Do all B&G's have black spots?

[Macawnutz]

And.... now you posted another photo... Does he have yellow on his wing feathers?

 

[Shezbug]

Yeah I think the spots on his ankles are definitely meant to be there and he is getting lovely new feathers all over. Even his ratty tail has dropped the two longest feathers and the new ones are growing in.......hopefully he keeps the newer ones a little tidier lol. So very pleased you only see healthy new feathers, that makes me happy

His leg band does spin and move a little up and down (not much up and down), I check it and play with it everyday to make sure it still has room. It worries me pretty badly. I want to get it taken off but my vet (and all the ones I have asked) will not chip them without putting them under and the same for the closed band removals so I am hesitant to have him put under if he does not need to be.

 

[Shezbug]

He does slightly but I can not work out if it is showing through from the underside as his feathers are pretty beat up. I thought I would not bother about checking into it too much till he molts his flight feathers, then I will have a real good look because I have a feeling it is just showing through from the underside.

Opps, I forgot to quote your post @Macawnutz

 

[Macawnutz]

This is where the yellow ankle feathers would be spotted.



I don't panic about sedation. In fact I ask for it when ever Korbel goes in as he does better. BUT... I know and trust my vet.
The nasal spray they use does not work on Korbel, I've heard it often does not work on BG's but would take the edge off.

I would want them sedated to remove that band... Don't want him moving and cutting his foot off! OMG

 

[Macawnutz]

He does slightly but I can not work out if it is showing through from the underside as his feathers are pretty beat up. I thought I would not bother about checking into it too much till he molts his flight feathers, then I will have a real good look because I have a feeling it is just showing through from the underside.

Opps, I forgot to quote your post @Macawnutz

No, not showing through. He has yellow there and when he molts that feather I would love to see it. Is he old? My late BG Greg had that weirdo yellow there too.

 

[Shezbug]

This is where the yellow ankle feathers would be spotted.

View attachment 290074

I don't panic about sedation. In fact I ask for it when ever Korbel goes in as he does better. BUT... I know and trust my vet.
The nasal spray they use does not work on Korbel, I've heard it often does not work on BG's but would take the edge off.

I would want them sedated to remove that band... Don't want him moving and cutting his foot off! OMG

Yes that is the exact spot of the spotty feathers, I love them they are so cute.

I do want him sedated as I do not want him associating the vet clinic with fear and pain but I am terrified as I have heard so many horror stories about birds and sedation. I believe the vet I see for Burt is pretty good and I do trust her but I do not trust my judgement on the issue. Now you have said what you have about his band and sedation I will give it some more thought and maybe call and talk with her again about it all. If I have his band taken off I will be getting him chipped and I hate what I have seen in footage of that being done.

 

[Shezbug]

No, not showing through. He has yellow there and when he molts that feather I would love to see it. Is he old? My late BG Greg had that weirdo yellow there too.

He is turning 1 on the 22 November.....I can not wait! I have kept most of his messy molted feathers so I will let you know when that one drops out.

 

[saroj12]

Yay! We finally got to see Burt! Handsome dude!

 

[Macawnutz]

Don't watch the videos... I would not even watch when I'm in the room. It's a shot and a big one. All my birds BUT Korbel are chipped. Don't ask why not Korbel as I don't have a decent answer. I'm more a mom and not a good nurse with him.

OH, that's why his head is huge with a baby beak! Duh.... I knew his birthday was coming and how old he was. It just didn't click seeing Burt in pictures for the first time. Lol

 

[Shezbug]

Don't watch the videos... I would not even watch when I'm in the room. It's a shot and a big one. All my birds BUT Korbel are chipped. Don't ask why not Korbel as I don't have a decent answer. I'm more a mom and not a good nurse with him.

OH, that's why his head is huge with a baby beak! Duh.... I knew his birthday was coming and how old he was. It just didn't click seeing Burt in pictures for the first time. Lol

Too late I already watched those videos and I cried for the poor B&G that flapped around like mad while it was under. They are horrible videos but I suppose it is better to know what is happening than to stay ignorant. Yeah he has a baby beak on a big head but he is growing into his head slowly and his beak is catching up I only see adorable when I look at him hehe.

 

[Shezbug]

I should say adorable and messy lol.

 

[Shezbug]

@Macawnutz, I have just had a look and without hurting, stressing or angering him it does look like it may be a little yellowed. It is not one of the ones I can get a good look at when the wings are stretched out as it sits right underneath another feather so I had to try to carefully look between the two feathers. If it is not yellow then it is much much lighter than the other ones near it.

 

[faislaq]

Scrutinizing his feathers I see nothing but healthy in your photos. If he has off colored ankle feathers I would consider it normal for him. His feathering is beautiful...

Oh yes, I totally remembered we were talking about ankle feathers.... Actually I got sidetracked by cuteness. The beaky one on his back is my favorite.

View attachment 276927 He was so tired after playing that he fell asleep on my bed resting on my sons arm.

Or maybe this is. hard to say. (click the invisible arrow beside "Shezbug said:" to go to original post)

I am so glad you've learned to post photos. He is precious; thank you for sharing him with us @Shezbug. Now when start posting videos I have a couple of requests. This:

He also squeals like a little kid in a play ground when I tell him I am gonna come and get him, I say things like "I'm gonna get your toes", "I'm coming to get you, you better hurry up" and he squeals so loud and long it makes everyone laugh.

