| Jenna,
We have two gold-caps. One is probably three or more years of age, and
probably a hen. She was an adult, hand-tamed bird when we got her.
Never has talked, except in birdie noises, chirps, and screams. The
other one we got when he (?) was twelve weeks old - domestic, hand-fed,
hand-tame. He says his name 'Frisco' and 'FriscoFriscoFrisco' - each
in a different voice (mine scolding or cajoling). I think he says
other things, especially as he is falling asleep, but they are not as
clear. We have a sun conure (closely related to the gold-caps) that
says several phrases in a smoky low voice (some of which I can't print
here!). We got the sun conure recently, also as an adult, hand-tamed
bird (supposedly domestically raised and hand-fed). The sun conure has
picked up 'Frisco' since joining the gang a month ago.
The older gold-cap has scooted across the top of the sofa behind our
backs while we were watching TV to our orange-wing Amazon's cage a
couple of times and scared the other bird into flying off the top of
his cage. Once (we are much more careful now), the older gold-cap
actually went into the orange-wing's cage and had him backed down into
a corner and was attacking him (my husband had just taken the water
dish out to change in the kitchen, only a few feet away, and returned
to this mess). The gold-caps' cage was on the other side of the couch.
It is now upstairs. We bring the birds down in the evening and
supervise them closely now. They have a small climbing tree on the
opposite side of the room and a 'visitor cage' they can occupy for
their safety, but mostly for the safety of the Amazon!!
On your third question - we kept the young conure away from the mature
one, in a separate cage about six feet apart - for at least a month to
give the little guy a chance to get used to 1) us, 2) his new home, 3)
the idea of not being hand-fed anymore, and 4) the other gold-cap. We
then supervised their daily contact very closely. At the end of the
second month, they were put in the same cage for awhile each day, then
in about a week they seemed to groom each other more than fight, so we
let them stay together. Keep in mind that I am very conservative, so
don't be surprised if others say you don't have to take as long. The
Nanday will always be larger than the gold-cap, so that's another
consideration in terms of risking unsupervised time together - now and
later.
I hope you enjoy your new friend as much as we do ours. Gold-caps
are very beautiful when they get their full plumage in (ours took
until 7-8 months to get a full crown or reddish yellow-don't know if
this is typical or not).
FYI - Pat Tucker in Sudbury, MA hand-raises gold-caps, among others (if she
isn't the one you got your little one from). She can be reached at
508-443-5218.
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Thank you for the information!
I named him Bonsai. He is *SO* funny! If I am in the room
he screeches until I hold him. He likes to play on my desk
where I keep all my makeup and hair brushes. He picked up
a backscratcher that was three times his size, and tried to
walk off with it. He also has an act to get my attention:
Bonsai will go to one end of the cage and get a running
start, and leap onto the other side of the cage, and then peek
at me to see if I am watching him.
The other birds don't like him at all. The Nanday was
lunging at him thru the bars and Jeremy (OH, I found out
that he is a Green-cheecked Amazon) does his *Big Threat*
act complete with Teredactyl sound effects! But...they
are making an effort to be nice to me. The Nanday lets me
pat her head (never before!), and Jeremy lets me pat him
without mauling my fingers, and he lets me pick him up, too.
It's almost like getting three new birds!
Bonsai's coloring is very bright now, but, I have noticed
that he is getting some very light blue on his chest, and
the red near his beak is nearly flourescent. After he molts
a couple times, he should be very colorful, I can't wait!
-Jenna
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