Caique

[flcbrgirl]

We just adopted a 3 year old Caique. He has bitten both my husband and I very badly. I cannot figure out why he is doing this. Any suggestions.

[cml]

We just adopted a 3 year old Caique. He has bitten both my husband and I very badly. I cannot figure out why he is doing this. Any suggestions.

Many =)!

But it wouldnt hurt if we got a little more background of your caique and its previous and current situation, that way its much easier to try to help!

Things we might need to know can be (from both before you adopted him, and how it is now):

-Diet
-Cage
-Toys
-Time out of cage
-Time the parrot is given attention
-Medical situation
-anything else you consider could be of help

Generally though, if a parrot change home, it takes a while for them to get comfortable in their new surroundings, and its important not to be in a rush at that time. Let it take time, and build trust, dont rush it or you might spook your new friend!

Anyway, I would like to help you more and I know that alot of other here have plenty experience with rescues and adopted parrots, but we really need to know more before we can make any real suggestions on how to improve things!

Best regards,
CML

[liz]

I agree with CML and welcome to the forume.

How long have you had him?

[Arshia]

Don't let him bite you.
Don't you see signals from it's body language? I've not seen a bird that wouldn't try to intimidate you before biting you. So just don't do the things that cause it to bite you, I guess.

On that note, do you do anything to make it angry? I know caiques are clowns, and it might just be associating biting with playing, so in that case, try dissuading that behavior by turning around for 10 seconds every time it bites.

[liz]

How long have you had him?

Keep in mind that no matter how bad his situation was before you that he has to adjust to you and your home. It could take months. Be patient and he will come around. He may be also trying to recover from bad memories.

Remember that his cage is all that he can claim as his own so don't go in after him. If you can't get him back in his cage just leave a night light on and turn off all others. He will go back to his safety zone.

[Eurycerus]

I just adopted a Senegal and she has bitten me quite hard, hard enough to break skin and bleed more than once. she did not give very good clues that she was going to bite although I believe, other than the first time, she bit me because I was acting nervous. Also I think that saying no to her does not work for her.instead I am going to have to learn to be still and calm and quiet when she bites.

I would suggest calm endurance and rewards for when your bird does not bite. I'm working on it right now so good luck!

[marie83]

Unfortunately not all birds will hold a large warning sign up, Ollie is very subtle with his warnings and it took me ages to get to know them. It can be done but it takes time and you need to pay attention to learning their individual body language.
Some birds may also have different signs for different circumstances. Ollie used to bite to try to get my attention but those pre bite warnings were different to the ones he would give if he was about to bite cuz he didn't like me doing something. I never get bitten now unless I'm not paying enough attention to what he is telling me.

You may need to expect to get bitten for a while whilst you learn to read your new birds, but never react to those bites and never show fear as both will reinforce the biting.

[terri]

I think he might be testing you. Try a schedule [so hes not calling the shots].Their very head strong [I have 2].Follow CMLs post to make sure your where you should be.They need a large wide cage, tons of toys ,swings and foot toys . Most of the time their hearty eaters[diets big]. Whats his name?

[Michael]

Welcome to parrot ownership, this is what it's like. Unless taught otherwise, parrots will fly away or bite. Since people choose to clip their wings and keep them in cages, it eliminates the choice of flying away and leaves them with nothing but to bite. Worse yet, people teach them to bite and encourage it by what the way they treat them. I have a host of articles about parrot taming and training. You should assume the parrot is wild, follow these steps from scratch, and work on developing a relationship where the parrot wants to be with you rather than make you go away by biting.

[pollyparrot]

I would also like to add that I read that Caiques presented with a hand for step-up will put forth their beak first, unlike most other parrots. I have limited personal experience with a white-bellied caique kept in a room full of parrots in a high school. All are neglected on a regular basis. I was able to handle this playful fellow after months of feeding and changing his water. But he would nibble (pretty hard) my hands in a playful fashion every time I took him out. I think they are more beaky in general than other species.

I learned a tip to distract against a biting bird. As counter-intuitive as it is, push in toward the bird if it bites. They will start to lose their balance and let go. Don't freak out. Ignore or distract unwanted behavior and reward positive behavior.