Rescued a kakariki... Need advice!

getwozzy

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Feb 26, 2013
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We recently rescued two birds, a Mexican Red Headed Amazon and a Yellow-Crowned Parakeet/Kakariki "sparky". Sparky just runs around his cage frantically, says maybe 2 possibly 3 phrases, and is just high energy. I've been reading a little here and there about kakarikis, but I need some real live advice....
I don't know any history about the birds, or their ages because their previous owner has Alzheimer's. So, what size cage does your kakariki have? Do you give them "flying sessions" outside of their cage? Are they friendly? Destructive? Please tell me anything and everything about kakarikis!!

Thank you :D
 

MikeyTN

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That's the way Kakarikis are, they pace back and fourth!!!! As big of a cage you can afford for them, of course the bigger is always better. Flying sessions would be great if you can. And yes they can be very friendly!!! VERY destructive!!! They pretty much have the same feed as Cockatiels, not very noisy birds. They enjoy shredding papers and toys. The females can laid around 12 eggs per batch, they have huge clutches! Pretty easy going birds, I would LOVE to have another Kakariki again but no one in my area have them available. Did the owners just give them up, were they in bad condition? Since you say you rescued them....Alzheimers is a horrible disease, very sad to witness, I would blame the families if they had any that cared for them to allow any sort of bad caring of the birds. When you have Alzheimers you don't really know what's going on half the time....
 
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getwozzy

getwozzy

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Thanks for the info!! I'll start looking for a bigger cage; his current cage I would see appropriate for our budgie. And we just had the "bird proofing" discussion this morning... There are a few things we need to do before it's safe for an investigative kak.

As far as I know, the birds belonged to her husband- who passed away a few years ago. After he passed away, the birds were moved from the living room to a back bedroom. I highly doubt she even let them out of their cages or even handled them. All of her family lives in various locations hours, if not states away. Her son's wife (my friend) called me in December about the birds, and we drove an hour one-way to see the birds and assess the situation. It was at that time I let my friend know that the birds were not being cared for how they need to be. Their situation was dire; little attention, dirty cages, overgrown nails and beaks... They needed a new home IMMEDIATELY. But she didn't want to release them. So, a week ago my friend called me and said Winnie had been moved to her daughter's house 2 hours away from where she lived and the birds were being care for by a neighbor. So, one of her sons drove 2 hours one-way to meet us there so we could pick them up. So essentially Winnie's children gave us the birds. We've had them since monday night and the amazon seems to not even be affected; talking, eating, squawking, and let's me do things in the cage without trying to bite me. The kak, sparky, is also talking, chirping, being hyper- the norm lol
 
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getwozzy

getwozzy

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Does anyone else have a kakariki?? I'm assuming these are uncommon birds to have??
 

mistywaterwoman

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I think I have seen a few others on here with Kakariki's listed as their parrots... my best friend used to breed them years ago, but as far as I know they are still pretty uncommon, and expensive.
 
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getwozzy

getwozzy

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I wonder why they're so uncommon? What do you mean expensive? Like more than an amazon??
 

MikeyTN

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"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
They're not as popular that's all. They're not that expensive. IF you go with the prettier colors they cost a bit more like around $250 range.
 

DuffanoErskineBirds

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Jazzy − Green and Cinnamon Quaker
SirPoopingtonFitzgerald the 1st aka: Poopy − Cockatiel
All birds are about the same in the aspect of working to train and tame them. Go slowly, you may have to get their wings clipped once to train them to step up and to touch. As always, you will have to take bites and being pooped on. Jazzy will gleefully tell me, you smell like poop! When he has pooped on me. Poopie is poop trained, for the bigger poops, he still does tiny ones on me and if he strongly dislikes you, he saves it up and takes a big one on you. He can be a stinker!

Try reading out loud or talking to him for a few hours each day, then when you feel comfortable, open the cage. Don't try to poke your fingers through the cage at him, some people offer treats this way and if he is used to this, he may get excited and bite before looking. Let him come to you when he is out. You can let him sit on you, but try to keep him off your shoulders for a while. When you're comfortable he wont bite your face or ears, let him up there. Or, if you think you can graciously take a bite to those areas without fussing or hollering, then go ahead with it. I've only ever had one and she was sweet and tame. Almost like your case, I got my girl from an elderly neighbor. I'm not sure if she was just very old, poorly bred or poorly kept, but she only lived three years with me. She was happiest when I made her salads of tiny cubed fruits and veggies. She used to 'talk' ( in bird ) to me as I prepared it, then I let her out and she'd pick through, sit on me to eat and repeat until she was full. I sort of cheated with her, I had been over to help my neighbor with cleaning and got to interact with her for a whole year before she became mine.
 
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getwozzy

getwozzy

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I hope you have fun with your new bird, I considered them but instead got a budgie:)

Thanks! We have a budgie too!! She was an only bird-child for the last 1.5 years and I think she's enjoying the company of her new friends...lol.
 
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getwozzy

getwozzy

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All birds are about the same in the aspect of working to train and tame them. Go slowly, you may have to get their wings clipped once to train them to step up and to touch. As always, you will have to take bites and being pooped on. Jazzy will gleefully tell me, you smell like poop! When he has pooped on me. Poopie is poop trained, for the bigger poops, he still does tiny ones on me and if he strongly dislikes you, he saves it up and takes a big one on you. He can be a stinker!

Try reading out loud or talking to him for a few hours each day, then when you feel comfortable, open the cage. Don't try to poke your fingers through the cage at him, some people offer treats this way and if he is used to this, he may get excited and bite before looking. Let him come to you when he is out. You can let him sit on you, but try to keep him off your shoulders for a while. When you're comfortable he wont bite your face or ears, let him up there. Or, if you think you can graciously take a bite to those areas without fussing or hollering, then go ahead with it. I've only ever had one and she was sweet and tame. Almost like your case, I got my girl from an elderly neighbor. I'm not sure if she was just very old, poorly bred or poorly kept, but she only lived three years with me. She was happiest when I made her salads of tiny cubed fruits and veggies. She used to 'talk' ( in bird ) to me as I prepared it, then I let her out and she'd pick through, sit on me to eat and repeat until she was full. I sort of cheated with her, I had been over to help my neighbor with cleaning and got to interact with her for a whole year before she became mine.

Thanks for the tips!

That's cool that you got to spend a whole year with her before you got her! I bet that made the transition of her changing homes a heck of a lot easier... Sparky seems very interested in everything that goes on, and I really want to let him out but we still have to bird-proof everywhere he might be able to get into lol
 

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