Adopting Older Caique

[Cage Cleaner]

R

[liz]

Not nice with the comment of Pajarita.

Rambo is 31. He came to me very socialized and claimed my house as his possession. He had been loved but not cared for properly. I had to teach him a new diet. He had been given cheese puffs and jelly beans. Other than that he is a very good kid.

Any old bird comes with a history. If you are able to get the history you will be able to modify it's life much easier. If it had been abused or neglected your work will be rewarded with the progress it makes.

[Wolf]

Perhaps not the nicest comment about Pajarita, but well within his rights.

Considering that this bird could live to about 40 years of age, I think that what the potential vet bills would be are more a matter of how healthy the birds is now and then the diet and care that the bird would receive from you. Bear in mind that I do not have this species of parrot, but the only medical issues that I have run into through reading for this type of bird is perhaps a respiratory sensitivity and a chance of obeisity mostly from a lack of exercise and poor diet.

[Pajarita]

I am interested in hearing suggestions from those who have older parrots. I am thinking about adopting a caique in its early 20s. Some have advised against doing this due to vet bills. Anyone here have experience with older parrots?

Note: Due to past experiences and to a quick perusal of the current forum, I am uninterested in anything Pajarita has to say. So I thank that person in advance for staying out of my thread.

Thank you for letting us know you are rude person in advance - this way, we know what we are dealing with which is always a good thing

[Cage Cleaner]

K

[Cage Cleaner]

L

[seagoatdeb]

You will never know what diet that parrot has had in all those years, but if the parrot is active, energetic, with shining feathers, that is a good sign, then a thorough vet check will tell you how well he/she is doing. if the parrot has no permanent damage, a good diet will make any parrot more healtly, and you may have up to 20 more years from the parrot. Caiques need a lot of attention to be happy, but are very acrobatic, they hop, and are very amusing to watch. if your parrot gets a clean bill of health then the vet bills wont be very high.

I almost rescued a Caique last year, the good thing was the Caique was the same size as Gaugan, but I decided a parrot on the needy side would upset Gaugan too much, so I got a more independant companion for us. The man who owned the Caique worked long hours and was single, so his Caique was very unhappy.

Gaugan is 18 and very healthy and very active and so vet care is not a high expense. She has not slowed down at all. She has become more wise, and understands many situations, so she doesnt get afraid of much of anything, like when she was young. She plays like a little wild birdie girl, so to anyone looking she looks like a young parrot.

[Cage Cleaner]

I

[seagoatdeb]

It is like us, we may die in old age of various ages, so some parrots have good genetics and of course diet and happiness will have an effect. I am told Red Bellys live from 20-35 years, but Gaugan will have her own time just like me. There is no way of knowing a specific parrots longevity only averages.

[Cage Cleaner]

C