New kak, questions ref taming/bath time

iccapod · New Member Joined: Nov 08, 2008 Posts: 4

Got my little boy Captain Beaky (yes thats his name) just 2 days ago and have a few questions.

I know taming takes time but am a little worried about getting things off on the wrong foot...for example - his food and water pots can be accessed from outside the cage but doing so you have to unclip them from the cage, this can make quite a noise and scares him, will this lead him to disliking me? (oh i hope not)

um next question i noticed in the shop the kaks were sprayed with water to bathe them, i tried adding a shallow bath bowl to his cage but so far he has no interest or clue what to do with it. Is this due to him being used to being sprayed? i kinda assumed using a bird bath would be in his instincts, or will it just take him time to figure it out?

thanks

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

It will not take him long to associate the clips with fresh food...
And also associate you with fresh food.

Just keep a tray of water avalible...he will eventually figure it out.

stickyfeet · Snr Member Joined: Oct 04, 2008 Posts: 66

He might initially be startled by the noise, but these Kakarikis seem pretty cool about that sort of thing. We got ours, whose full name is Mr. Boo Pepper, (join the stupid name club), a month ago and he seems pretty cool about cage disturbances. After a couple of days he ventured down to a pan of water and stood in it for a while, darting looks at us to make sure we weren't looking at him, and then started to dip his head in the water and flap his wings. He sure wanted to make sure we weren't watching him the first time he did this but now he is a lot less bashful.

I don't think I would spray him, birds don't seem to like it when something happens to them that they didn't chose to do, if you know what I mean. Getting hosed down with no warning is a lot less fun that getting to chose the time and place of your next bath.

Find out what he likes to eat and then see if you can offer him a piece of it from your hand every time you fill his dish. This should help him associate your poking about in his cage with the food bowl being filled. Kakarikis, at least this one, seem to be motivated by their stomachs and this seems to me to be the key to getting them to like you. I am an amateur too but I am enjoying having this bird in our house and he seems to respond well to the good advice we get on this website.

Good luck.