Baby Macaw moves in

[saroj12]

Adorable!

 

[iamwhoiam]

Very sweet photo.

 

[Fia Baby]

He is adorable!! Is he actually afraid of the carrier? More than just caution? At his age, I wouldn't expected to see real fear. If he's not truly afraid of it, I'd just stick him in there. Put him in for a couple seconds, talk and play with him like you usually do, then take him out and congratulate him. Make it a fun game. Do it over and over - before you know it he'll be fine with it. The same with a harness, if you're going to use one - now is the time to do it, before he's matured enough to be afraid of new things. He's the perfect age to be introduced to anything and everything, and to learn to socialize with everyone in your family as well as guests.

 

[Sylvester]

What a CUTIE! Thank you for posting a photo. Sounds like he and your son are going to be inseparable buddies.

 

[BirdManDan]

Beautiful bird. My B&G Tiki loves to spend time like that as well. Enjoy the new family member.

 

[Shezbug]

Thank you all for the responses and the comments.

Fia Baby, I am so pleased you said to just gently force him (playfully) to learn it is not bad as I was concerned about how the heck I would be able to convince him the inside of the carrier is a safe place if he could not just find out on his own. I have been reluctant to make him do things that he seems a little wary of as I did not want to make him scared or chance him not trusting me. I was not sure if I could make a game out of this (like I did with the dog and cat) or if he would see it as me teasing/tormenting him. Thank you so much for that I feel better about the three times I have actually put him in the carrier now and I will make a game out of it and continue to do it. He does not have fear as such but he does show a little reluctance/ hesitation at some things, I suppose I would be the same if everything I had ever known was gone and had been replaced with all these new things I am not familiar with. I also need to buy a new small heater before I give him a shower as I did not think about how drafty our house is and I do not want him getting miserably cold while drying out. Should be right for a shower early next week.

He has been asking for some comfort feeds and he sometimes looks disappointed that I have a spoon instead of a syringe, he still takes the feed and is much more settled and happy after them. He still has not yet screamed but he is quite a chatty little man, he seems to like to make cute little noises every time someone speaks to him. He definitely likes attention to be directed his way. Last night he did this most curious little dance at the bottom of his cage when my son was talking to him, I am not sure what that was about as I have only seen him do it the once... so it will be something I will try to catch on video if he does it again.

Sylvester, I sincerely hope my son keeps being interested and the bird continues to be so good with him. As much as I don't want to loose my bird buddy, I would be happy with the bird choosing my son over me any day!

Thank you BirdManDan, I hope we are lucky enough to have this be a regular thing like it is for you and Tiki. It sure has been a nice treat getting snuggles from him and he is already a well loved and enjoyed member of the family. I can see how this could become addictive this owning big birds.

 

[Shezbug]

Today we played put the bird into the Pak-O-Bird carrier and let him straight out again, he did not like this but has struggled less each time. He was even better with the big dog crate today than I expected, so we are getting used to both sorts of carriers.
Tried the shower, this was not a winner today but I feel it may have potential to be once he has gotten used to the room and the noise of the water. He did not mind the water so much but certainly did not know what to make of the noise and the bathroom.
He was practicing using his wings when I put him on my bed, he hovered from one end of the bed to the other end where I was standing and he seemed to be pleased with himself. Now every time I get him up on my arm, he likes me to lift him up high so he can flap like mad....I just wish he would gain the courage to let go of my arm/hand as I now have lots of scratches. It has been so good watching him as he is learning.

 

[Fia Baby]

Let him hang out on the shower rod or door each time you go in the bathroom. He'll show you his duck-like qualities soon!

 

[Shezbug]

Sucess! I took him into the bathroom and put him on his T stand while I showered. He started calling at me and reaching out with beak and feet so I pulled the stand closer to the bath and shower base, he kept putting his feet out so I offered my hand and he was in a big hurry to hop on. Placed him on the edge of the bath and he played around till he was drenched, flapping and chatting away the whole time.
We also managed to get him calmly into his Pak-O-Bird carrier and he was happy to stay in there so I closed it up and took him for a little tour around in it for a few minutes before letting him out. Once the bag/carrier was open he was not in any kind of hurry to get out of it. Gee he learns much faster than I had expected!
One thing we will have to work on is how he deals with over excitement....he bit me three times while playing in the water. They were not overly hard but definitely much harder than he has done before. He was very receptive when I told him to be gentle and he eased up which is great.
Will see if I can add some more photos of him.

 

[Shezbug]

 

[BirdManDan]

You can also try putting his favorite treats in the carrier as well.

 

[Fia Baby]

Nice! That's the great thing about babies - they're not yet afraid of much, and you can make really rapid progress. There are 2 more things to work on that will make your life and his easier: learning how to put on a harness, and filing his nails without restraining him. I use one of the aviator harnesses, and I like it well enough though I don't use it often. I use it enough to keep her receptive to wearing it, in case I ever need it. The nail filing is something we do a couple times a week, because she doesn't like clipping. I wrap a biggish emery board in some sand paper that's a bit courser so I get maximum bang for our time spent filing. A couple swipes each time is enough to keep them short and rounded, without any stress.

 

[Shezbug]

I do have his aviator harness sitting around and it is the next thing on our list even though I am not sure if I want him using it often. We are also already working on his feet being touched as he is not too sure about it just yet, he is getting better and lets me do it for a longer time each day. He has been good with having a towel wrapped around him for a short time already, we have been working on this and a few other things like being held and inspected all over. He is pretty cool and calm about most things really, I am very lucky.

