ali_and_birdie
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 5/10/19
- Messages
- 36
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
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