Lessons from a baby Caique

Hi everyone,
As expected our learning curve where parrots are concerned has been huge! Although she is only 3 months old, Pixie has taught us so much it's staggering. I learned right away that her "leave me alone now" time is always once she settles herself in bed for the night. If I go into her cage for whatever reason her neck gets super long, her eyes wide open and her beak slightly open. Its actually very cute but so obvious I don't know who could miss it!
I read over and over how acrobatic this species is and frankly even then I had no idea just how much of a daredevil she would be. She has no sense of safety whatsoever and will walk right off of a perch if she is looking at me too much! I have seen her do a back flip off one perch and land with one toe on another and recover quite nicely. Other times not so much! I have rushed to her rescue several times. Last night I heard a strange squeal coming from her cage only to discover her with one of those baby teething rings around her neck and one foot. Once I gently freed her she gave me hell for 30 minutes and put herself to bed early lol! Obviously those rings are out.
we went for a Vet check yesterday which was interesting. The first thing I hear from the Vet is that Pixie should have a diet of 80% pellets and that they must be Harrison's. I was ready for misinformation so I took most of what she said with a grain of salt. She attempted to teach me about foraging and I realized she only had a basic level of knowledge. Unfortunately the nearest Avian Vet is at least 2 hours away so I was hoping this clinic could work for us in an emergency. No one there had even heard of a Caique so at least I know where I stand.
We love this little gal so much its surprising how birds can win our hearts so fast!
Thanks for being such an awesome group of people here! I have learned so much from all of you looking at old threads and I feel I know some of you already!
Shauna

I don't know how it's possible, but Pixie just gets more adorable all the time!
What a sweet , beautiful baby she is
That is a shame about the vet you have out there, and that you are so far away from here. I love our avian vet here in Edmonton.
Please keep the pics and stories coming!~!

Harrison's has distribution agreements with certain vets. Don't get me wrong, it's a good product, and one of the best pellets on the market, but it's also pricey. Your bird isn't going to die if it eats another brand of pellets! Introducing your bird to foraging toys isn't a bad idea, but again...

They are feisty fearless little guys, who don't really seem to understand how small they are, with a penchant for getting themselves into trouble. (Even more so than conures or quakers, I think.)

So cute!!!! Too bad about the vet, though. I feed Pippi Roudybush pellets, and she loves them and is perfectly healthy As for their acrobatics - I'm in constant fear that Pippi will fling herself into something or fall on her head and get hurt. She hasn't yet, though. They're really quite good at recovering themselves. She still scares me, though...

Julianna said:

So cute!!!! I'm in constant fear that Pippi will fling herself into something or fall on her head and get hurt.

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That would be my CAG.

At least caique's are somewhat coordinated. My CAG is just as acrobatic, but ten times as clumsy! And he has dropped himself on his head, crash landed into the bushes (on multiple occasions), and ONCE even flew into the second story (near the roof line) of a building, and "bounced" off! How can any bird that smart, also be that stupid?! Tusk, it's a friggin' two story house! Could you not see that you didn't have enough altitude to clear it?!

He's the one that makes me nervous.

What a sweet face and the name, Pixie fits her perfectly. I commend you for not only choosing a vet but shopping for an av vet with a lot of knowledge. I also have to travel to visit our closest av vet, but it's worth it to find a vet you trust with your bird.

I have also changed from Harrison's to Roudybush. My birds prefer Roudybush. Looking forward to more adorable photos.