Rehoming a 6 yo Black Headed Caique

Hi there! I recently rehomed a 6 year old black headed caique. I am an experienced parrot owner, and have rehomed parrots before with much success. This guy is a completely different story...

The day I went to pick him up, he was very friendly to me. Perhaps because his previous owners were nearby. I put carried the travel cage out to the truck, so I think in a way he blames me for the change, which could be the problem entirely... He came with his cage, food, and play stand. Although his environment is completely new, he does have some familiar surroundings at least.

Since I have had him here, he has been very aggressive toward me. He has bitten and drawn blood on several occasions. If he is out of his cage, he will literally leap on me, and start attacking me. It is very difficult to get him to stop and to get him off of me. I am a firm believer in allowing the bird to be out of his cage when I am home, but due to his repetitive aggressive nature I do not want to allow him out of the cage. He paces the bottom part of his cage starring at me. He makes several noises (sneeze, kitten mewing, dog bark, etc) and will sit and "talk" with me. Earlier today he let my husband pick him up and hold/pet him.

I paid the previous owner a $200 rehoming fee. I inquired why the price was so low (considering I got not only the bird, but a nice cage, playstand and food for that price). She told me she was more interested in getting the bird to a new home, then trying to recoup money she had spent on him over the years. She said the reason she was rehoming him was because they had 8 dogs in the house and a cat with kittens and he wasn't getting much time out of the cage because of the rest of the animals in the house.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to win this birds trust? He has yet to meet my step-son, and I'm too afraid to let him out while he is around!! I have tried bribing him with his favorite food as a peace offering, but he will just crumble it up and throw it to the bottom of his cage.

I'm at a loss what to do!!

Welcome to the forum, MrBeepiesPWNTS.

How long has your new Caique been with you now? He may still be quite stressed and upset over his new surroundings, especially if he spent his first 6 years with his previous owner.

I don't think your new friend hates you, he most likely will need more time for you to win him over.

Also, who was the main caretaker of him previously, a man or a woman? Did the previous owner show you that he was lovable/handable, or did he exhibit aggressive tendencies there, too?

Does he have toys/foraging things in his cage to keep him busy and occupied?

Just take it one day at a time, I'm sure he will come around - eventually.

They are SUCH cute little buggers those Caiques.

Like Wendy said [give him time]. Im sure hes not thrilled leaving his home. What I would do with your caique [I have 2]. Visit him [ask if he wants to come out] If he doesnt [try later]. If he does put him on a playstand. Wait for him to take an interest in you . See if he will step up . Then put him on the back of the couch [let him come see you.]Let him call the shots and treat him like a celebrity [as long as it takes] be consistent .They cant help but be won over. I bet you will see a differet bird in 2 months

Everybody has given you the right information, with the most important being patience.....

Although I've never had a caique, I have dealt with wild and unhandled birds...some that were over 2yo and it took over a year to get them to a point where most people could handle them.....

What Nathan said about learning to read a bird's body language will go a long way to saving you from bites.....if you pay attention, most parrots will tell you when they don't want to be bothered, but too many of us are too wrapped up in our own wants to pay attention to what our birds are telling us.....

Good luck.....

I will add ( as I have 8 of these little devils) that they THRIVE on routine. It gives them security.

Start off your own little feeding, playing, bedtime rituals and stick to them. The little guy will love it

MrBeepies, I'm sorry that happened. We just experienced something similar with our WBC who was rehomed to us at a reduced fee. Our caique was great for 5 months, then after a short vacay, he now hates my husband and the behavior you described is dead on. After talking with a few caique owners my understanding is that he won't come around to you. Once you're on the poop list, it's over;(. BUT I could be wrong. I'm just telling you my perspective---there's nothing the hubs can seem to do to win our boy back. I will post if a miracle happens.

Remember you did nothing wrong---this seems to be a caique thing and it happens. Caiques have long memories.