New PRO vs CON table

[Atomiklan]

This pro vs con table is still evolving everyday as I continue to think about things so please check back in a few days. I welcome additions to this table which is actually why I am posting this. Yes I know LOTS of things are still missing from this table. Its tough thinking back and recalling everything you have learned on a subject in the last few months in one sitting. Please help me make some additions to this table. This will hopefully visually make this decision for me a lot easier. As mentioned before, I am particularly interested in Caique owners experiences, but I do welcome all experienced suggestions. If you are a Caique owner, please be sure to mention it. Thanks!

http://host.atomiklan.com/caique/index.html

As always, I really appreciate everyone's help!

 

[BeeBop]

Well good work on your research. Especially on waiting on one topic till it's settled. So many people just see a bird and buy it.

 

[janicedyh]

This is a "what if". What if you get another and they don't like to be around each other? That means....two cages, two times the time spent with each bird and so on. Never take for granted that they will bond to each other. I have heard of people getting a second bird to keep the other company and it not working at all.

 

[Atomiklan]

What if you get another and they don't like to be around each other?

I think I addressed that already in the con column for two Caiques. Thanks!

Heading out for a bit. Will check back on this post in a few hours to see what everyone has to say and then I will add/subtract from the table.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[WendyN]

Pro for 2 caiques:
More fun to watch 2 playing and they have more playing together than with a human

 

[Atomiklan]

Oh, one more thing. I wrote that webpage really hastily and as a result, probably does not display right on a mobile device. Open up on a computer instead.

 

[MommyBird]

for training/learning
2 may be better as they may have different aptitudes and if one gets it, the other can mimic

 

[MNR]

Loki was the only caique for 3 years. She was bored, but she was O.K.

If Puck was my first caique, I would have looked for another caique right away. She was not happy to be alone during quarantine period. Once she met Loki, she was so much happier. If Loki was out of her sight, she would chew on her feathers. When she was about 4 years old, she started plucking quite badly (triggered by my trip, combined with hormonal imbalance). Today, she is fully feathered, but plucks a little when I have to be out of town (stress due to separation from me, no out of cage time, no direct interaction with Loki --- they have own cages)

What I am trying to tell you is that some will not do well at all as the only bird.

 

[Ppoi]

You have more pros and less cons with one caique. Based off of that one caique would be the pick.

Think about what you could do to help relieve the issues in the cons. Like, how would you handle looking less like a mate with one caique? What things can you do to help lower the caique's energy? Or what could you do to make handling two caiques easier? Or how can you help a single caique feel less lonely?
When you think of the solutions to the cons, how do you feel about it. Confident and not a big deal or does it seem
stressful or dreadful to deal with.
I like to come up with solutions to the what if's and take note of how manageable it is. Is there a con that you may really dread dealing with? Or a pro that you are more excited about?

 

[JLcribber]

1. Only interested in purchasing two from the very beginning so they know each other already from the breeder and will grow up together. I want to do everything to avoid having to separate them later in life. Buying a second one a year later seems to greatly increase the chance that they may not get along later in life. After one year old, the chance seems to go up even higher.

Well this isn't going to work the way you think either. All baby/young/juvenile birds get along until they grow up. When adulthood hits, everything changes. If the birds are siblings there's a very good chance they will not want to have anything to do with the other and even turn on each other. Children grow up and leave home. As hormones begin to control things those birds are going to want a mate and again a sibling or even just juvenile buddies are not usually considered mate material. They are looking for new blood.

You can research and plan all you want. Your "vision" of how things will be is a lot different than the reality of how things will be. Especially long term. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. (37 years of hindsight) Having no experience, everything is conjecture until you do because you have nothing to base it on.

 

[Atomiklan]

Cleaning out my host server. The link I posted long ago at the beginning of this thread should now be dead, but don't worry, I have preserved an image of the original contents of that link here for archival purposes now that this discussion should be dead. Thanks

 

[Dona]

Well this isn't going to work the way you think either. All baby/young/juvenile birds get along until they grow up. When adulthood hits, everything changes. If the birds are siblings there's a very good chance they will not want to have anything to do with the other and even turn on each other. Children grow up and leave home. As hormones begin to control things those birds are going to want a mate and again a sibling or even just juvenile buddies are not usually considered mate material. They are looking for new blood.

My gosh this is so interesting. I tend to see things from an ancestral POV. Human behavior makes so much sense to me when I look to the past. I even mostly follow a LC paleo diet. I have agonized so often about not buying Gigi's female sibling when I had the opportunity. I really thought that would have been the best route to a happy relationship. Now I'm glad I didn't. Thanks for this point of view.

 

[Atomiklan]

Keep in mind, this is a very old post and that list was created when I was still very inexperienced. I was simply doing some digital house cleaning, but didn't want to break the links. I think the content is still relevant, just take it with a grain of salt as it was composed at the time by an inexperienced bird owner.