The good, the bad, and the ugly about caiques

[tozie12]

The attributes listed in this thread are the experiences of each individual and your experiences may differ with your individual bird.

I guess i'll start this one

I've had my caique for a bit over 4 years. I got my Marley (Black Headed Caique) when he was 6 months old. I have watched him go from baby bird to full fledged adult parrot.

Noise. yeah. they can be LOUD. My marley spent some time before i got him with a sun conure. He does a WONDERFUL sun conure impression. Caiques are great impressionists. He also lives here with a loud scarlet macaw and tho he doesnt have the volume of a mac, he certainly gives it his best shot! you can hear him shrieking from the street with no problem. as far as quantity, he always does his morning and evening noise. but he does it throughout the day too. Tho caiques arent known for talking, their voices are pretty chirpy. My marley can talk and knows what the words mean. he definitely understands more than he can say, tho. He says 'window' when he wants to go to his playgym. he says 'breakfast' when he's hungry in the morning but after that meal is served if he's hungry he says 'hungry'. He doesnt speak in sentences, mostly one or two words that get his point across. like your average 1 year old child, usually only people who know him truly understand without a translator. but noises? he does great impressions. he does a microwave beep and cell phone text alert very well!

playful. well we all know caiques are known for being playful clowns! They hop and romp, roll and jump, play and frolic! Its all true. They do! my marley loves fetch, and in this case he's fetching as much as me! its not uncommon for marley to spend a good hour playing fetch with me with one of his favorite toys. i toss it across the top of his cage and he hops and runs after it! then leaps, rolls, and plays with it as he brings it back to me to toss it again! its not uncommon for him to play with two or three toys at a time! High energy and ADHD are great descriptors!

on the flip side: they have a temper. and their temper is just as HIGH STRUNG as their playfulness. when i first got my quaker my marley tried to make friends with her. she shunned him. It hurt his feelings and pissed him off! He spent the next year exerting every effort he could on attacking her! He has finally decided to live and let live for the most part, but if he gets near her or her cage he will go into attack mode. Caiques stalk just like a little feathery velociraptor. arched neck, eyes whirling like lil kaleidoscopes, fearthers poofed out, and thirsting for blood! if they decide they dont like someone (or something), they will stop at nothing to kill their target! They go into overload too! at this point its kinda like they are temporarily insane. They will attack anyone and anything and its like they just cant help themselves. you may think 'how can i tell if he's in overload?' trust me, when you see it you'll know it. its very much like their stalk mode. At this point the only way to calm them is a bit of time out.

A word about hormones: they do nothing small and hormones are no different. Their mood swings are huge. They become hostile lil teenage monsters that are much like a human teen: angry and snippy most of the time. but this, too, passes. Then you have an adult with adult urges but at least their moodswings arent quite as radical.

now my information is based on experience with ONE caique and lots of reading. Each is gonna have his or her own quirks.

 

[Resee]

Everything Beth said is 100% correct. I haven't had our caique long, but have seen everything she described. I am happy to hear that Marley finally called a bit of a truce with her Quaker because our caique has it out for our mini macaw at this point.

Good bad and ugly about Yoshi

Good- He is a ball of never ending energy. Think energizer bunny on steroids. He is by far the most entertaining bird in the house. He flips, rolls, and swings on everything he can. We can call him like a dog from anywhere in the house and he comes running. He is fearless and will play with anyone or anything that comes in our home. He is a little piglet when it comes to food, and will eat anything put in his bowl and make his happy noise while doing it. He truly relishes his meals. He can also be the sweetest cuddle bug you ever met.

Bad- Yoshi can be LOUD. It isn't often and doesn't last long, but it is ear piercing if he is too close to you. He usually only does when sees someone or something in "his" yard. Makes the school kids coming and going from the bus a very loud part of our day. He also is impossible to keep in one area. Unless locked in his cage he is literally everywhere. Sometimes I find him is places that I have no idea how he got in. He also raids everyone else's food bowls to get his favorites, including our plates, drinks, and even the dogs. So he takes constant supervision.

