The Caique Site
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The Caique Manual
12. Keeping pairs as pets One of the common questions from people who keep parrots as pets is whether or not they should get a "friend" for the pet they already own. My answer in a resounding yes provided it is done right. I have two pairs that are pets and they are probably the best adjusted of all my birds. My pet pairs had the opportunity of choosing their own mates. Of course they were not the ones I originally intended. In one case, a recently weaned hand reared male, Andy, bonded almost immediately to a female, Ginger, about two years older than him. In the other case, one of my hand-reared females who had just weaned, Coco, bonded to a very stubborn older male, Fred. My original plan was to set up Ginger with Fred because they were about the same age and likely to breed sooner. These four birds had other plans and they worked out just as well. The result is two pairs and four very nice pets. In contrast, I have tried many times to interest my oldest female in a mate beginning when she was nearly five years of age. This did not meet with success. She now happily shares a cage with another female that was scorned by all the males. For this reason, I suggest that if you wish to set up a pair as pets, you should do it when the birds are young and flexible in their capacity to bond. In my experience, pet caiques kept as pairs do not produce as many chicks as pairs set up for the sole purpose of breeding. This has been the experience of others who have kept pairs as pets. I believe there are two reasons for this. One is the continual interaction with people keeps them interested in other things. My pet pairs are allowed out of their cages and handled every day. My breeder pairs are only allowed out of their cages on rare occasions even though one pair is quite tame. The other reason is that caiques tend to need the stimulus of another pair before they go to nest. Breeding of caiques seems to occur in a sort of chain reaction. One pair goes to nest and all the others follow. Pet pairs do not get this stimulation as much as properly set up breeding pairs. Pet birds do appreciate having another bird to snuggle up to in the roost box. Only one of my two pet pairs has gone to nest. The hen laid a clutch of three eggs and sat on them with great devotion. Unfortunately, the eggs were infertile. This was unfortunate, because I consider these two birds to be the most agreeable pets in my whole caique menagerie and one of the goals of pet bird aviculture is to produce the best pets possible. Maybe someday she will lay again with better results. The moral; it is a great thing to keep pairs as pets. The birds seem more content, better adjusted, and more even tempered than single birds. Just do not expect them to have lots of babies.
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