New Caique Owner!

Hey guys, I'm new here and I just got a male Caique three days ago! He is absolutely beautiful. I do need help on how to tame him, as this is my first parrot, the last owner I don't think paid too much attention to him nor any of the other birds that he was rehoming. I noticed it when he had to wear gloves to catch the caique, it bit him a lot and didn't seem like it was use to hands and contact. So I got him home in an nice big cage and the pass three days I've been talking to him and whistling and the farthest I got was for it to eat treats out of my hand from outside the cage. Even when he does grab the treats he does nervously and then backs away to the opposite end. When I try to give him treats from inside the cage he just avoids my hands. I wanna be able to hand tame him and make him not scared of me but I don't know what to do so any advice would help. Thanks!

10svo said:

Hey guys, I'm new here and I just got a male Caique three days ago! He is absolutely beautiful. I do need help on how to tame him, as this is my first parrot, the last owner I don't think paid too much attention to him nor any of the other birds that he was rehoming. I noticed it when he had to wear gloves to catch the caique, it bit him a lot and didn't seem like it was use to hands and contact. So I got him home in an nice big cage and the pass three days I've been talking to him and whistling and the farthest I got was for it to eat treats out of my hand from outside the cage. Even when he does grab the treats he does nervously and then backs away to the opposite end. When I try to give him treats from inside the cage he just avoids my hands. I wanna be able to hand tame him and make him not scared of me but I don't know what to do so any advice would help. Thanks!

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Welcome to you and welcome to your birb! What's their name?

Well from reading through sounds like you have got a bird that was shunned/neglected for a while which isn't very nice for them.

BUT! On the air of good news you are doing things exactly as you should, it does take a long time to tame them, sometimes months but the fact that he is already taking treats from you is great. All you need to do is keep talking to them softly and try not to stare at them. Remember we're a predator species and staring is scary for a bird. With the speed you're at you should be able to get them taking treats happily soon then you can move on to stick training which I swear by for the hand taming process.

Essentially once your bird is happy taking treats and doesn't run away immediately you can use a perch to train them to "step-up" You can find loads of info on it but what I do is get that treat and hold it in front of them slightly higher up just out of their reach whilst hold the stick just a little bit in front of them. You're bird will stretch for the treat and then instinct takes hold and they climb onto the perch. Now the trcky part I find of this (aside from them tricking you into getting the treat without doing what's asked of them) is that the second they move to go to the perch you say "up" or "up-up" or whatever command you want to use, just make sure it's consistent. Then as they get better/more confident you hold your finger against the perch outstretched and slowly with each successful "up" until they are climbing on to your finger. Then you take away the perch as the big test of the up training.

Not only do I find this to be less stressful for the bird, especially if you have the perch you use for training in the cage normally so they're used to it. It's also extremely good if you have to let someone else look after your bird as they are used to going on the stick instead of someone elses hand.

Just remember to go at their pace and to find I'd say 2 or 3 treats they would do anything for. I'm pretty sure my old conure would learn how to program a computer for a bit of apple!

Get some pictures of your little cutey!

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forum family!

10svo said:

...So I got him home in an nice big cage and the pass three days I've been talking to him and whistling and the farthest I got was for it to eat treats out of my hand from outside the cage...

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Ha! You say this like it's no big deal. A bird that you got from a home where the former parront had to use gloves to handle him, and after only 3 days he's eating out of your hand?!? That's huge! Good job!

See, I know how easy it is to look at other people with their birds and feel as though you're light years away from that, but every journey begins with first steps. Think of it from your caique's point of view. He's a prey animal. And you're practically a giant in comparison to him. So you've already earned a measure of his trust if he's willing to risk eating from your hand. Especially since he obviously wasn't at the point of being hand trained at his last home. (Speaking of which, how old is he? And was he hand fed? If he wasn't, taming him will be that much more difficult. But still not impossible.)

For now, try to respect his space to the extent that you can. Let him set the pace. Sit outside of his cage and read to him. Let him get used to the idea of your proximity. And bribery. Lots and lots of bribery! Find a treat that he absolutely loses his mind over. Pieces of cashew nuts work pretty well with my birds. (Just remember that nuts and seeds should only be given as treats, as they are very fattening.) Once you find this treat that he goes crazy over, make sure that it's something he only gets when he interacts with you. The goal is to form the association in his mind between you and tasty treats. You've already started down this road, so just continue on.

In the meantime, here are some links to help with the process:

Biting
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/questions-answers/58911-bird-bites-always-2.html

Target Training
[ame="https://youtu.be/HaOicTtwIZo"]https://youtu.be/HaOicTtwIZo[/ame]

Step up Training
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57538-not-stepping-up-doesn-t-understand-stepping-up.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48810-need-help-step-up-training.html#post435993

Socialization (Once he can be handled, of course.)
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48648-socialization-game-pass-birdie.html

Touch Training
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48598-touch-training.html

Flight Training (If he isn't already an accomplished flier)
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/57030-teaching-how-fly.html

Flight Recall
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/44769-building-success-flight-recall.html

Station Training
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/56274-flighted-bird-training-advice.html

Anansi said:

Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forum family!

10svo said:

...So I got him home in an nice big cage and the pass three days I've been talking to him and whistling and the farthest I got was for it to eat treats out of my hand from outside the cage...

Click to expand...

Ha! You say this like it's no big deal. A bird that you got from a home where the former parront had to use gloves to handle him, and after only 3 days he's eating out of your hand?!? That's huge! Good job!

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Agreed! this is a gigantic step and I would argue the harder part of the taming process. Getting them used to treats is the hard part as then on you have something to coax them into doing stuff!

Judicious use of his favorite treats will be your ticket. Go at his pace, not your expectations. Try to work with him every day it will pay off. Caiques are very smart, love to play and a lot will love to learn and do tricks. I've played with a few, from NY to China, fun birds.

update, today he found a way to open the door to his cage, he climbs out and plays around on top and when hes done he just goes back in by himself. He's taking food from me with more confidence today, which is exciting. Also here's some pictures of him

Besides my JoJo, a Caique is my number one fid! You are in for an awesome journey! Just remember, this poor little guy has been molested by hands over and over, you are doing fantastic! My JoJo comes from a similar background, and in the beginning to approach him, I always had to approach him palm side up coming from below him! Give your guy the respect that he deserves, and he will return such loyalty to you and pleasure for the two of you!

Thanks guys for all these awesome tips! i also noticed that when i enter the room he squawks quite a bit even if i'm doing my own thing, is that okay?

Yep, just say hello back! Remember, you can modify his contact call to something more enjoyable(and ear friendly)! If my JoJo yells for me, I always reply with kisses. He then switches to the same!

10svo said:

Thanks guys for all these awesome tips! i also noticed that when i enter the room he squawks quite a bit even if i'm doing my own thing, is that okay?

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If you can get a video of it would help us identify it. With everything else in mind it sounds like he's happy to see you! My green cheek would hop onto the perch nearest the door and start chirping when I came into the room which sounds like very similar behaviour here

What part of Florida is home? We are outside Orlando!

We're in St.Pete! About 2 hours away from Orlando. Another update, today he's taking food out of my hand from inside the cage, he seems a lot more confident with my hand inside. I think i'm making progress, still not able to touch him though the nearest i got to him was 2-3 inch before he moved away. Very exciting!