Getting a new caique!!

I just put a down payment down for one today at my local bird store. The babies should be getting in 1-3 weeks. I am so excited.

Ooh yay I love caiques!!!! They are SO hyper and playful! Can't wait till you get yours

I am typing with one hand because of my two caiques. They are both hanging from my other hand, playing lol. If that is hard to picture, you will understand soon enough

Anyways, you will not regret it! They are the definition of awesome Any names picked out yet?

I have a WBC and she is a trip! The one thing you have to be careful of is if you have smaller birds! SHE WILL GO AND BOTHER THEM! She can be dangerous with smaller birds. And if your bird is mellow like my Pionus, she can pluck them like a bald eagle! Do you have other birds???

I have a black-headed caique and I love him soooo much!! :-D

Thanks for the replies guys! I do have another parrot... A sun conure who is very attached to me... and me only. So i am hoping if i introduce them slowly they might might be friends... but she is not much for playing really so i will really have to keep an eye on them.

Namess.... I was thinking of something Mythological. Like if its a girl maybe freya (pretty much queen of the norse gods) or a boy Aeolus (god of the air). But i have not made any decisions yet.

Question though. Has anyone really seen a difference between the 2 types? I fell in love with a white bellied months ago for their super playful and loving nature. but i am getting a black headed. Anyone see any difference beside the colors? Or does it really just depend on the individual bird?

Re:

Nice one.Its really so good.

I actually haven't really met a caique other than Puck, but I heard that the black-headed ones can be nippier, which I could believe, with Puck's attitude. LOL.

In my experience and all my reading....I really don't think there is a huge difference in the two species...
Congratulations...caiques are something else...make sure you have a good size cage and a LOT of toys. Caiques have a lot of energy and need toys to help keep them busy..also, don't forget foot toys...my caique spends just as much time at the bottom of his cage playing as he does the top...

Weird, Puck is never on the bottom of his cage! The floor of his cage at home isn't very high of the actual floor though, and he likes to be higher up. He's been on the floor of his cage at my boyfriend's house, and I think he was on the floor more when he was with his previous owner. He also slept on his back, feet in the air, when he was with her, but he doesn't do this with me, lol.

It may because his cage isn't high from the actual floor...Leroy's cage sets up higher and believe me, he uses every inch of that cage....
I have heard of caiques sleeping on their backs...to funny.

I think that's why. He really doesn't go below his food dishes! The only time he went to the bottom of the cage was when I turned on the ceiling fan, so he had to hide. He doesn't handle ceiling fans very well.

Can you just imagine what that ceiling fan seems like to him...he is probably thinking it is predator bird flying overhead waiting to get him.

Do you keep a good amount of toys in the bottom of his cage. I keep a little stainless steel bucket with foot toys and leroy loves going through it. I also keep a short piece of pvc pipe in the bottom of his cage..he loves crawling through that thing...I also make sure that one of his toys hangs all the way
from the top of his cage to the bottom....it is like an inch from the bottom..Leroy will run at it, jump on it and swing like tarzan..it's fun to watch.

Caiques are a blast....

I can imagine! Except, that he isn't nearly as freaked out when he sees large birds as when he sees a ceiling fan. I think he may have had an encounter with one before I got him. He also freaks out at helicopters. One time we were on the road and we saw an Osprey aircraft (sort of like a cross between an airplane and a helicopter with 2 big sets of rotars) and he was growling at it for like 10 minutes after we couldn't see it, lol. Pretty much anything that rotates like that.

Other than that, he's not very skittish. He's iffy around children and dogs if he doesn't know them, but he can get used to them. He steps up for a lot of strangers and likes a lot of people. He seems to have a soft spot for people who have things wrong with them, lol.

I have toys of varying heights, but when I put some lower down they didn't get any attention, just pooped on. I have some new washable toys I could try down there again though. It's also darker at the bottom of his cage, and he already complains about the lighting. I'm installing a new fixture soon (maybe tonight, actually) and getting us some special lightbulbs. He'll appreciate that. He really does complain to me about the lighting. I didn't even realize it was bad until he pointed it out! It'll be good for both of us!

What kind of toy do you hang? That sounds fun! LOL

It sounds like you are doing great with him...good job.
I hooked a bunch of toys together with pear clips until I got it to the right length to hang to the bottom of the cage...I have some video of it but they are so short. I will see if I can find them.
[ame=http://youtu.be/VV4FZdq9_EE]leroy playing in his cage nov 2010 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://youtu.be/f9-4LhW7udw]leroy playing at the bottom of his cage - YouTube[/ame]

That's ridiculous!! Puck is pretty silly too. He doesn't do a lot of the "traditional" caique stuff like play on his back (occasionally, but not a lot) and sleep on his back. He slept on his back at his old home, but hasn't done it once with me. He's pretty playful though. Today he's been very chewy and I think he's mistaken my hands for chewing gum. LOL.

rochesteralexk said:

Thanks for the replies guys! I do have another parrot... A sun conure who is very attached to me... and me only. So i am hoping if i introduce them slowly they might might be friends... but she is not much for playing really so i will really have to keep an eye on them.

Namess.... I was thinking of something Mythological. Like if its a girl maybe freya (pretty much queen of the norse gods) or a boy Aeolus (god of the air). But i have not made any decisions yet.

Question though. Has anyone really seen a difference between the 2 types? I fell in love with a white bellied months ago for their super playful and loving nature. but i am getting a black headed. Anyone see any difference beside the colors? Or does it really just depend on the individual bird?

Click to expand...

That is a good size parrot for a Caique. I had both a Sun and Jenday and they both gravitated toward the Caique and became friends in 1 days time(even though I have different species, it seems like the Caiques get on very well with the bigger Conures! I bet they will be best friends!

O man the waiting is unbearable lol. I should be getting a call any day though saying my baby is in. Then i have to wait another 1-2 weeks while they finish weaning. I can't wait!

Yep, you sure do sound excited...I am excited for you. They can be so much fun.

Baby just got in to the store. they are much younger than i thought they would be but thats fine with me. Now i get to watch em grow up. Here is a quick video from today.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7O7JH609aA]IMG_0022.MOV - YouTube[/ame]