Need Advice on Blue/Gold McCaws

[Northstar106]

I am about to get a Blue & Gold McCaw. I recently had a Conure that I brought home & he totally freaked out in the new enviorment & wouldnt come out of his cage & wanted nothing to do with people at all. I dont want the same experience to happen with the McCaw. Though I hear that it won't because the Conures & McCaws are so different that you really can't compare the 2 birds in behavior. I was wondering if some McCaw owners out there would mind sharing their stories of when they first brought the bird home & how it went so I will know what to expect & maybe get some advice on what to do upon the first few days of having him at a new home. A little last minute info: I am buying a baby from a breeder & will be visiting the bird & helping to feed him until he is weened prior to bringing him home. Thanks in advance.

[Redstorm1721]

Hi, I don't have a McCaw,although most birds in bringing them home feel this sence of not safe! Some will scream,and cry,and even bite when they are scared. I have a Senegal Parrot,and they are known to be very quiet and loving,although when I brought her home she screamed and cryed and even bit me, very,very hard. She drew blood. I was so scared she didn't like me? But I grew to know that with any animal,they will cry and be scared at first. Be patient,and let your new bird stay in his/her cage for a couple of days without taking your bird out.He or she needs to get used to her/his enviorment. I know this will be very hard as with any animal you want to cuddle and kiss and hold close. But your best bet is, to let him/her have a sence of securety. This way she will if you let her/him stay close to their cage. Good luck! Gail

[birdygirl]

Allow the Macaw to come out of his shell at his own pace. If you force him he may not like it.

[birdygirl]

And you have a chance for more of the behavior you don't want.

(this continues my other post.)

[Jenny]

Hold on- did you sell your conure because of that and now want a blue and gold macaw thinking starting from a baby will make him automatically "perfect" and "problem free"?? Imagine you were just taken captive and travelled miles and miles to some totally different planet full of aliens. How would you respond for the first days, weeks, or even years??? Would you want to go right up to the aliens and let them hold you and touch you? Put yourself in your conure's place. One of my conures wouldn't let me touch him for the first few weeks- but by being patient with him, he eventually decided to trust me and now is a terrific, wonderful bird! You have to be patient with birds, learn to accept what stage they're at, and slowly work from there to boost their confidence and develop a relationship! If you don't know what your doing with your macaw, even though he seems perfect right now, I guarantee you that behavioral problems will start as he gets older. I'd suggest reading as many parrot behavioral books as you can before bringing your baby home, ones by Mattie Sue Athan, Bonnie Munro Doane, and Sally Blanchard for starts. And, as far as conures and macaws being very different, actually, they are quite similar in many ways. Remember- without patience, no parrot and human will ever have a trusting relationship.

[Mrs.Birdy]

and extremely intelligent. Birds aren't throw-away pets, they are very sensitive about changing homes. I adopted my pionus through a rescue. He had been through 3 prior families before coming to ours and in very compromising situations. He was so nervous and shy at first now he fits right in....he took to me almost immediately, but took his time to trust the others in my family.

With patience, your conure can become your best friend. Don't toss him aside for what you think may be a more beautiful or more impressive bird........remember, bigger doesn't mean better and certainly the big birds require more thought and work. Do you know the big birds go through the terrible two's in a big way and I have heard that they can remain with a terrible 2 year old behavior for the rest of their lives which could be 50 - 80 years. Are you prepared to handle that or will you shuffle him around only to make him neurotic.

Remember these aren't dogs, cats, or pet fish....they are highly intelligent beings.

Why don't you consider working it out with your conure....give the little guy a chance......they can be very loveable and loyal birds.

Please do your research....there is a plethera of information on the internet.



:(

[dlaura]

Hi Northstar 106

I think I responded to your ? on another website. Ditto to all the above. Please don't take it personally but it comes from our love of these creatures.

I encouraged you to visit, visit and visit the B&G you are purchasing. It needs to bond with you and see you as it's "Mom" more or less. My son did this with his B&G, he visited virtually every day (40 minute drive), but Taz remembers him as his bonding buddy. Taz is a "family" bird as Jason is living at home still and all three of us interact with Taz. Taz loves us all, but when Jason walks into the room, we might as well not be there. Taz will leave us to go to Jason without a second thought.

