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New Visitor - and Learner

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New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Mzreeve » Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:17 pm

Good Afternoon All!

I am returning to the avian world after being away for 7+ years. My last bird was a White Bellied Caique, which I had for 7 years before my Air Force career began to require excessive time away. I rehomed “Sabian” and vowed that when I retired from the Air Force I would be a better avian father.

I just adopted a 3-year old male Caique. The family was very friendly, but unfortunately the home was a mess and I could tell little “Jet” was not cared for properly. So, first things first, I cleaned what equipment I planned to keep and kept some items so it all would not be completely unfamiliar. Jet now has a much larger cage to allow for more movement when within. I have slowly added activity items. It is in a quiet room with plenty of fresh light. I began his solar schedule his first day/evening with us. Once he is acclimated to his new home and schedule, I plan to allow him greater freedom to explore his new surroundings, slowly at first.

Jet has lived solely on snack-type of foods, so I anticipate a struggle to improve his diet. First morning, I gave him carrots, broccoli, apples, and bak choy. Not very interested at this stage. I will feed him some protein later this afternoon.

Jet is very friendly. I have not reached for him, but he readily approaches me and climbs upon my hand and arm. His wings are not clipped and I will keep him that way. His beak and nails are very overgrown and I will have a professional trim them at a later date. I am being slow and cautious, as I want him to acclimate correctly and feel safe. I spend time with him whistling and talking quietly, while he is in his cage.

I have some questions to better my knowledge:
1. I would like to have an avian vet check his health. What is the best way to research a vet? I fear some will not have experience with parrots or other birds. How often should I schedule vet visits?
2. In the event Jet is reluctant to change his poor diet, how can I best encourage him to eat? He is so used to his poor diet, that I know I will have to be patient.
3. Best recommendations for protein? Shall I include vitamins and supplements? If so, what would you recommend?
4. And… any additional suggestions or additions to my current acclimation process?

Thank you all. My intent is to improve Jet’s life and surroundings. Your guidance will be very welcomed.

Regards, Mario
Mzreeve
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: White Bellied (Yellow Thigh) Caique
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Michael » Sat Apr 15, 2023 9:06 am

Mzreeve wrote:I have some questions to better my knowledge:
1. I would like to have an avian vet check his health. What is the best way to research a vet? I fear some will not have experience with parrots or other birds. How often should I schedule vet visits?
2. In the event Jet is reluctant to change his poor diet, how can I best encourage him to eat? He is so used to his poor diet, that I know I will have to be patient.
3. Best recommendations for protein? Shall I include vitamins and supplements? If so, what would you recommend?
4. And… any additional suggestions or additions to my current acclimation process?


1. Look for an Avian Vet. It's even better if they are board certified but they are far and few. Main thing is not to use a run of the mill cat and dog vet.

Be careful and make it very clear to the vet not to clip his wings. Too many cases of incompetent vets doing it anyway out of habit.
2. Just change the diet. Give him fresh produce and pellets and eventually he will realize that's what he gets and start eating. The most important thing you want to see is that he eats at least a tiny bit. If you see him put the food you offer in his mouth, you know he knows its food, and when he's hungry enough he'll start eating it. Until then, he'll hold out for what he prefers.
3. Most pellets designed for parrots already contain a balanced amount of vitamins and proteins and additional supplements are not required. Parrots tend to thrive on pelleted diets and the results can be seen in their plumage and bloodwork.
4. Now's a good time to start some training for basics like step up, coming in and out of the cage, and handling. You can learn all about parrot training and find supplies to help you throughout the process from ParrotWizard.com. Best of luck!
User avatar
Michael
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 6286
Location: New York
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal Parrot, Cape Parrot, Green-Winged Macaw
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Pajarita » Sat Apr 15, 2023 10:39 am

Hi, welcome to the forum, congrats on your new friend and thank you for adopting instead of buying a baby. Now, before anything else, take him to the vet sooner rather than later because overgrown beak and claws means ALWAYS a malfunctioning liver - which is no surprise given the bad diet so, please ask the vet to do a bile acid test when he does his blood work.