Ugly- he has an insane temper. He throws a temper tantrum that would put the worst two year old to shame. Once he claims something as his he will draw blood defending it. He also has it out for our yellow collared macaw. Not sure what set this off, but he stalks him constantly, and has already drawn blood.

 

[Merlie]

Great posts ladies!!

I'll add a few thoughts .. specific to my two Cake Monsters:

Good Stuff:

They are an absolute riot together, and .. like many people have read/heard .. play more like puppies than birds. They're not picky eaters, and pretty much eat everything offered. I often call them my "feathered goats" .. they'll eat just about anything. They don't really have any phobias .. no fear of new toys or objects, and will play with a variety of different shapes, textures and materials. They LOVE baskets filled with footie toys to roll around in.

My two LOVE to bathe .. in a water bowl, they don't much care for a spray bottle, but oddly enough, will tolerate a misting from the shower or, in summer months, outside with the hose.

As other's have stated, they are super charged birds, extremely high energy. They love to play and can turn just about anything into a toy or gym. A top to a pop bottle or milk carton could keep them occupied .. well for a few solid minutes .. they do have a bit of A.D.D.


Bad/Ugly:
As far as the Bad/Ugly .. well, there's been a lot of that here as well. I'm hesitant to really lay it out, because I don't want to "scare" people away from Caiques, but .. I do want people to know what they "could" be in for.

I mentioned having "A.D.D." .. it's fun having birds who like to play with different things, but .. because they seem to lack focus <mine do anyway>, nothing will really keep their interest for very long, and then they want to move on to something else. They won't play with a footie for longer than a minute or two before becoming bored and wanting a different toy, for instance.

They can be loud, and since I have big Macs, loudness to me is relative. They have a very annoying "Piggy Squeal" thing they do, and boy oh boy, it can make my ears and eyes bleed. Ever see the Geico commercials with the pig yelling "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee" .. well, that .. times 100 .. for long periods of time. While they don't have the volume of my big Macs .. their pitch is a lot higher. I can often hear them above all the others in my home just because of the pitch/tone of their screams.

They can, and usually are, bird aggressive. My two would absolutely do harm to/kill a bird of similar size, and they have no fear around the bigger guys either. They mean business, they're not bluffing or testing. They can and will do serious harm, this is no joke. I knew Caiques often didn't get along with other species of birds, which is why I got two at the same time <mine are siblings>. Their style of play is also a factor, they don't play like birds, they play like puppies and most birds don't appreciate that style of play.

Even having two Caiques is no guarantee of harmony. They've been known to turn on their cage mate .. and I've read several stories about one Cake killing it's long time cage mate. So, you must be ever vigilant about their behavior towards each other as well as with other birds.

They're not hard birds to read by any means, however, their change from "good" to "evil" can be so fast that you never see it coming .. in a blink .. your Cake is ripping you apart, when just a moment ago, he was a cuddle bug. It's like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde .. or a severe case of unmedicated Bi-Polar disorder .. a switch in their brains just flips and they lose it big time.

They can really be nasty during hormonal periods. It seems most Caiques are given up from the ages of 3 yrs. to 7 yrs. old. I gather this is when they're at their worst. I've had some really difficult battles with my two, and they'll be 5 yrs. old come this October. They really went off the rails just before their 4th birthdays. It was no fun at all.

They will stalk you, chase you down a hallway, jump/fly from whatever they're on to do damage if you're the one who is currently on their poop list. They mean business too. Their bites are NASTY!! I've got birds 10 times their size I'd rather take a bite from. They use the sides of their beaks to really grind in .. resulting in a bite that is not just deep, but usually removes a ton of skin.

They with throw themselves at their cages bars so violently that you think they'd hurt themselves if they want to get you.