 

[Shezbug]

Wow, he finally decided to try out his wings yesterday and hit the ceiling so then every time he thought about another attempt he would stop flapping and look at the ceiling suspiciously. Today he gave this flying thing another go and he has been flying to me from his t stand, my bed, the floor, and also from my drawers so I am tickled pink to see him learn this and enjoy it. He is trying harder flights like turning his back on me to take off so he has to fly round the room before aiming for me. He had another shower this morning and just had to scream with joy through half of it and he also had a car ride today and seemed quite calm with it all.
I have not yet tried to put the harness on him but he has played with it and seems not to care what I am doing with it. Still trying to make him ok with fiddling around with his wings as it stresses him a little and he hisses at me and tries to move away from me so we will keep working on the wings and him being comfortable with me moving them before I attempt to actually put it on him. I am unsure about using the harness to be honest, I have read that they cause flight fear/hesitation in a lot of birds and I would like to have my bird free flying further down the track when we both know everything we need to know to keep this as safe as possible for him, so I do not want him thinking he will be stopped mid flight. I would like to use it for things like taking him to the vet or visiting family so he does not have to stay in his carrier when we go out but I do not want him using it for flight purposes.
It is so good watching how quickly he is learning and how much effort he puts in to getting better at everything he tries.

 

[camelotshadow]

Yeah,,,make it a game...Put toys & treats he can't resist in there. Let him freely go in & out so he is no longer afraid of it...

 

[Fia Baby]

Mine has tried to fly with her harness on, and it was very upsetting to her. Normally she'd take a quick flight between my husband and I, but one time she decided to do a little "exploring." She decided to try to land on the roof of the house, but then she hit the end of the leash, and didn't know what to do, what direction to go, and was really just frantically flying around me. That in itself could be very dangerous, depending on how open the area is - they could easily fly around something and get the leash wrapped around it if you weren't in a large open area. She's never tried to fly with her harness on since then, nor has she even flapped her wings outside. In the video that came with the harness, there are clips of people flying their birds back and forth with the harness, but after my experience, I'm definitely NOT a proponent of that. My bird isn't trained to fly free outside though, and maybe birds with more solid training wouldn't have this experience. I live in a rugged, heavily wooded, very rural area with few roads where I just can't train her to fly outside. (But knowing that behavior is never 100% predictable, I still don't think I'd trust harness flying.) I think harnesses are for when you DO NOT want your bird to fly, and you do need to do everything in your power to ensure that they don't try it, while making sure that your leash is short enough to keep them from harming themselves if they do take off for some reason. I do think though, that with a lot of training and experience, some (maybe most?) birds could learn the difference between free-flight and leashed flight.

 

[CupcakeKeator]

Is it normal for Baby Macaws to topple off the perch while falling asleep?
He has only been weaned and using a perch for a very short time, I have just never personally seen any bird having issues sleeping on the perch.
I guess this will just be until he builds up the muscles and muscle memory in his legs and toes?

I dont have a macaw, but my conure did this in the beginning. Still sometimes will topple over if he falls alseep suddenly. I wouldn't worry. Babies are SOOOO wobbly in the beginning, maybe try to bring the perch bar lower to the bottom of the cage in the beginning until he gets his footing and starts to be less wobbly. They learn fast though.

 

[Shezbug]

So I learnt today that I need more practice at some things that Burt needs no practice with.
I followed all the instructions that came with the aviator harness, watched the DVD, familiarized myself with the harness, let the bird see it and become accustomed with it, made sure the bird is ok with wings being handled and being a little off balance blah blah. Followed all instructions and decided we would try it today. He put up with the whole saga of me trying to put this on him so patiently, he assisted a little by lifting wings and staying calm and still while I fidgeted about trying to adjust it to fit as they say it should. By the time I was satisfied with the fit he had fallen asleep waiting for me to finish. Took it off with no issues at all from him even when I nearly knocked him off his perch.
He has a vet trip tomorrow so having him be ok with the carrier, car and most new things he comes across should make for an enjoyable trip. I am looking forward to tomorrow's trip as we have been waiting for nearly two weeks for this appointment.
Oh I nearly forgot to mention that last night while the kids and I were eating dinner Burt was on the bottom of his cage playing and chewing up a shredable toy when we heard this mad giggle come from the cage. He spent about two hours giggling and practicing many new sounds and noises on the bottom of his cage while playing. He has the cutest little giggle and we can not decide which one of us he is imitating, might be a mix of the four of us? It is so adorable when birds laugh, it's one of my favorite things they sometimes do.

 

[Fia Baby]

The harnesses are a bit complicated, but it does get easier... That's funny that he fell asleep while you were doing it. I love it when mine (Fia) laughs as well. I always start laughing when she's trying to preen my neck and face, and so that's how she learned it. Now she'll give my neck a little nibble and start laughing first. Good luck with your appt. - I'm sure he's in good health!

 

[CupcakeKeator]

You can also try putting his favorite treats in the carrier as well.

Oh yes! Treats are the number one way to a birbs heart! Keeps them pretty calm too especially in new environments. Carrier = yummy treats. You'll have no problem getting him to go in there and travel with you. haha.