Family of 5 Looking into a Caique

I'm feeling very conflicted about bringing a Caique into our family (3 daughters- 11,8 and 6). We are an animal family, meaning my kids have been raised around many different animals. They know how to handle animals. My husband also raised red tail hawks and falcons. We recently ran into a Caique at a pet store and fell in love. My 6 year old loved him and he was so good with her. He would nibble, but never hurting any of us. What they were asking for the bird was out of our range, so my husband encouraged me to find a breeder. After to talking to many, I found someone I really liked, they were very knowledgable and loved Caiques so much that they only raised this type of bird now.
Well today I took my girls to a local bird only store just to visit. There was a Caique there that I held. Not only did he about break my fingernail in half, he was just very dominant and kind of scared me. The owner was very negative about us having a Caique, telling me that when they reach maturity they won't be friendly like the one at the other pet store. I've read a lot online and even called the breeder and shared my scary encounter.
We want a bird that is friendly, friendly even when my kids have friends over. I don't want something attacking me in 5 yrs. I've read some post about taking birds to parks to play with children. I've also read some about Caiques attacking people. Please share. The breeder is willing to give us the bird still feeding at 10 weeks and allow him to wean off on his own with us. I also know he allowed another family who lived on a farm to take a bird at 6-weeks and they fed him. Would taking the bird early like this make a difference? I just don't want something that is going to completely flip personalities in 5 years. The breeder assures me he has people with Caiques for 20 years that dearly love them, but I'm reading some scary stuff. Please advise.

I'm not too familiar with Caiques but I hate to break it to you.....birds in general tend to choose who they like and who they don't after maturity. I've yet to meet a mature bird that loves everyone all the time. (I'm sure there may be some but it's not the usual). Birds bite, caiques play a lot and play means beaking. I adore their clown like personalities but they are go go go kind of birds. They remind me of my previous cockatoo. My current girl (galah cockatoo) loves 2 of us in the family (out of 6), tolerates 2 but can't be fully trusted with them and hates 2 in the family. It's just her personality...we deal with it and love her regardless. I'd hate for you to have high expectations and then be disappointed after the cute baby phase wears off and poor birdie becomes hard to handle and no longer a joy. Maybe go to a rescue and meet with some adult birds? There is never a gaurantee with bird species...especially if you get a baby. Caiques are adorable and fun from what I've seen but I think they are happiest in pairs because they are so playful. I hope you find a perfect bird for your family regardless of which you choose

This is not something unique to caiques. Most, if not all, parrots show a change in behavior once they reach sexual maturity (in some species such as macaws, this happens as late as 8 years old, or older depending on the type). There is no guarantee of anything with a baby parrot. It is a hard lesson learned, I learned it myself (with a galah cockatoo), and let me tell you that the exotic specialty bird shop I volunteered at for a year never informed me of the change after sexual maturity. Some parrots never show any change in behavior, others change drastically.

Some of this can be prevented or reduced by a proper diet, training, exercise time, and housing, but not always will that resolve the problem.

Your best bet is to look around for someone rehoming a bird that is several years old already. Then you will know what you are getting into as their personality will have fully developed and they are at sexual maturity already, so no surprises later. You're not missing out on anything by adopting an older bird, since they live so long. I know budgerigars (parakeets) live around 15 years with proper care, lovebirds and cockatiels about 20, etc.

Don't hand feed. It's hard work and risky and not worth the anxiety. It won't make that much difference to how you bond - my most closely bonded boy is an Indian Ringneck that came to me at 8 months

Where abouts are you located? Are there rescues in your area? My eight year old daughter did her own research, made contact and built up a relationship with her breeder for her lovebird, but otherwise all of ours have been re-homed. All in full health, all well cared for, just change of circumstance/interesting owner expectations type scenarios. A re-homed or adopted bird isn't always a project/dangerous/broken/with health issues.

My kids have their boundaries/rules/whatever for the birds, and their friends are allowed near them but under much tighter restrictions. My kids are at the point where they can be unsupervised, the kids who visit have to have the birds in the family room with adults around. They can be safe, but you'll adjust your boundaries to suit the individual.

I don't know Caiques, you might need to have a wee looksy around, but it is doable to have parrots in families

alee419 said:

I'm feeling very conflicted about bringing a Caique into our family (3 daughters- 11,8 and 6). We are an animal family, meaning my kids have been raised around many different animals. They know how to handle animals. My husband also raised red tail hawks and falcons. We recently ran into a Caique at a pet store and fell in love. My 6 year old loved him and he was so good with her. He would nibble, but never hurting any of us. What they were asking for the bird was out of our range, so my husband encouraged me to find a breeder. After to talking to many, I found someone I really liked, they were very knowledgable and loved Caiques so much that they only raised this type of bird now.
Well today I took my girls to a local bird only store just to visit. There was a Caique there that I held. Not only did he about break my fingernail in half, he was just very dominant and kind of scared me. The owner was very negative about us having a Caique, telling me that when they reach maturity they won't be friendly like the one at the other pet store. I've read a lot online and even called the breeder and shared my scary encounter.
We want a bird that is friendly, friendly even when my kids have friends over. I don't want something attacking me in 5 yrs. I've read some post about taking birds to parks to play with children. I've also read some about Caiques attacking people. Please share. The breeder is willing to give us the bird still feeding at 10 weeks and allow him to wean off on his own with us. I also know he allowed another family who lived on a farm to take a bird at 6-weeks and they fed him. Would taking the bird early like this make a difference? I just don't want something that is going to completely flip personalities in 5 years. The breeder assures me he has people with Caiques for 20 years that dearly love them, but I'm reading some scary stuff. Please advise.

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They always say let the bird choose you, and you were chosen apparently. Maybe ask some more questions of the first one and see if you can come to an arrangement on price?

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining! I sense your well advised hesitancy and applaud your research.

I have no experience with caiques, so cannot share informed opinion. You may need to broaden your species of interest to help incorporate all of your desires. Still, there are no guarantees of finding a bird that is completely family friendly and guaranteed to maintain personality through adulthood.

The perfect parrot. Never bites, never moody, never loud, never attacks for random reasons.

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