I know I don't paint a pretty picture of Caiques, and I know quite a few people have absolutely sweet Caiques <Saroj .. with JoJo and Chickie .. whom I'm so jealous of!!>. However, a lot of the information out there on Caiques doesn't really give the truly ugly side of their personalities. You always hear about "clowns of the parrot world, playful, high energy" .. but there is a much darker side to this species.

It takes a certain personality to deal with them I think, they are DEFINITELY not for everyone. I certainly would NOT recommend a Cake to anyone who needs a "everyone must get along" dynamic in their household. I would NOT recommend them for people with young children .. Cakes have thing for faces/facial bites .. not good for an adult, but absolutely horrible if it's a child.

Anyway, that's my view of Caiques. They can be absolutely awesome birds, and not all of them will be like my two. Just be aware of what the potential future could be before getting a Caique.

 

[tozie12]

absolutely correct merlie!

my marley is just 4 1/2 so he's really coming into his adult behaviors. he has jumped on the back of my YNA (672 grams)! as a matter of fact, my zon is afraid of marley and will run from him. unfortunately he will chase ollie to a corner where ollie then turns to defend himself! my marley will also fling himself into the bars of his cage to get to something. and yup, he attacked my 3 yr old niece a few years ago and went straight for her head and face.


with my marley, now, the DEMON side is not WHO he is, its just something he becomes sometimes.

 

[Saemma]

This thread has some great Caique content for future inquiries.. http://forums.avianavenue.com/caique-cul-de-sac/106997-you-guys-were-right-3.html

 

[Stephanie]

My Pickle isn't loud, nor does he scream much, which is surprising because he was in a small bird room with a mobrella and 5-6 macaws who would scream all day and literally make your ears ring, but if he does his smoke alarm call on my shoulder, my ear goes deaf for a couple seconds . No big deal though. I had a sun conure a looong time ago and he is nowhere close to that. His scream is high pitched, but it doesn't pierce through your brain like a sun conure's.

He has bitten/nipped me a couple times when he didn't get his way, like when he wanted to come out and I was only opening his cage to give him an apple slice before I left the house, and when he jumped on my soapy shoulder in the shower and I didn't want him to ingest any soap or slip off so I tried getting him to step up. I honestly think that the second time, I must have startled him because he had JUST jumped onto my shoulder from his shower perch and I acted kind of quickly because I didn't want anything bad to happen to him. So that was my fault. The first time was just him being a little brat! He knew I was closing the door so he bit me through the bars . But I love my little brat. He's just got an attitude.

I know Pickle is definitely bird aggressive. At the bird store, his cage was next to a Dusky conure's, and that little conure was so shy. I was trying to coax him out with sunflower seeds (I saw him raking his feet across the bottom of the pan through the grate, picking up sunflower seed shells to see if he missed any. I think he ate all of the ones in his bowl). He was hanging on the side of his cage watching me as I held my hand open at the door of his cage, and a few times Pickle reached his foot through his cage, through the conure's cage, grabbed the conure's feet! He obviously couldn't do anything since there were two cage walls separating them, but the fact that he was trying to reach for him says something. Good thing I don't have other birds right now, nor do I plan on adding to my flock! Pickle is an only bird and will always be an only bird.

He is only 1.5 years old right now, and if he gets nasty later you guys will definitely be hearing about it! But for now he is still very sweet, always preening my nose, face, etc., surfing on my hair/shoulder. He isn't actually very playful, I think he was raised never having a toy, or not having many toys. I'm working on teaching him how to play, but he seems really content just sitting on his playgym and looking out the window. When he wants to sit on me, he climbs down from his playgym and walks across the room. It's so funny watching him look for ways to get onto my bed. He really tries everything! His wings were clipped when I bought him and they are still short with a few feathers growing back in, so he can't just fly onto my bed. I hope he stays sweet like Jojo and Chickie, but that's unlikely and I'm ready to work with him through his evil years.

