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I have been talking to a lady at a rescue about adopting a 5 year old BHC. I'm wondering if anyone has had experiences with adopting an "older" Caique. I know he is still young but I guess I'm wondering how to best acclimate him to our house if we are accepted to adopt him. Dweezel was 1 when we brought him home and he is now 3. Is a quarantine period still neccessary when he came from a rescue who does quaranines already? Right now he is under quarantine for teating positive for Chlamydia. When his 21 days (or so) are up, he will be tested again. I'm hoping to visit him a few days after that to see how he likes me. Any advise?

Well my experience with adopting a rescue isn't great so I'll try not to be discouraging. Is there a way you can take the bird on a 'short or long term foster' to begin with, rather than a full-out adoption? This would not only be a good first step to see how things are at home for Dweezel, but for you as well. I would think a good rescue would encourage that too, since they don't want to stress out the bird making it stay somewhere it won't fit in and you don't want to be 'out' any monies you would have to pay for a full adoption where your fee would probably not be refundable. It takes a good 3-4 months before you can fairly assess the 'adoptability' of a rescue and to give him a chance to 'work out'. Beaker was 3 before I brought another bird into our home and I never expected them to interact, and they don't. I'm not saying Dweezel wouldn't accept the new kid on the block, but the new kid may also not want anything to do with Dweezel.
It's also possible they could be best buds, but I think you should go into the situation prepared for the fact they probably won't. They will certainly keep each other company during any time you're not home and for that, I encourage anyone to adopt, but to expect them to get along, is something you, realistically, shouldn't expect.
They each need their own cage even if they do become buds. Even if you have the complete history on the rescue, caiques need their own space including daytime cages, playstands and nighttime cages if you use them.

andrea

I understand what you are saying. I will find out about fostering first. This particular Caique used to be housed with an Amazon but I understand they may not get along. I figure they may not anyway if this new one is actually a male. Dweezel usually doesn't get aling with other males but I didn't intend for them to be sharing a cage or anything. I have had horrible experiences with birds sharing cages, even when they did get along great.
I'm not too worried about spending money on him though, even if he didn't work out and had to go back. (His adoption fee is so low, it wouldn't matter financially) I will see how it goes when I visit him and see if it works out from there. Thank you for the advise!

If you're willing to try the adoption then I'd say go for it! It's pretty hard to resist a bird when you have experience with that species, on top of the fact that every birdie deserves a loving, forever home. How has he been while you've been visiting?
If you can 'quarantine' the new guy a least in a room where he can at least see Dweezel, I don't think it would be a bad idea, but it helps to know he's been in quarantine. If his medical work comes back ok, you could probably let him roam a bit.

I haven't visited with him yet, but I will be on the 11th. I just got an email back from the lady who does the adoptions. She said if the visit works well and his follow up test comes back negative, I could take him home that day! I'm so excited! I will quarantine him for at least a couple of weeks to make sure, at least he has been tested by the rescue.

here is my (hopefully) new baby:

Ooooooh, verrrrrry handsome! Does he have a name or are you going to try to re-name him with something similar sounding?

His name is Zorro, which is great because I just love the name! He is 5 years old so I assume he has had this name since he was little.

Oh he is a handome guy!! Zorro!! I LOVE IT!! Best of luck!! Post more pics!!

Oh he is so cute. He looks just like my little "Peanut" who you met at the Stillwater bird fair. The one who crashed into the mirror behind the bar and you climbed over to get her.

He looks like a little sweetie and with lots of love and patience you will have a wonderful new family member. It may not take much time at all for him to adjust. They are such curious little guys that they need to get out and explore. I love watching mine run around on the floor.

The other night Peanut was out while I took a shower. I gave her a towel on the floor to play with but first she found some cotton balls and had a ball trying to tear them apart. Then I hear her whistling to me so I look out to see what she is into now and she was hanging on the shower curtain right by my face (it's lace so she can grasp it very well). She is such a nut.

I hope things work out for you and Zorro.

It sounds so exciting. I believe that caiques are the perfect bird and Zorro looks so cute. What is the story behind his need for another home? I hope that it all works out.

I often think about getting another caique but not until I can retire. Maybe that will be a retirement present to myself! I only have 5 1/2 years!

I like the thought of getting another bird now since I am still young, I would hate to have to leave them in someone else's care (even though I know I may not live that long either...sad thought mortality is!).

Yeah, I hope you are right Scootie, I hope he adjusts quickly and will love us all! Thank you guys for the nice comments!

Hey, I am only 55. I should live long enough for my caiques and it I do my homework, my kids or grandkids will love to take my fids if they have to.

Hey now, I never said you were old Cathy! I'm just saying that I'm glad I got into birds now and I can hopefully be the only owner for my birds, not that having your relatives take over when you are gone is bad, I just don't want to have to count on anybody else. The best person to trust is yourself....at least I hope I can trust myself!

Cathy wrote:What is the story behind his need for another home?

Apparently he was living with someone and their Amazon and the person could no longer keep them. They both went to different nephews of the original owner but after awhile they both were given away again. Here is what the owner of the rescue told me:
"Zorro had been with an amazon years ago, for a couple years. The owner gave them to two different nephews. Then the amazon nephew gave the amazon to a lady, and not long after the Zorro nephew contacted her, to see if she'd take Zorro too. She had him overnight and fell in love, but cannot have a third bird just yet."

So now he is back up for adoption. If I get to take him home, he will never be with another family (unless something happens to me, ie. I die!). I can't wait to go see him! He tested positive for Chlamydia and was treated and will have his follow up test on Monday. I will go to visit him on Friday if his test is negative. I got a cage for him (i think- my sister got a cage but it has too big of bar spacing for what she has). Is 1" bar spacing ok? I believe I have read that 1" is the largest to use. I hope the cage is ok for him! If everything works out, I will be shopping for toys and things on that Saturday and taking him home on Sunday! Yay!