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My Caique is scared of me. Please help.

AndreK

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Andriy Kovalenko
Hello everyone, im new here, but i've been reading a few posts so im rather familiar with your wonderful community.
Ill cut straight to the chase. A few months ago we bought a wonderful 4 months old Caique. From the get go he was very friendly and not a bit shy. Me and him struck up a friendship. He was much closer to me, than my wife, who we bought the Caique for.
So a few weeks into our friendship, i messed up a bit, i took him in my hands, while wearing rubber gloves, i wanted to show him that it started snowing. And he freaked out, started flopping his wings, biting me and i let him go. This took place around 2 months ago and ever since he has been scared of me. When he sees me walking toward him, he runs away, he's scared of my hands and will go out of his way to avoid me. However, e still takes treats from my hands, while exercising extreme caution. If my wife puts him on my shoulder, he will stay there for a few minutes.
So im pleading you guys to give me some advice on how to gain his friendship back. My wife tells me that i should just let him be, not to approach him, give him treats, just forget he exists for a few weeks. You guys think this might help or should i try a different approach. Im really frustrated at this point, for i like the little guy.
Thank you in advance.
 
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Sylvester

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Hi! Welcome to the site! :)

"Healthy" ignoring may help.

I would also suggest going back to square one, (not fun) and try to regain his trust as if nothing had happen. Take it slow and start out by just talking to him while he is in his cage. Keep your voice soft and friendly. Read to him, if you run out of things to say. Then put a treat in his food dish, and walk away.
 

AndreK

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Hi! Welcome to the site! :)

"Healthy" ignoring may help.

I would also suggest going back to square one, (not fun) and try to regain his trust as if nothing had happen. Take it slow and start out by just talking to him while he is in his cage. Keep your voice soft and friendly. Read to him, if you run out of things to say. Then put a treat in his food dish, and walk away.
Thank you for the advice. It really bugs me because from the very first moment, he was friendly to me and stepped on my finger right away.
 

Sylvester

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Thank you for the advice. It really bugs me because from the very first moment, he was friendly to me and stepped on my finger right away.

My pleasure.

He will again, right now you have had a minor setback.
 

Fuzzy

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Agree with Sylvester and your wife. Keep pairing your hands and yourself with good things like the treats. Respect his body language... ie. don't force him to do anything. Aim to keep his body language relaxed at all times. I wouldn't even have your wife put him on your shoulder for now since it is only teaching him to fly away. Go right back to basics as Sylvester advised. You will get your little buddy back with some patience.
 

WendyN

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No to worry.
Could you sit near his cage and have some fruit or his favorite treat. Don’t offer it to him but let him dcide that he wants to come to you. Let him take the initiative, so he developes confidence in himself. Hopefully, while building his confidence he will be less affected by the incident.
Regain his trust and build his confidence.
But he may still be afraid of the glove.
 

AndreK

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Agree with Sylvester and your wife. Keep pairing your hands and yourself with good things like the treats. Respect his body language... ie. don't force him to do anything. Aim to keep his body language relaxed at all times. I wouldn't even have your wife put him on your shoulder for now since it is only teaching him to fly away. Go right back to basics as Sylvester advised. You will get your little buddy back with some patience.
Thank you. So i should probably refrain from any physical contact with the bird?. Just offer him treats, or minimize that as well?
 

AndreK

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No to worry.
Could you sit near his cage and have some fruit or his favorite treat. Don’t offer it to him but let him dcide that he wants to come to you. Let him take the initiative, so he developes confidence in himself. Hopefully, while building his confidence he will be less affected by the incident.
Regain his trust and build his confidence.
But he may still be afraid of the glove.
Thank you for your response.
So you mean i should sit in front of his open cage with some treats in my hand and see if he comes to take em?
 

Fuzzy

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Thank you. So i should probably refrain from any physical contact with the bird?. Just offer him treats, or minimize that as well?
For now refrain from any physical contact if it results in any adverse body language from him (which might include eyes widening, feather slicking down or puffing up, leaning away or even flying away). If he is fine accepting treats from you - GREAT!! Keep offering the treats. As Wendy suggested - let him come take them from you... ie. don't force them onto him. The treats are an awesome experience in his eyes and by offering treats, you become paired with that awesome experience. He will begin to look forward to you being around because you = awesome experiences. Gradually he will come forward faster to get his treats. Then much later, you can use the treats as positive reinforcement to do other behaviours like step up etc. Just be predictable around him and move slowly which will also help build trust.
 

saroj12

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Put the treats on a table sort of near your chair where you are sitting and singing him a happy tune!:)
 

saroj12

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Btw you weren’t going to take him out in the snow unrestrained, were you?
 

WendyN

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@AndreK
Yes and like Saroj said sing or whistle a happy tune.
 

AndreK

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Btw you weren’t going to take him out in the snow unrestrained, were you?
Absolutely not. I wanted him to see it through the window. Him being from Florida, and being born in June i thought that he would be thrilled
 

AndreK

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Thank you all So much, ill start following your advices right away. You guys lifted my spirits.
Cheers
 

saroj12

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Absolutely not. I wanted him to see it through the window. Him being from Florida, and being born in June i thought that he would be thrilled
okay i misunderstood. When you said you put on the glove i thought you were taking him out in your hands :). no worries!
 

saroj12

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Absolutely not. I wanted him to see it through the window. Him being from Florida, and being born in June i thought that he would be thrilled
is he from ShadyPines by any chance? Mine are from there :)
 

Les charlson

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You are doing fine. Its just a setback not a disaster. Mine hate me when I have my hair in a towel. All I can add is he has had a shock so keep talking to him and show him you aren't frightened of him as that may reinforce what he is thinking.
 

AndreK

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I
is he from ShadyPines by any chance? Mine are from there :)
I believe so, yes.
We got him here, in Brooklyn, some a-hole ordered him and then decide not to take the little guy. My wife saw him on display and fell i love right away. We weren't even planning on getting a bird. But he was too darn cute, so fifteen minutes and fifteen hundred later, we were proud owners of a Caique.
 

AndreK

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You are doing fine. Its just a setback not a disaster. Mine hate me when I have my hair in a towel. All I can add is he has had a shock so keep talking to him and show him you aren't frightened of him as that may reinforce what he is thinking.
Thank you very much for the encouragement.
 

FLmom

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The others already gave great advice. I’ll just reinforce it by saying don’t rush it. You two will have a long time together so no need to rush. I know your bummed that so soon into the relationship you’ve had such a set back but you can fix it with time and patience.
 
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