 

[Sookiebird]

the flip side: they have a temper. and their temper is just as HIGH STRUNG as their playfulness. when i first got my quaker my marley tried to make friends with her. she shunned him. It hurt his feelings and pissed him off! He spent the next year exerting every effort he could on attacking her! He has finally decided to live and let live for the most part, but if he gets near her or her cage he will go into attack mode. Caiques stalk just like a little feathery velociraptor. arched neck, eyes whirling like lil kaleidoscopes, fearthers poofed out, and thirsting for blood! if they decide they dont like someone (or something), they will stop at nothing to kill their target! They go into overload too! at this point its kinda like they are temporarily insane. They will attack anyone and anything and its like they just cant help themselves. you may think 'how can i tell if he's in overload?' trust me, when you see it you'll know it. its very much like their stalk mode. At this point the only way to calm them is a bit of time out.


Yes exactly! Like a velociraptor! That's our Cucumber (wbc, age 2). He is hating my hubs after we left town for a couple days and he stalks the poor man relentlessly. Been a tough road.

 

[dwright27]

Thanks everyone. Just from these few posts I am pretty convinced that, as adorable and playful as caiques can be, they are not the species for me. (Ha, I made a rhyme)

 

[Saemma]

I'll add this thread here too, since alot of us added some input. http://forums.avianavenue.com/caique-cul-de-sac/117645-purchasing-caique-sunday.html

This entire section should be enough to help anyone make an informed decision about these guys.

 

[Parrotdise]

What a great topic for introducing others to Caiques. It is interesting to read everyone's personal experience with their own Caiques.

My 5 (2 WB & 3 BH) range in age from 14 years to 5 years. In all these years I have only been bitten by my male WB and after two bites determined what triggered it. I've been successful at keeping him calm and he has not shown any aggression towards me since then by making one small change. He does show some aggression to my partner when occasionally escaping from his cage during the morning cleaning routine.

Having had several years experience before getting the youngest pair I have to say they are PERFECT little boys. I can grab them around their body and turn them upside down to kiss their fluffy white belly feathers. My oldest is a female BH and does a beak lashing accompanied by a pig squeal occasionally when she wants to stay on my hand but it’s quite gentle and actually very funny when she does it. She is the only one who chooses not to fly. The others will fly to me on cue.

I have to agree that they are not good with other parrots. One of my WB's severed the beak of my Parrotlet who was inside her cage and just this spring our oldest started getting hormonal and wandered away from her cage over to our GC Conure who was inside his cage, nipping two toes. She was never locked up prior to this as she doesn't fly. We had to start locking her up during the day since we can not see the cages tucked in the bay window.

The two youngest boys were raised at my store and anyone that has been there would have seen or even met them in person. They shared a room with three or four other parrots that would simply leave them alone or scoot away when the boys decided to occupy the same perch. They tolerate the other parrots but at home I keep their cage is in a different room. I make a point of covering the cage where my male WB is housed when bringing the boys into that room because my WB will show aggression towards them and one of the BH boys is just too darn curious to stay out of trouble.

I have to say that Caiques were the perfect choice for my lifestyle. I'm away for one or two months several times a year. After returning from the first trip several years ago, my female BH turned her back on me for a good 10 minutes. Now, they are all fine with my absence and take it in stride. I on the other hand am away for the first time without bringing the two youngest with me and missing them terribly.

Kathleen
Parrotdise Perch
Parrotdise Perch brings you Unique Parrot Toys | Bird Cages | Bird Toys | Bird Toy Parts | Parrot Perches | Organic Bird Foods | Goldenfeast | Harrison's Bird Foods | Nutriberries | Totally Organic Bird Food | Zupreem | Higgins | Pine Nuts

 

[CaiqueLove]

All of these posts are very true about the caique. My white bellied caique is 1 and 1/2 years old and i was lucky enough to have the experience of hand feeding him; we bought him before he was weened. My husband and I fell in love with the breed at a bird shop that had them out on the perches; this particular caique that melted my husbands heart went right into his arms and rolled over for him to rub her (she of course wasn't for sale). I just love these forums for the good bad and the ugly because it is the truth, it's not all cuddles and dreams, and I think that's so important to hear about as a researching owner. Just like they have said above, everything you have seen about how they roll and hang and act like clowns is all true.