And this:

He also has a crazy conversation with his feet for about an hour each day, he gets on the floor of his cage and rolls around with his foot in the air. His foot and his beak seem to take turns attacking each other which keeps him amused for ages and he usually waffles on in bird language the whole time.

 

[Shezbug]

@faislaq. He doesn’t do the squealing much anymore unfortunately, I really loved the squeals. He still passes out on me after playing but only when it is just him and I in the room, the kids never stay long enough anymore for him to pass out on them. Burt talking on his imaginary foot phone happens most days, I am pretty sure my mum has footage of that carry on hehehe it is cute. He loves laying on the floor of his cage waffling away to his feet. It is funny.

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Burt is beautiful, his feathers are very vibrant. Nice to actually see him, I can tell he wants for nothing. Great pictures of your Beautiful Boy.

 

[Macawnutz]

@Macawnutz, I have just had a look and without hurting, stressing or angering him it does look like it may be a little yellowed. It is not one of the ones I can get a good look at when the wings are stretched out as it sits right underneath another feather so I had to try to carefully look between the two feathers. If it is not yellow then it is much much lighter than the other ones near it.

You have a baby. You should be able to poke and prod him anywhere. If you can't you need a new playtime game that teaches it.

Sit him in your lap and literally act like you are doing a medical inspection of him. Scratch his beak, pull his head up and scratch feathers under his chin. Rub his cheeks, ears and nares. Open his wings and dig through wing feathers. Pick up and massage both feet, turn him around and spread his tail and inspect feathers. Make it fun and preen while your doing it.

Teach him towels are not scary, teach him to take juice from a tiny syringe, harnesses, nail trims.... If you are going to go through toddler macaw ( which I would never do again ) at least give him a foundation that will help you for a lifetime. Lol

 

[Shezbug]

You have a baby. You should be able to poke and prod him anywhere. If you can't you need a new playtime game that teaches it.

Sit him in your lap and literally act like you are doing a medical inspection of him. Scratch his beak, pull his head up and scratch feathers under his chin. Rub his cheeks, ears and nares. Open his wings and dig through wing feathers. Pick up and massage both feet, turn him around and spread his tail and inspect feathers. Make it fun and preen while your doing it.

Teach him towels are not scary, teach him to take juice from a tiny syringe, harnesses, nail trims.... If you are going to go through toddler macaw ( which I would never do again ) at least give him a foundation that will help you for a lifetime. Lol

You told me to make sure I could do all those things early in the year which I made sure I worked on with him as he was minimally handled as a baby bird. I now can do all the things you have mentioned and he is usually fine with most of it but I am having to kind of pull the feather out in a way that it is moving some of his bigger pin feathers which are really bothering him. I am really really worried about hurting his feathers but I will have another look today while we are playing and see if I can get a better view at the particular feather. I really do not know how much I can move the individual wing feathers about without causing damage or pain to him. He will grumble about his wings being touched every time but he will usually sit patiently while I check them out, I have done the digging around in the tail frequently but I am so stressed about the safe range of movements of the wing feathers that I mostly settle for a quick gentle shuffle around in them very carefully. How much movement can they take without causing any pain or damage?

 

[Macawnutz]

You told me to make sure I could do all those things early in the year which I made sure I worked on with him as he was minimally handled as a baby bird. I now can do all the things you have mentioned and he is usually fine with most of it but I am having to kind of pull the feather out in a way that it is moving some of his bigger pin feathers which are really bothering him. I am really really worried about hurting his feathers but I will have another look today while we are playing and see if I can get a better view at the particular feather. I really do not know how much I can move the individual wing feathers about without causing damage or pain to him. He will grumble about his wings being touched every time but he will usually sit patiently while I check them out, I have done the digging around in the tail frequently but I am so stressed about the safe range of movements of the wing feathers that I mostly settle for a quick gentle shuffle around in them very carefully. How much movement can they take without causing any pain or damage?

So happy to hear you are doing well with him. It will set him up for a lifetime of successes.

With wings. No, don't over push a macaw that tells you they don't like something. I'm not worried at all that you would inflict any pain, watch him preen... they are very flexible. I'm more concerned with respecting his wishes.

Many birds do not like their wings touched and most especially opened by a human. That is okay. Korbel and Maui both would allow it as young babies but Korbel does not allow me to open his wing for fun any longer. When he is hurt or has a broken feather he will sit and hold still while I push him to do it, that is all I ask now.

Push a little during your interactions but when he says no respect it.

 

[Shezbug]

I just had a look in the better light and it is really hard to say whether it is a yellow or washed out faded blue. I think it depends on the light and the angle as I think that is affecting the color I see. It is on a few of his wing feathers. I was a little rougher this morning after watching how much he moved the wing feathers while preening, he was not overly impressed but was willing to cooperate and let me have a good look and manoeuvre his feathers a bit more than I normally do. Some days he is happy for me to do anything with or to him and some days he gets really offended at me for even asking if he wants to have a shelled nut . I try to respect his wishes as much as I can in regards to being touched but I really do also push his limits as much as I can without him getting to the point of having to seriously bite me.

 

[Macawnutz]

Just remember him giving vocal sounds, moving away, putting a foot up or him posing in a lunge position is his way of telling you without biting, warning. If you push to the point of biting ( even if it doesn't hurt ) you are telling him his warnings mean nothing. After time he will learn to skip the warning and just bite hard.

Pushing is a fine line. Just remember if you are going to do something he doesn't like reward reward reward after.

Really though, it sounds like you are doing great! He looks perfect too!