How to Introduce Caiques Properly???

[nasosipi]

I am hoping someone on the forum has exprience with introducing black headed caiques to a new friend.... please, if you can ...H E L P... I dont want to ruin my chances

Ok before I go any further - I know Caiques are different to other birds ie conures and they are more territorial etc... but... I am confident this can be done, just need some input on how to go about it.

I have a handraised - pet, bh caique hen - 4months old - she has been with me for 6 weeks
I just recently bought a 5month old handraised pet cock bird as a friend for her to play with during the day, while I am at work, to keep her company...
I am not so much worried about them breeding in 3-4yrs - rather I am more interested in them as pets who keep one another company...

Whilst the cock bird is older - he is definintely more immature in behaviour... this could also be due to being in a new environment, which is what I am assuming at this point.

So I dont ruin my chances of being able to put them in a cage together in the weeks to come - how is the best way to get them used to one another and get the hen to accept him as a friend?

So far,
I have removed the hen from her usual cage and place her in a comfy holding cage.
I have placed the cock bird in an identical cage right next to her and ensured both cages are set up identical - with a dividing space... each can choose to be out of sight of the other if they wish
I have placed a whole bunch of toys on the lounge back and tried to play with each of them together... the hen will do so for a short time and then she flies directly at the cock and pushes him off - they have had a couple of stand up arguments, which I have stepped in and broken up - but - in their defence, it was more pushing and beaking - no one was screaming or actually getting hurt - it just worried me, so I stepped in.

The cock bird is not interested in 'picking' on the hen - he seems quite intersted in being friends... the hen is the one being bossy and pushy.

Am I doing anything wrong - Do I just keep persisting?

Hoping someone on the forum has been through this with Caiques and can shed some extra light...

Many thanks for reading
Sonja

[avinet]

I have never had anything to do with Caiques but the approach you have taken is a usual way to introduce two birds, and the reaction of the two birds seems a pretty normal reaction for most species of parrots. The hen was there first, she regards it as her territory and she doesn't want to share yet.

In the parrot world it isn't automatically love at first sight, sometimes it can take weeks or even months before two birds will decide they were meant for each other. Sometimes they never like each other!!

However be patient, and I suggest continue with your present approach. I'm sure over time the female will appreciate having a mate, but sometimes it has to wait until the breeding hormones start to kick in - maybe next spring!

The Caiques I've seen and handled seem to have pretty strong personalities, can be very affectionate and playful, but also can change their mood quickly - keeping an eye on body language seemed to be a necessity

Not too many are kept as pets yet in Australia, although their price seems to be falling steadily so I guess they will be more commonly seen in the next couple of years. I would love to hear more about your pair, and photos of course are always welcome on this forum

cheers,

Mike

[nasosipi]

Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply - greatly appreciated...
I have found a few caiques forums via google and a few more caique friends via facebook.

They do have strong personalities - but - the underlying current is they are keen to please - very playful pets... they love to learn and I am finding them very loyal to our human family...

I guess I didnt expect such an aggressive response - even my eckies weren't as aggressive when they first met...
I am slowly winning with Squirt and Pepik - they were out with us together last night and we only had a couple of spats - but on the whole much better. They began to choose to be on the same person at the same time... without incident... just not close together... so definitely a step in the right direction.

I would love to upload photos, I just havent worked out how to do it yet... Vankhari - did tell me one, but I still couldnt seem to get it right???

Once again, than you for your reply... I will definitely keep the forum posted with progress... I adore the caiques and believe they will make amazing pets as their price continues to lower... both Suqirt and Pepik are fantastic with young 5yrs + children - they actually seem to gravitate to our 5yr ol daughter!!
I wouldn't leave them them with her unsupervised at this point, but I can certainly see potential ... they sit with her as she reads books etc...

Ok - best go and get organised for work
Sonja