The GOOD:
There is ALOT of good about the caique. My caiques name is Rio. He was actually my first parrot, other than unfriendly budgies. (I know that I was brave to get a caique as my first parrot as they are not very easy, luckily it has worked out wonderfully) I do not know the sex of my caique but we call him a he and he loves me and my husband equally. He craves attention from both of us and is even friendly to my parents whom he was socialized with regularly since we got him. My caique is NOT a "one person" bird, that was one of the things that turned us on to caiques. He is SO silly. He loves to play ALL the time, and when I say all the time that means from morning to night time if you let him. ADHD is a perfect description for this bird. They will be playful and hyperactive all day and if you only have one then that means its you that is his buddy. In order for us to get away from him if we are home is for us to shut him in his cage because otherwise he will climb from his perch and always find his way to us. He does play well by himself IF i lock him in his cage, but he couldn't do that everyday all day. (I work 3 12hr shifts at a hospital so i have 4 days off and then my husband gets home by 6p m-f so as you can see you can have a life with this bird, we just make sure we have him out if we are home) If he knows your home then he wants to be with you. He is very loving and very sweet. I love how hands on he is, because I can't say I am a very gentle person. I never wanted a bird that I could only lightly pet the top of his head and he just sat on his perch all day. I LOVE that the caiques are not afraid to be rough housed and pet everywhere on their body. At night he loves to nuggle; he snuggles right under my chin or in between the pillow and the side of my face. He does prefer me when he is sleepy over my husband, if its night and we are relaxing and I get into bed he will climb mountains to get to me and snuggle with me. But he is never so partial that if I didn't want to snuggle and I gave him to my husband that he would bite my husband; he would just as well snuggle with him if my husband holds him there for a few seconds. We 4 months ago got a mini dachshund and I have always heard that these birds are dog hunters, that they hate dogs! Well my caique LOVES my dog! And since Dozer, my dog, has been raised around rio they play and play all day. It's the cutest thing ever. They know how much is too much and neither has ever hurt eachother. They are so full of personality and so comical. I know mostly everyone has said their caique is loud but for a parrot I find that to be the opposite with rio. Don't get my wrong he definitely has his moments of squawking for 5-10 mins straight but I find that happens about once a day and the rest are pretty whistles and chattering. He is NOTHING to the level of loudness of a conure or a larger parrot. In fact before him I owned budgies and they were way louder all day long than he is. ( his 10 mins of continual screeching is louder than the budgies, but that happens once or twice a day ) He has ALOT of quiet time. I also feel like he reads me very well, if I am resting he gets quiet, if I am busy or noisy with cleaning or whatever then he is chirping or whistling. As you can see I love this bird.


Now to the BAD: (please don't let this scare you. I hate how scary some of these bad reviews seem, anyone can handle this stuff so long as you are committed and not intimidated by the beak! Haha)


