Thread: New Caique Owner - Some Concerns.

Wow, Mom2caiques thank you for that in depth tutorial! Unfortunately, Pip is not as well behaved as Jarjar and fights back every step of the way. He will not tolerate the syringe near his mouth and just squirms really hard and refuses to participate and I am worried I will hurt him or he will hurt himself with all the fighting and squirming. So I have just been putting it on his fave food (apple and berries) and making sure he gets all of it. I know this is not ideal and I will keep trying your method. Thanks again for the wonderful step by step examples and illustrations.

On a separate note, I have been feeding Pip a wide range of fruits and vegetables. He loves most of the fruits (at the moment he is devouring a blackberry) but I can't really get him to eat the leafy greens which are the best for him like kale. Do Caiques grow into liking it or will some just never develop a taste for it?

Keep trying. It can take months before they decide to try it. Try different ways of offering it too. Choped and mixed with the other fruits, hang a whole leaf still wet from washing from a clip, mix it in with a cooked food like oatmeal or bean mix, use it to wrap a favorite treat so he has to tear through the leaf to get the treat (you will have to help him the first time or two), or anything else you can come up with. I sneak a lot of things they don't want to eat into their bird bread. They eat that like a kid eating candy and don't even know it had that icky kale and zucchini in it. If you need a good recipe for that, let me know. I don't use cornbread mix in mine, personal preference.

You may want to watch how much fruit he is eating until that yeast is under control. Yeast thrive on sugar and fruit has a lot of sugar in it. While he is on the meds, you may want to offer more veggies and less fruit. Maybe save that for the meds and the rest of his fresh foods be veggies. That will limit the sugar and help ensure he eats all the fruit witht he meds on it. Just my random thought of the day...

I feed my girls two very distinct meals each day. Breakfast being their veggies when I know they're really hungry. I chop the broccoli and kale small so that it sticks to the pepper, corn, peas and carrot bits, with a sprinkle of quinoa and wild oats. Their second meal is supper and it's basically dessert - fruit (usually a mix of two) and birdie bread so everyone goes to bed happy and full.

My girls are well versed in variety, however I know the first time I give them something, they probably won't eat it (unless its fruit and smells sweet). Introducing new foods takes repetition to create familiarity and then suddenly it's their favorite food.

Just keep trying.

Thanks for the food tips, and great point about the fruit and yeast 5minters. So far his fav vegetables are beats and carrots. Feel free to share recipes! I am thinking of getting full spectrum lighting and a humidifier to help Pip get through these remaining winter months. Anyone use these?

I agree with Cyreen...that is exactly how I feed my crew...morning is veggie time, with late afternoon being fruit-ish...I do usually throw one small fruit in with veggies, and one small veggie in with the fruits just for a bit of variation...the only other thing I usually do is when it gets dark, and it's time for bed and cover, I'll pick out any remaining fruits so they don't get gross and attract fruit flies by morning...I always make sure they have pellets and other dry things to pick at in the morning if they wake up before I do...

My bread is this base recipe with about 2 cups of mix-ins. Those can be anything you want. I have used dried fruit, nuts, frozen fruits and veggies, fresh fruits and veggies, purees, really anything. I generally keep a bag going in the freezer. As fresh things start to get overripe, I cut them up or puree them and pop them in the freezer for bread ingredients.

1 Cup whole wheat flour (organic preferred)
1 Cup cornmeal (NOT cornmeal mix or self rising it has junk added to it. I use organic stone ground from a local mill)
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce (organic, no sugar added-You can leave it out if you have a lot of wet mix ins)
mix ins

I bake mine in a 13x9 pan at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. The baking is a little hard to determine because it depends on how wet it is. I have even baked it like biscotti before. Cooked it till it was pretty done but it was still wetter than I wanted so I took it out, cut it, put it on a cookie sheet upside down and cooked it for another 20 minutes. Bottom line is put good stuff in, cook till done. They don't care if it's pretty or fluffy or even size squares. It freezes great! I pack enough for 3 days in a container and take out one container at a time to thaw in the fridge. Happy baking!

Thanks for the recipe! I will need to get a food processor to to be bale to puree the vegetables first.

Does anyone use full spectrum lighting? Poor Pip is not able to get sun exposure and we also live in the north east so I ordered an avian full spectrum light, hoping it will pick up his energy.

Yep, I use full spectrum on both my cages. Unless you live in a climate that allows your birds to be outside regularly, I highly recommend them. Putting the cage in a bright indoor location is not the same thing as windows filter UV light. You will notice a difference in behavior and it's definitely good for their health. Mine are on timers set to turn on for 8 hours per day, I change the timing slightly with the seasons and time changes.

Good to know, I went ahead and ordered the zoo med avian lamp and bulb from amazon because i needed a floor lamp and that seemed to be the only one tall enough for the cage, but I am now realizing that the bulb is not ideal (it has a 85 CRI and 7.5 K temp, whereas I am reading that the highest CRI, like 97, and a 5k-5.5k temp). What kind of setup do you use Cyreen?

Both of mine are Featherbrite: Full spectrum lighting for birds by FeatherBrite

Which are available through MSBS with a forum discount: Full Spectrum Lighting for Birds. Provides Vitamin D3. DISCOUNTED

I haven't used a humidifier or air purifier (although with Ollie's dust, one might benefit me). I take Joule and Zetta in the shower with me regularly for humidity. Sometimes they bath, sometimes they just steam - they perch on my shower-head.