My husband & I visited Taz a few times at pet store - & he accepted my husband while in pet store. However, the very day we brought him home I realized if we were to live in the same house we needed to be friends. Taz tried to intimidate me with noice and a few beak movements - but I refused to be intimidated and he accepted me pretty quickly. However, once home he rejected my husband. So, I began taking Taz over to him and just sitting next to my husband and my husband (Bob) would speak to him softly and pet him. Of course, Taz tried to use noise and snaps to discourage this, but I would correct this behavior. It didn't take long, as Taz was very young and he accepts the entire family and rest of flock.

You need to visit, visit, and visit some more. When you bring home the bird - don't just drop him off in a strange environment and cage and leave for the day. Plan to spend most of the day with him so he can adjust - and know his bonding buddy is there to take care of him/her.

Please keep in touch and ask any ? you need in order to make this a positive lifetime commitment for both of you.

Sincerely,
d.simko

[birdygirl]

Thanks Jenny. I couldn't have said it better. It took my budgie two years to be ready for me to hold her.

[lacybey]

I am pretty new on this web, I have a 3yr old blue and gold, and I have a green wing and he is 8. the glarge macaws are wonderful if you have alot of time and patience, the conures are very similar, some are of the mini macaw family, and I owned two prior to trading them for the blue and gold. I did this because the large birds were more compatible, and the conures get the attention they need. I had no trouble with any of the large birds, i am with them and they are everywhere the family is, and seldom in their cage. I think I have read everything I could on the parrots, I wanted one for years before I got one. I use to house sit my sisters cockatoo, and I was in love with Houdini, but I worked too much to give one proper attention, they need a flock, it is a very social animal and you must provide it with its needs or a large macaw could destroy alot of things including furniture and the biting is a painful experience, so read up and plan on as people said, a lot of time getting acquainted, the blue and gold I have is very docile and melts in mine or anyone in our family. I believe she is partial to me, however, my greenwing I was the one who wanted him, and he, and he is a he is bonded with my husband and the blue and gold. I find him very aggressive and jealous when she aproaches me to pick her up, and if i approach him firstly, I am fine. I find him a character, and i love him as he is. I provide them withe plenty of sand stone I get at the beach, alot of manzanita wood to chew, and I intertwine the wood with bungie cords from a trapeeze with jeans that I fill the pockets withe his treats. I have very little damadge or loud noise, and I clean up alot. i have a routine, and we take the pair everywhere we can , we camp and fish. I wouldn't trade them, and I keep our language clean, they repeat anything when you least expect it, they live long lives, and they eat alot of what we do, eggs, fruit and some meats. I handle them, in fact it is nothing to have them jump off of the cage and join us, that never happened before the blue and gold came, but iother than a warning pinch on the shoulder when the green wing wants a bite, or the other bird came to me, they are pretty mellow guys. good luck!

[Redstorm1721]

I am agreeable with everyone else. Please think? Way before you purchase another, that maybe you won't want later on?

[Debbietel]