These birds, at least mine, is NOT gentle. He is moody. If you are afraid of getting bit, I don't think you should own a bird, but especially this one. Caiques are VERY beaky by nature anyways; mine is very nippy. One moment he is gentle and cuddling and the next he is nipping you on the cheek. He usually never breaks skin but has many mood swings that last seconds and those bites pinch! Its like he has tourettes syndrome, as awful as that sounds. I've gotten better at reading him and not pushing him past his limits. If he doesn't want me to touch him a certain way he will give me a little warning nip that doesn't hurt at all; if I keep up whatever I'm doing though the next one will be a hard pinch. I feel like the key for us though is that we are not scared or intimidated by him. I never let it stop me from handling him or whatever. I love that he is so playful but for some that could be a negative. The one thing that does get annoying is his short attention span. He will play with something for a minute and be onto the next thing he can do to play with you. Going away on vacation has been a challenge. When we leave even if its for two days when we get back I am always kicked out of the flock. Rio will hate me for sometimes hours or a few days before he lets me back into the flock. When I first discovered this it BROKE my heart; this was when we went away on a week cruise. We got home, I picked him up and he got of my shoulder hesitantly and then instantly hooked the inside of my mouth and bit me harder than I've ever been bit AND then clamped on my nose. (he was out to kill) I thought he ripped the whole side of my mouth open the way it felt. I cried not because i was in pain but because it hurt my feelings so bad. For two days he preceded to literally hunt me like prey until he finally snapped out of it and accepted me again. (This is a bird that regurgitates food for me saying he loves Me! Just when you think your loved they will throw you out with the bath water instantly) Now it doesn't matter how long we leave for (as in vacations) it takes time for me to handle him when we get back. I've read this same thing happen to other caique owners. Now my husband has no problems with him when we return. This process has been cut down by leaving him at home in his surroundings and just having someone come in and clean his food, water, etc. It's less stressful for him when he is in familiar surroundings; doing that has cut the hate down to about an hr. The next bad thing is that as much as we "tried" to socialize him and Yes he does love more than one person, he is mean to everyone else. He is not like that friendly caique that was in the pet store on a perch because we don't have him in a store all day being held my tons of strangers. Unless its me, my husband, or my parents whom we visit with often, he is VERY aggressive and he will stalk anyone he doesn't know like they are prey. They are not afraid of ANYTHING. He does not get scared; he hunts and attacks. Whenever my brother comes over, if we leave his cage open rio climb from anywhere and will chase my brother in an attempt to severely hurt him. They are crazy little confident birds with lots of spunk.


The UGLY:
I feel ugly and bad are the same thing.


All in all, this bird is an AMAZING pet for someone that doesn't want a bird that's just going to sit on a perch all day. We are even looking into getting another one because I know several people that have more than one and I've always heard they get along phenominally with their own species! AND still want human interaction. So we will see. We are torn between another caique or a bit of a bigger gentler bird like a cape parrot. Not sure, but I love my rio!!

 

[Harlow]

I have two. A male black cap Jack age about 7. All I can say is thank god he is evening out lol. A female white bellied about 4 years old. I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into when I got my first guy, but knew a lot more when I rescued my second. Jack is a classic cake. Super high energy super playful but if he doesn't get his way watch out he means business. He has his moments of sweetness where I could eat him and times when I feel like I am on his poop list. I feel like it anyway both my cakesa poop about 75% out the side of their cage. They are in a competition- who can coat the cage and floor better my female, katinka is a different story. She is right in that age for terrible behavior. I have scars All over my body, and a bunch on my face. My hands, arms, legs, back, neck, everywhere. She is beautiful but deadly. They get along ok, never been in a fight but i am always watching them as i know her destruction. When she bites she grinds very hard too for maximum damage. I have come to terms with her wrath and dont blame her but it gets trying. They are also LOUD, the worst part is the high pitch. As far as food, never apprach when eating, or they will remind u its theirs and to back off. Ok so its not all bad, they can be sweet and palyful but if they winde up you can have a feathered monster on your hands lol. i love themso much are great performers. I never know whatis coming next and that keeps me on my toe, and always make me giggle, how much zest they have for life

 

[tonyasb]

What a wonderful thread! I've only read a few of the posts but so far, I see my Felicity in all of the good, bad, and ugly. She is a handful, that's for sure. I would say anyone looking to make one of these amazing birds a part of their family should look at it in the same light as truly adding a human family member. It could take that much time in your life, especially if you want to have a well behaved bird.

