Pictures Advice on Hy's realtionship with their person after pair bonding

[lexalayne]

I have a 7 year old hyacinth that I've had since he was weaned and he's my baby. I love him very much and he returns the affections. Over a year ago we brought a female home and their cages are next to each other. At that time when they were out together she chased him around their cage areas and he scooted away from her not at all interested but now things are changing it seems.

Recently they spend most of their time as close to each other as possible through their cages and when I'm cleaning their cages (pushed together) they love to scratch each other and "hold" claws. I plan to let them interact again with supervision outside of their cages soon. He is much more interested in her now.

Breeding is not my main objective here but I do feel they may be happier together. If they should bond a well known breeder has offered to help me and she lives near me. My main fear is he won't want anything to do with me anymore if this happens. And I would not keep them apart out of selfishness but I would like to know the possible behaviors such a bond would mean for me so I can be a bit prepared.

For those of you who have had experience in this situation would you please let me know what your experiences have been? I would really appreciate your responses.

Both birds are extremely sweet and loving macaws. They really do fit the stereotypes of the Hyacinth Macaws as "Loving Giants"... and they are the only ones who fit the stereotypes of all my parrots, not a huge believer in species profiles and I think I got lucky with these two.

 

[lexalayne]

 

[Macawnutz]

Tiko and Cha are very bonded to each other. It was a huge learning curve getting them out of their cage. Cha would want to come out and Tiko would block her. All attempts to get past Tiko by us or Cha were met with anger. It was difficult to say the least. Once apart and out of the cage all was right as rain.

Cha started laying eggs pretty soon after bringing them home. I would remove the eggs and replace them with dummy eggs as I am not a breeder. If we had to live that way we could have. Learning to allow Tiko to be the boss and dictate us and Cha's every move was not easy but with time we did alright.

After a few months we realized Cha was not happy living with Tiko. She loves him yes but she needed and wanted her space from him. We decided to separate them when caged. Cha really has some personality she was withholding, she acted like the doormat living with Tiko. She chooses to spend time with him outside of the cages but not all her time.

Do you have a pair now? Have you had a pair of macaws? The male is the worry. Always respect him and the rules he sets for you. Sometimes you have to jump through hoops to get what you want. With Greg and Rosie I was fine as I stepped both of them up and out of the cage at the same time. Tiko was not that easy when inside the cage. Sometimes the cage is the issue, if you can lure one or both out then everything is easy.

You have plenty of experience, you'll be able to read them and learn quick what you can and can't do.

 

[lexalayne]

Omg thank you !!! My male is my buddy but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he became possessive of our female... as he is of me now... easy to see how he could transfer that behavior.. Priceless info on your female .. knowing that she values time away from him...sure can't blame her and shouldn't print this but can relate to her for sure, lol ! Right now my male, Baloo is fine with me in his cage but I can see that changing if Lucy was in there with him. Ideally, I'd like them to be in there own room allowing time in and out of each others cages and see how it goes...but we'll see.

The only other semi pair I have are an almost 7 year old Capri macaw (male) and an almost 2 year old yellow dom female who are in a double cage with a divider that they've recently learned to move. They love to cuddle but she's nowhere near maturity and he seems to know it.. plus whenever they see me they try to push each other out of the way and scream for me to kiss them.. but if I'm not around they are very content with each other. I had two males that were bonded but the older macaw passed away 2 years ago. Plus, I have the young camelot girls and they are together near my now lone male but he seems to enjoy being around them. Again though he's quite a bit older than they are.

I don't like to trim their nails because military held a grudge for a long time afterwards. But I found a summer visitor that will do it now and he didn't have any problems until he got to Baloo my male Hy... I saw a side of him that I didn't know existed. Saying he fought him is an understatement! And he used every trick he could think of to escape and go after him. I can see our relationship being tested when it comes to a possible mate.
Most of my males are cage territorial but Baloo has not shown this .. yet... I never engage them but prefer to use their favorite nuts to get them to go back in when they don't want to (males that is)

Thank you for your experience you've shown me that there are many different possible outcomes for these two...and they can keep changing too..