- Joined
- 4/6/13
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- Real Name
- Matthew
Harry, my BTM, is 7 yrs. old. He is not hormonal but could become hormonal. He has become territorial about his cage as he's gotten older, but many psittacines are. He is extremely mechanical. There is a nut and bolt attaching a breeder door to his cage. I tighten it regularly with a power driver. When he sets his mind to it, he can remove the nut fairly quickly. He can defeat and/or dismantle any c-link in under a minute. I've switched to EH toy hangers as a result. He goes through spurts of toy destruction. Again, when he sets his mind to it, he can match Annie, who can go through 10 blocks in a day. He is my only bird that can open a macadamia nut, even though Annie is 1400 g. and recently dented an avian stainless toy.
Harry is very hands-on and still cuddly, but for short periods. He ALWAYS wants to lay on his back in my arms and trusts me to catch him when he flops. He is hyper aware of his surroundings, almost nervous at times. I find this to be odd because his breeder is superb and he had every experience, repeatedly, you'd want a baby parrot to have. Frankly, I think he's intimidated by my other birds. They are very sassy. He is a good flyer and has begun talking more, but only in a whisper.
If a BTM is your dream bird, then you'll work with the individual quirks, IMO. Expecting any birds to be good with kids or share generalized species traits is a crapshoot. You'll have to accept either bird as they are. Neither will be perfect, but one could fit your home perfectly. Does that make sense?
IME, B&Gs accept multiple people better, generally (the dreaded word), and are more forgiving. However, I think it will be harder and harder to find BTMs, thanks to the stupid ESA. Many longtime breeders are no longer breeding them due to the restrictions. And there are only 250 left in the wild.
By and large, the vast majority of hormonally aggressive macaws I've known or worked with have been male. Yes, some females can be aggressive, but I don't think that's the norm. And Petey is the most aggressive bird I've EVER seen, and I've worked with imported breeding birds. Despite that, I recommend the BTM as that sounds like your dream. And don't judge that bird by his plumage now. A healthy BTM is a metallic teal. There's nothing like them in person. I can't believe people mistake them for B&Gs! Here's Harry. He looks better in person.
Harry is very hands-on and still cuddly, but for short periods. He ALWAYS wants to lay on his back in my arms and trusts me to catch him when he flops. He is hyper aware of his surroundings, almost nervous at times. I find this to be odd because his breeder is superb and he had every experience, repeatedly, you'd want a baby parrot to have. Frankly, I think he's intimidated by my other birds. They are very sassy. He is a good flyer and has begun talking more, but only in a whisper.
If a BTM is your dream bird, then you'll work with the individual quirks, IMO. Expecting any birds to be good with kids or share generalized species traits is a crapshoot. You'll have to accept either bird as they are. Neither will be perfect, but one could fit your home perfectly. Does that make sense?
IME, B&Gs accept multiple people better, generally (the dreaded word), and are more forgiving. However, I think it will be harder and harder to find BTMs, thanks to the stupid ESA. Many longtime breeders are no longer breeding them due to the restrictions. And there are only 250 left in the wild.
By and large, the vast majority of hormonally aggressive macaws I've known or worked with have been male. Yes, some females can be aggressive, but I don't think that's the norm. And Petey is the most aggressive bird I've EVER seen, and I've worked with imported breeding birds. Despite that, I recommend the BTM as that sounds like your dream. And don't judge that bird by his plumage now. A healthy BTM is a metallic teal. There's nothing like them in person. I can't believe people mistake them for B&Gs! Here's Harry. He looks better in person.
This. 