Good: Felicity loves people. All people. And she's very invasive about it. She's a very skilled flier and and lands where she targets every time, usually your left shoulder. She can't fly long distances, though. She kind of gets lift and flutters REALLY hard. The furthest she has gone is about 20 feet, as opposed to my Cockatiel who could fly forever it sometimes seems.
I call Felicity my "dog with feathers." I've seen similar nicknames in the posts I've read so far. You guys have made me literally laugh out loud with these behaviors because I see them in Felicity. She loves to play fetch, sort of. She doesn't usually bring it back to me but she'll chase the toy and attack it, rolling around like a little puppy, biting it and throwing it up in the air for herself to chase again. I have a Cocker Spaniel who does this too. She also likes her belly scratched. She'll lay on her back in my hand while I rub her belly. She likes to hold on with her claws with I do this.
She's usually gentle. Now, at least. She was not gentle at all when she was a baby but some careful training and lots of playtime helped calm her down. A little. She loves to cuddle, but only when she's in the mood. She'll sit on me while I scratch her neck and make her happy noises. She sometimes will do a little "suckling" motion on my finger while she cuddles, almost as if she's still a baby bird and my finger is the mamma bird. She has learned what is an acceptable amount of nibbling and what is a not-tolerated bite. Though sometimes she "forgets." I don't see being able to train her to never use her beak on people, even gently. It actually appears to calm her to do it so I would be afraid to try to get rid of it completely, anyway. She loves to give kisses but be careful, she is likely to stick her whole head in your mouth and look around.
She can say a few words, though usually only the people that know her well understand her (like a toddler). She says the dog's name, "Loki," when she wants to come out because I always say "Loki, go to bed" right before I let the birds out of their cage (and they both SCREECH when they hear that). I believe she says my name, "Tonya" sometimes but usually when she wants me she imitates my cell phone getting a text message. And she does that very well. Gets me every time. She can also imitate my Cockatiel, Lucina, whom she has known since she was only a few months old.
She loves to bathe: in the sink, in her water dish, in her second water dish I provided for this reason so she MIGHT have clean water until noon, under the hose, but not in the shower. She is scared of the shower for some weird reason.

Bad: She is loud but you guys know this by now. I had this apartment when I was in college where the pipes made this fairly loud popping sound. All the time. At first it was really annoying and I wanted to take a sledgehammer to the wall. After awhile, I didn't notice it as much anymore until one day I had some friends over and they said, "What is that noise?" and I said, "What noise?" Having a caique is kind of like that. Except they have all the wonderful parts too so you don't really want to smash them. A friend of mine posted a picture of her cat the other day that said, "Why is he so cute? So we don't kill him." That's what owning a Caique is like.
She's very messy. If you are a neat-freak, I suggest you find another kind of bird. Or maybe another kind of animal all together. She loves to dunk her food so between that and the baths, her water dishes are usually pretty gross. I know a lot of people get the special water bottles for this reason but I figure she likes it that way, why should I stop her. She has to live in a cage when I'm not home, why make it uncomfortable for her? And, I don't mind cleaning it regularly.
She's very invasive. I would love to have her out all the time, but sometimes when friends are over they are annoyed by her being in their face all time. Most of them enjoying playing with her though and that's all she's really after.

Ugly: She has attacked Lucina more than once. I allow Lucina to remain fully flighted for this very reason. It's really the only defense she has, though I keep a pretty close eye on them. My 50 lb collie, Aurora, is scared of Felicity. Even the bird dog is slightly nervous around her, though I suspect that's because I whipped him once for stalking her cage and he has to "go to bed" every time she's out. She has lived in a large divided cage with Lucina on the other side of the bars since she was a baby, though. I believe, from reading how aggressive some your birds are with other birds, that this has helped Felicity. She allows Lucina to fly away (never goes after her) and has never drawn blood. I think in her own way she is trying to play with Lucina, who wants nothing to do with her.

I love having this bird as part of my family but she is definitely a handful and took a lot of training and had many "time-outs" for the first couple years. The best part about her though is the way she "lights up" when she meets a new person and the joy they clearly get from playing with her.

