PeetNibblr
Moving in
- Joined
- 2/25/24
- Messages
- 5
- Real Name
- Monica
Hello all! 
Apologies for the long read but I feel I need to paint a complete picture of my little cherub to do the question justice.
First timer on the forum, I hope this is proper protocol to place my story here!
TL:dR I'm looking for your opinions and experiences with having the most calm, prim and proper WBC princess anyone's ever seen - AND considering this (apparent) anomaly what in the world would the right second bird be for us?
Background info:
- Her name is Kiwi, she'll be 5 years old in April. We've had her for 4 months. She's our only bird. It's just my husband and I: midlife, no kiddos, chill environment, both work from home. I can tell part of her demeanor is a reflection of our vibe. She goes up in energy when we do, down when we do. She came clipped and while her wings return I'm her transport from station to station, room to room, outdoors/indoors throughout the day. I'm also one of her stations whenever applicable but she's cool with being put on something nearby to free up my movement. Toys and forage abound. Cage time is for sleeping and eating when she tells me she's in the mood. We train. She scratches her little head with one foot when she gets pets. It's heaven.
- She was adopted from a breeder and hand fed from very young by her previous owner. A sweet lady who had other birds of various types as well as dogs and I think a cat? So it sounded to me like Kiwi's early life had minimal to no caiques (other than siblings with the breeder, whom I don't know) but a wide variety of other..err creature exposure including parrot species. Previous Mummy did her due diligence in telling me all I needed to know, and no aggression toward the other birds was mentioned. What WAS mentioned was how dang precious Kiwi is. And she wasn't kidding!
This little girl couldn't be more different to what I was expecting, having studied up and prepared myself for bird life for about a year and knowing how challenging caiques can be - much thanks to this community for being a big part of my studies. I was fully braced for a little bundle of chaos. But y'all, not this one lol. I just don't think she knows she's a caique! XD She plays but it's dainty. She doesn't wrestle, stomp, bounce around, etc. She hardly chews, I'm working with her to encourage more. Her "bites" are nothing, a hard ish squeeze only rarely. Warning squeals aplenty but she won't push the issue, she lets me move her (or the thing she wants) with some fuss and then it's over. She's reddened my skin...twice XD and both times has made sense. I could tell what the problem was. Absolutely no random Crazybirb as is said to be the caique way. The individual personality of this girl is everything BUT what one typically expects from the killer clown culture of her peoples.
So - what now? I LOVE her. I've always wanted two birds. I WAS going to get a second wbc or a bhc once we (Kiwi and I) were good and settled, thinking she'd appreciate a potential (if they decide they like each other) playmate to satisfy her (originally expected) thirst for thrills. I'm very aware of their reputation for being poor candidates for being around other species. But now I'm like...I think a more typical caique would drive her nuts and would be an automatic 'no' from her! Bully her even! She's not aggressive or rambunctious - bright, yes; curious, yes; diggy, yes yes, oh the caves; likes to swing around on my clothes somewhat, sure. But chill! So chill - relatively, again, as compared with Cake lore. Previous Mummy says she's always been sweet as pie. Vet says she's healthy. She's just...Kiwi Granted that there's always a chance that they (Kiwi and whoever future birb is) just don't get on regardless of type - which I can adapt to as needed - I'd love to give the situation the best chance for a *friendly* environment if I can. I've seen quite a few buddy duos where the other bird dwarfs the caique, often it's a galah or goffins cockatoo. Is it because they're both...weirdos? XD Is that why it works?? Or is it again just down to personality and those are special pairs that happened to jive. My hunch is that Kiwi could easily comprise 1/2 of an odd duo...but I don't have the experience, so it remains a hunch.
What say ye on this? I tend to imagine that a similar beak size and body weight would be most practical - erring on a *little* bigger for a touch of self defense? Should Kiwi's ancestral berserker blood wake up - it might give me time to intervene. I'd want to get to know any new bird first to assess personality but what species would I look for? Big(ger) conures? Like a blue crowned? Kiwi ranges about 150-157 grams. I feel sun conure size is too small. Thoughts?? Testimonials? Just info gathering for another year likely, including from Kiwi herself lol.