Don't offer him a selection of produce, give him one fruit, one vegetable and one leafy green - he will eat mostly the fruit but they like veggies like grape tomatoes, butternut/spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, peas, corn on the cob, etc. I have 2 caiques, Javi, a black-capped and Epuish, a yellow-thigh white belly and I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that these birds need A LOT of fruit. Michael and I disagree on diet. He uses pellets while I think that pellets are not the best dietary option for parrots (WAAAY too dry -especially for a caique- too processed, inferior ingredients, too high protein and most of them made with soy plus they are fortified with lab vitamins instead of the natural, food-derived ones which are utilized much better by the body). My caiques eat gloop (they love it) and raw produce (not the sweet potatoes or the squashes, those are cooked, same as corn on the cob which is very lightly steamed) for breakfast and nuts for dinner (mostly walnuts because they have the best 3-6-9 omegas ratio).

Give him the produce first (as you already did :thumbsup: ) and eat some standing in front of him, start with juicy ones like grapes, peel a bit of it and offer it to him, even up to touching it to his beak (sometimes they react by opening the beak as if to defend themselves and they end up tasting some of it). About an hour later, give him gloop (try some in his bowl and some on the bottom of the cage and start with a simple one). For dinner, give him a tiny bit of budgie mix and two halves of a walnut. Once he goes to sleep, take away the leftovers.

Personally, I would start him on liver meds and vitamins right away. And don't forget to give him a nice plate of water with a clean dish towel on the side so he can bathe and dry himself (they love to rub their bodies on the towels).

I LOVE caiques!!! They are the funniest! Javi has 3 different types of walk: the normal one, the 'warrior' -he marches like a soldier on a parade- and the 'Bad Leroy Brown' - which is kind of like a 'gansta' walk lifting his body higher with one foot than the other. I've never been bit by either but they have bit other people -especially Javi who can be a holy terror when he feels like it. And, in truth, they are easy parrots to care for - good eaters, good bathers, not too noisy, quite independent, perfect size, and so pretty and smart! They might not be good talkers but they understand EVERYTHING! And they always answer when you call them (they like to hide under furniture and chew the underside of it). Like I said great birds!
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Mzreeve » Sat Apr 15, 2023 7:33 pm

Michael and Pajarita,

Thank you for your sound advice! Jet is very open to me already, but slow and easy for us, as I want to respect the change he is going through. I’ll try your feeding advice (both to be respectful) and see what works best. He has an appointment with the avian vet in a week, so I will request the suggested tests. His nails and beak have been trimmed, a little earlier than I wanted, but thought it best as his nails kelp getting caught (wrapped) around the cage sections. He handled it well and we praised and gave him a treat.

Again, thank you! I’ll check some videos and keep you all up to date with his progress!
Mzreeve
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: White Bellied (Yellow Thigh) Caique
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Pajarita » Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:28 am

One suggestion more: get him sweetfeet perches, they will help keeping his claws short.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Pajarita » Mon Apr 17, 2023 9:42 am

And still another thing (I think about my day at night and, sometimes, I come up with new stuff :D ). Do not feed your bird based on my opinion, Michael's opinion, avian vet's opinion (contrary popular belief, they do not study parrot nutrition) or anybody else's. Do research on your own, study what they eat in the wild (don't go by a list somebody wrote on the species description, look for field biologists papers and scientific sites, and check out the climate and flora of the region) and get to your own conclusion.

This is a good one: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pi ... ucogaster/

As you can see, they not only live in very humid places, they eat almost no seeds at all.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Mzreeve » Wed Apr 19, 2023 10:07 am

Thank you all! Great news, so far… I took Jet off the seed and treat diet he was on from his previous owner. I set his morning meal with veggies and fruit. He ignored it for three days, so I sprinkled a little bit of Harrison’s organic adult bird food on it to entice him to the bowl. For now (until I do some of your suggested research), I give him Harrison’s in the late afternoon for his evening meal.

Success with the morning veggie and fruit mix! After three days he finally is eating healthier (at least in the morning). Jet does like his healthy morning meal! He has acclimated very well and loves being held and stroked. His larger cage is being used well and he spends some quality time out of the cage with me. I have some good perches, which allow him to keep his nails trim (as well as his beak).

We have a vet appointment in a week or so and I will do some research on appropriate diet and proper surroundings. We are in Utah, so the air is a bit dry… would a humidifier be a good addition?

Again, thank you for your assistance… it has really helped with Jet’s transition!

Regards…
M
Mzreeve
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 3
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: White Bellied (Yellow Thigh) Caique
Flight: Yes

Re: New Visitor - and Learner

Postby Pajarita » Thu Apr 20, 2023 9:44 am

Good news on the diet! Yes, indeed, he NEEDS environmental humidity! His natural habitat is very humid.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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