at the moment than with extinguishing head landings :p


Does your caique also get tickled by your hair? Em frequently scratches her face while on my shoulder. I would blame that for the haircut but she terminator preens everyone/everybird except for my sister who uses coconut oil as conditioner - then she can rabbit along beaking down a 14” coil with no tangles and hardly any fluffing! My sister also has way less fluff and wild ends than me though, ha! Mer just goes into hair comas 97% of the time and can be extracted the way he went in, but when it gets bad he can’t exactly be tossed to let flying magic detangle him with a bad wing :s

Hair coma — Terminator — Peace
 

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Kokako

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Coconut oil, people. It may be our only hope - and is bird safe! They might become junkies trying to lick along curls but at least they’ll slip out easier and be fine preening it off in moderation :roflmao: *mostly joking
 

Yoshi&Raphi

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Coconut oil, people. It may be our only hope - and is bird safe! They might become junkies trying to lick along curls but at least they’ll slip out easier and be fine preening it off in moderation :roflmao: *mostly joking
:coffeescreen:
 
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