 

[tonyasb]

Oh, and I'll add that Felicity appears to be afraid of beards, which is unfortunate since I live in a town (Denton, TX) where 3/4 of the men look like lumberjacks. Once she is around the person a few times, she relaxes and becomes her normal playful self but on the first meeting she gets very still and will not allow the person to hold her.

 

[Arlo&Raylan<3]

Hi, I'm new here and I'm somewhat new to the bird world in general. We got our Sun Conure Arlo, last March and our White Bellied Caique Raylan, last August. Raylan is very loving and cuddly. He loves his stuffed animals. He desperately tries to make friends with Arlo, who wants nothing to do with him and bites Raylan whenever he comes near him. Raylan won't take the no for an answer though and just keeps trying. I think having Raylan is like having a toddler again. He gets into everything, puts everything he finds on the floor into his mouth, and throws a temper tantrum if you take something away from him he isn't suppose to have. That's my baby Ray.

 

[Jackie]

I think my baby my be getting into the maturing phase in his little body! I am just going to hold on and love him though all the nippy temperamental phase! Oh boy what fun! He is just so dang-on cute!!!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

I have to admit how entertaining this thread was. I laughed at your expense through some of your experiences, not because I thought it was funny but because you all did such a great job recounting your trials and tribulations with your Caiques. Years ago I had the "hankering" to own one. I looked at a lot of ads and read about them but never found the insightful information you all have posted. Thank goodness I never followed through with that urge! And thanks for being so honest, thanks for the giggles, and thanks for being dedicated care takers to such a demanding little species! I'm gonna go hug my yellow nape now…..

 

[Caiquemommy]

I am a very new Caique mommy, so new in fact ours is still being weened in the pet store for another 6-7 weeks, we purchased him 3 weeks ago. I had the DNA test done immediately and we found out a few days later we have a little boy. I go visit every couple days or so just to visit or to help with feedings, he definitely knows who his mommy is and throws a fit when I leave. While I read a lot about their good and bad side before purchasing him, as I have been looking at this breed on and off for a couple of years, this is still a very informative thread to read. I find myself giggling to a lot of it because I see a lot of my personality traits in these birds which is probably why I love them so much, because as a scorpio I understand the stubborn attitude and the grudge holding so well. I'm sure we are going to have some fun and also rough times ahead but I can't wait. I'm excited to learn more about him and get into learning more about training our new little baby

 

[PurpleMangoLady]

Hi, everyone,
I am new to your forum. My Joey the Bhc is now 2 years old. I noticed with the warming of the weather he is very grouchy and hormonal (eye pinning and funny body motions).
Oh, yes, he is my first Caique. Learning by experience to avoid situations where he could bite me on the face. It is difficult when he makes to a bee line to my hair to surf. He takes a hold of my ear so that he won't fall off my head. I am working on stopping that.
anyway, I have been following your posts and have found them helpful, encouraging and comforting.
I am also mom to 1 feisty lovebird, 2 sweet cockatiels - all about 18 years old....and 1 cat.
Thank you!
Wendy
AKA PurpleMangoLady

 

[crystaljam]

The bad. I rarely complain about Rosco and his lack of trust in us Humans.

Having your Caique still want to bomb dive you after almost 7 years since he "turned" - it wears on you. Rosco really doesn't like either myself or Husband, and I've done it all

I have so much patience...but some days...I compare it to just not liking a person for some reason - he still does regurgitate for me (inside his cage), but when he comes out - he won't even let me sit in the bird room with him out anymore without quacking/hopping/running straight for me...and not in the way of being affectionate.

Some days I think he would be happier elsewhere, but what if he's still the same way elsewhere? He has no trust of his humans.

Maybe it's just hormones this time of the year. He flew at me last night from his cage in the bird room, across the hallway, right towards me in our bedroom. At least I had a pillow to protect myself.

This is the Bad. This is the Ugly of Caiques.