Sounds like she is wanting a guarantee that she's not going to be bitten by her impending blue and gold macaw that she's getting. There are no guarantees. This is a living, breathing, instinctively wild animal. Even when they are tame, and well adjusted, they are capable of biting. If she's wanting a guarantee that she won't be bitten, and injured, I say buy a wooden macaw, and stick it in the cage. That's the only way you're going to be able to be sure that you're not going to be bitten. I've had my blue and gold for a few months. I bought her, knowing fully well that for her not to bite me at one time or another, is not possible, and it will hurt when it happens. You're only kidding yourself if you think there is any way to avoid this. Mine hasn't bitten me yet, but every day when I interract with her, I know that this may be the day. I'm actually very surprised that she hasn't done it yet. She adores me, and wants to be on my arm every second of the day, and smothers me with kisses constantly. We have a really strong bond, but your bird loving you isn't going to keep it from biting you at some time or another. If you don't want to be bitten, then you'd best not buy any bird, because there is no way you're going to avoid that........ Sounds to me like you're actually too afraid to think about owning a bird. You don't get rid of a bird just because it bit you. That's just very irresponsible. You take on the responsibility of a bird, knowing the pros and cons, and accepting that. It's a living, feeling being. It has a loving heart, and bonds with it's owner (if treated right), and I can't imagine just getting rid of it like it never meant anything to you. If your heart allows you to do that, then you're getting it for the wrong reasons. I have to wonder if you're wanting it, because you think it will make you look cool to have it..... These birds are life time commitments, and if you're not up to that, then find another hobby...... You can't just get them, and give them away like it's an old shirt that doesn't look as good as you thought it would when you got it....... Sorry to be so brutal, but as a true animal lover, it just makes me so upset and angry when people talk about getting animals, and then get rid of them like they meant nothing..... How can someone claim to love something, and just get rid of it??????

[Debbietel]

Hello Lacybey. We love to camp in the summer. I got my blue and gold, knowing that we may have to give this up. I had to make sure that I was ready to give up everything for this bird, if need be. You mentioned that you take yours camping. Any advice that you can give me on this? Do you have a cage that you keep yours in? I'm just scared of something getting a hold of mine, when I'm cooking, or can't put my complete attention on it. I tend to be overprotective. I know this, but my heart would just stop if anything ever happened to my bella. Does your macaws handle the heat with ease? What can you tell me about the best way to care for a macaw while camping? Any advice would be so very much appreciated. Just a quick overview of your routine with her while camping would help a lot. Thanks so much!

[Von L]

Debbietel,

This thread is almost 3 years old, and many of the posters, including lacybey are no longer active members.

Sorry :(

Yvonne

[hannahgolden]

And you have a chance for more of the behavior you don't want.

(this continues my other post.) HI ALL,
I HAVE 2 PARROTS 1 IS A QUACKER AND HE HAS BITTEN ME FEW GOOD ONES HES ALITTLE NIPPY AND 1 AFRICAN GREY CONGO. SHE NIPS BUT ITS MORE LIKE KISSING ME. I DONT CARE IS SHE BITES MY FINGERS OFF I LOVE HER AND WOULD NEVER GIVE HER UP SHE IS A GREAT FRIEND SHE NEVER BIT DOWN HARD . SHE BITES HER TOYS AND PLAYS I LOVE TO WATCH HER. SHE ALWAYS SITS ON MY HEAD.

[Debbietel]

HI ALL,
I HAVE 2 PARROTS 1 IS A QUACKER AND HE HAS BITTEN ME FEW GOOD ONES HES ALITTLE NIPPY AND 1 AFRICAN GREY CONGO. SHE NIPS BUT ITS MORE LIKE KISSING ME. I DONT CARE IS SHE BITES MY FINGERS OFF I LOVE HER AND WOULD NEVER GIVE HER UP SHE IS A GREAT FRIEND SHE NEVER BIT DOWN HARD . SHE BITES HER TOYS AND PLAYS I LOVE TO WATCH HER. SHE ALWAYS SITS ON MY HEAD.



That is so sweet that you love your babies so much. I had to fight my fiance' to be able to get my macaw. I told him if he didn't let me have it, I would move back to West Virginia, leave his mean butt, and then get one. He caved in of course, and I got her 4 months ago. Now she's more attached to my fiance' than she is to me, and he adores her. She tolerates me, and lets me play with her and hold her, but she lets us know that she definitely prefers Gregg to me. She kisses him constantly, and preens him, but sits there with me, like she's just bored to death. I still love her to pieces though, and I'm glad that they do like each other so much. I just wish she would give me a break here,lol. And to think he didn't want her. Poor little thing had an accident while I was gone the other day. I'm not sure what happened, but when I got home, all of her tail feathers were broken off. I'm assuming she fell. She's such a dare devil anyway. She has absolutely no fear.

http://static.flickr.com/67/177405388_b133e541d9.jpg?v=0