TIA friends!!
Apologies for the long read but I feel I need to paint a complete picture of my little cherub to do the question justice.
First timer on the forum, I hope this is proper protocol to place my story here!TL:dR I'm looking for your opinions and experiences with having the most calm, prim and proper WBC princess anyone's ever seen - AND considering this (apparent) anomaly what in the world would the right second bird be for us?
Background info:
- Her name is Kiwi, she'll be 5 years old in April. We've had her for 4 months. She's our only bird. It's just my husband and I: midlife, no kiddos, chill environment, both work from home. I can tell part of her demeanor is a reflection of our vibe. She goes up in energy when we do, down when we do. She came clipped and while her wings return I'm her transport from station to station, room to room, outdoors/indoors throughout the day. I'm also one of her stations whenever applicable but she's cool with being put on something nearby to free up my movement. Toys and forage abound. Cage time is for sleeping and eating when she tells me she's in the mood. We train. She scratches her little head with one foot when she gets pets. It's heaven.
- She was adopted from a breeder and hand fed from very young by her previous owner. A sweet lady who had other birds of various types as well as dogs and I think a cat? So it sounded to me like Kiwi's early life had minimal to no caiques (other than siblings with the breeder, whom I don't know) but a wide variety of other..err creature exposure including parrot species. Previous Mummy did her due diligence in telling me all I needed to know, and no aggression toward the other birds was mentioned. What WAS mentioned was how dang precious Kiwi is. And she wasn't kidding!
This little girl couldn't be more different to what I was expecting, having studied up and prepared myself for bird life for about a year and knowing how challenging caiques can be - much thanks to this community for being a big part of my studies. I was fully braced for a little bundle of chaos. But y'all, not this one lol. I just don't think she knows she's a caique! XD She plays but it's dainty. She doesn't wrestle, stomp, bounce around, etc. She hardly chews, I'm working with her to encourage more. Her "bites" are nothing, a hard ish squeeze only rarely. Warning squeals aplenty but she won't push the issue, she lets me move her (or the thing she wants) with some fuss and then it's over. She's reddened my skin...twice XD and both times has made sense. I could tell what the problem was. Absolutely no random Crazybirb as is said to be the caique way. The individual personality of this girl is everything BUT what one typically expects from the killer clown culture of her peoples.
So - what now? I LOVE her. I've always wanted two birds. I WAS going to get a second wbc or a bhc once we (Kiwi and I) were good and settled, thinking she'd appreciate a potential (if they decide they like each other) playmate to satisfy her (originally expected) thirst for thrills. I'm very aware of their reputation for being poor candidates for being around other species. But now I'm like...I think a more typical caique would drive her nuts and would be an automatic 'no' from her! Bully her even! She's not aggressive or rambunctious - bright, yes; curious, yes; diggy, yes yes, oh the caves; likes to swing around on my clothes somewhat, sure. But chill! So chill - relatively, again, as compared with Cake lore. Previous Mummy says she's always been sweet as pie. Vet says she's healthy. She's just...Kiwi
Granted that there's always a chance that they (Kiwi and whoever future birb is) just don't get on regardless of type - which I can adapt to as needed - I'd love to give the situation the best chance for a *friendly* environment if I can. I've seen quite a few buddy duos where the other bird dwarfs the caique, often it's a galah or goffins cockatoo. Is it because they're both...weirdos? XD Is that why it works?? Or is it again just down to personality and those are special pairs that happened to jive. My hunch is that Kiwi could easily comprise 1/2 of an odd duo...but I don't have the experience, so it remains a hunch.What say ye on this? I tend to imagine that a similar beak size and body weight would be most practical - erring on a *little* bigger for a touch of self defense? Should Kiwi's ancestral berserker blood wake up - it might give me time to intervene. I'd want to get to know any new bird first to assess personality but what species would I look for? Big(ger) conures? Like a blue crowned? Kiwi ranges about 150-157 grams. I feel sun conure size is too small. Thoughts?? Testimonials? Just info gathering for another year likely, including from Kiwi herself lol.
TIA friends!!
You might have gotten lucky!
