Might be getting a caique.....

[Freedomoflight]

Forgot to respond on the beaky thing. Yes they are naturally beaky. Its not that they 'bite'so much as its that they use the beak as a third arm, and are constantly exploring with it. Ask for a step up, the beak comes first. At night my caiques like nothing more then to sit and chew one of my old shirts to shreds, or nibble my fingers. I give them little dog toys to keep them happy- they really like chewing on rubber/latex toys like you find at Drs.Foster and Smith.

[Lynjupiter]

I have never met a caique that I did not fall head over heels for.

[Stizby]

Originally Posted by WeLuvBirds

Thought I'd post some vidoes for you, so you can see how they interact with people and how they play. They're just adorable. Shouldn't have even looked, now I WANT ONE.....LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGt0fCAlClY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0RJ6haCNjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Tq0VLlYN4

Oh my gosh, that first video is soooooo cute. What a little hopper that caique is!! Stole my heart completely.....what did we ever do before there was YouTube?

[Irish]

Hmm... flying. Yes, I've seen the two at the Bird Hut (who are scared of almost everyone except the female owner of the store, as far as I can tell) fly off of the play structures, boings or hoopballs to get away from people trying to interact with them. Once they're on the ground, though, they run under stands, hop under tables, waddle around playing "hide and seek", and just generally don't take wing--BUT, they sure can get around fast on those little feet!

[cpryslek]

i,too am owned by a caique. she is just a delight. her name is sassafras(sassy),hatch date 3-16-06. sassy is a hybred bh/wb. so im blessed to have a caique that is blessed with both personalities.LOL.she barks like a dog.she's a great whistlerer and chortlerer. she LOVES water. my saying is once youv'e been caiqued its hard to go back. you'll want more.

[Joel]

Hey Stizby...... I read that they can be quite noisey. I have never had one myself (one of the few species I have not kept but wanted to) so I can't really say first hand. Maybe our Caique keepers here will address that specifically. But then again, you have a B&G and a 'Too - so noise may not be an issue for ya?

[Stizby]

Originally Posted by Freedomoflight

Mine are 4 and 6, respectively. I have had Higgins going on 2 years, and Rosie going on a year. Both were rehomes, so they came with 'issues'. The initial hormonal period can be trying- but after the first spring its alot better. I equate it to a teenage kid going through the first spurt of hormones- 'OMG what the heck is going on in there?!' LOL. Males (at least from my experience) tend to be a bit more aggressive in the spring then female, but since I have had Higgins, he has mellowed considerably. The springtime jitteries last a couple months- not too horribly long.
They do hop- alot, but they can and will fly. Its more a hop/walk/run/waddle/ strut combination LOL. They have this unique walk they get into when showing off that is a definate strut. There are about 3 distinctive times a caique will hope- when he is really PO'ed (keep your feet up!) when he wants to get somewhere faster, or when he is playing.
I keep my 2 caged seperatly. I got them at two different times, and although they are male and female they could care less about each other. I dont want little fabies, two is enough for me, so the housing arrangments suit just fine. If you want two caiques you can easily house two or three together, the best way to go on that is get clutchmates.
Higgins goes willingly to other people- he is very opinionated and there have been one or two people that he has taken an instant dislike to and lets them know- but otherwise he is great to let people handle. I have taken him to elementary schools and a couple of kids have handled him- adults as well. They are really social birds, but they still do form a strong bond to 'their person'.

Thank you so much for all that info. I can just feel how much you love your little guys.

I gather from what you said that your 2 do not play together? So they are content to play by themselves, right?

[cpryslek]

oh,btw, they are great escape artist,too. once they've found out how their bound and determined to do it again.LOL sassy did it once and is still trying to figure out how to get out the same way. ha ha on her we fixed it but shes keeps going to that spot anyways!

[cpryslek]

sassy isn't generally loud. she'll only do it once in a while. thats usaully while im trying to take a shower and thats her way of getting my attention. usually its my meyers that gets loud and sassy will be trying to get her to do something else like whistling.

[Stizby]

Originally Posted by Joel

Hey Stizby...... I read that they can be quite noisey. I have never had one myself (one of the few species I have not kept but wanted to) so I can't really say first hand. Maybe our Caique keepers here will address that specifically. But then again, you have a B&G and a 'Too - so noise may not be an issue for ya?

That's a good point, Joel. I would like to hear from others how noisy their caiques are. I'm sure it does not compare to a macaw or 'too, but I'd still like to hear what others think. Btw, I am not planning on keeping the caique in the same room with my other birds. This one would likely spend a large part of the day in my home office area and would probably sleep in a cage in my bedroom. I am the type of person who cannot work in silence. I always have a TV babbling away or play music on the stereo.