Jack's story....very long post

[slic102]

I posted a video of my newest caique here: Jack Jaws , and was asked to share some caique stories. I thought I would share my experience with Jack my rehomed caique as things did not go at all as I'd imagined.

First, a little background on Jack....he is a 3 year old, black headed caique, who came from a very loving home before we took him. He was an only bird and was allowed free reign of the house for the most part. He did not have many cage toys, thus he does not know how to play with bird toys at all and is having to learn all that. His previous family are moving to Isreal for personal reasons and obviously cannot take him.

So...seeing that I have one caique who we have had since he was weaned, I've always wanted a second one because Pogo wants a buddy so badly, and he plays too roughly to really play with the rest of my flock. He can interact with them when supervised, and has gotten pretty good at not just jumping on their backs to wrestle, but I so wanted him to have one of his own kind to rough house with. Yes, I do know it's not a good idea to get another bird FOR an existing bird, and I love Jack regardless of whether or not he ever gets along with Pogo, but that would have been such a bonus for everybirdie if they could play together (still have not given up on that idea.). Their first meeting looked like this: No worries....no birdie was hurt and we were right there to seperate them. Now they can be out together and even semi close to each other without attacking...but no interaction as of yet. This is them in the window sill yesterday:

As far as Jack getting along with us, we are still trying to figure many things out. For one thing, since he has just turned 3, he is in the middle of what may be his first hormonal stage...so that doesn't help at all. Secondly, he has been having the molt from hell since we brought him home in June. He is VERY different than Pogo. He doesn't not seem to know he's a bird...and he definitely is not your typical caique. He does not like to hand wrestle, be on his back, play with toys...etc. He does LOVE LOVE LOVE to surf though, which is really cute. We are still trying to understand him, and have been bitten more in the past 6 weeks by him than any of our other birds combined in our 2 years of having them!!!

The other really annoying thing that he does is this "angry locust" screech A LOT of the time if he's not out with us. OMG this noise makes my sun conure sound quiet! It is alarming....and every now and then he even does it when he is out with us. It really sounds like a alarm call, but for the life of me I can't understand what is upsetting him. On a positive note, he has gotten better about this noise, and he also does some of the cutest noises I've ever heard when he's happy. He can also whistle entire songs, bark, and meow which is super cute! His former best friends were a cat and a dog, and he does not seem to have any idea that he's a bird!!!

One thing I have done that may get me criticism is to start him on avicalm. I actually read another birdboard member's thread about their aggressive CAG and pmed her about it. After speaking with her, I ordered some, and he has been on it for 4 days now. It takes about 7-10 days to start working, so I'm hoping it helps. For those of you who do not know of this product, it is NOT a drug at all and does not dope your bird up in the least.

I'm not really looking for specific answers to any questions here, rather mostly just venting, BUT please, if any of you fellow caique owners have any ideas of how I can make Jack happier or help him realize he's a bird again, please share!! I do think he's made tons of improvement, and he really does seem to love us....he's just so drastically different than my other caique and than all my birds for that matter. Here he is letting me give him scritches: .

[Scooter]

Your little Jack bird sounds much like my little "Peanut". She doesnot interact with any of the other birds. Her motto is "leave me alone - I am busy". She does not know she is a bird either. She came from a very good breeder and lived with a family with kids and 3 big dogs, 2 macaws, a rose breasted cockatoo, a sun conure and a toucan. They socialized their birds very well - the kids had friends come over, and when they went to bird club or out, they all just grabbed a bird and left. When I got her, I didn't have a carrier, but she just rode all the way home (an hour)on my shoulder, whistling away. She still loves to go to the post office, gas station, nurseries, or drive thru's. I have taken her many times to the bird fair. Now - if she isn't with me people will say "where's your little friend"? I hoped she would be a friend to Chili (my first BH caique) as no one else plays with him but that has not worked out. They run around on the floor together, but she has never allowed him to preen her. And he would love a friend so much. Scooter, the crippled sun conure, will let him preen him about a half second. But Chili is way too rough and aggressive a preener I guess, because it doesn't last long. Peanut doesn't really play with toys either. She would rather go explore everything. She will sometimes kind of attack her toys, but doesn't like to chew wood like the other guys.

Now I am off to read your other posts.

[Greycloud]

I really think that after a while you will be able to get Jack to play with your other caique. Alot of breeders recommend two because they enjoy company and rough play. Jack laying on his back is one of the most common behaviors of these birds. I would let hin go thru his molt, spray him down and make sure he gets about 12 hrs of dark sleep. He could be alittle hormonal too. I have had caiques and I just love them. I don't know what to say about the avicalm. I don't know much about it. But you must remember Jack is acting exactly like a caique is supposed to act. Like he has ADHD! LOL!

[LovelySydney]

That first picture is shocking!! Im glad no birds were hurt, phew!

[jdlilfan]

Good to hear he's making a lot of improvement! Love the scritch picture.

[Flappuccino]

I'm in the same boat with my Nokomis- and actually, so is the person who adopted the other caique from the same woman I did. They both have behavior issues.

I wish I had answers.

I love Nokomis, but I won't be adopting another adult caique again. It would have to be a baby. I know Nokomis (and your Jack) are in the teenage stage, but knowing it and living through it altogether different.

Wow- it really tests your patience, huh?