Buffon's Macaw

[Begone]

Congrats!

 

[expressmailtome]

Congratulations!

 

[Fia Baby]

I really wanted one of those when I was searching for a macaw. They're so hard to find. You're very lucky to have him, regardless of how much time it takes to settle him down. Congrats and good luck! Please post lots of pictures - this is my dream bird!! (But I have my 2 other dream birds at home with me, and I don't want them to feel as if they're second stringers - a green wing and an Eleonora!!)

 

[sunnysmom]

 

[BrianB]

Boo-Bear comes home on Thursday. I hate the name but I’m not in favor of changing a birds name just because I don’t like it. He responds to it so it stays. Luckily the store has some great customers and one of them offered to help me get the cage home.

 

[Toy]

Boo-Bear comes home on Thursday. I hate the name but I’m not in favor of changing a birds name just because I don’t like it. He responds to it so it stays. Luckily the store has some great customers and one of them offered to help me get the cage home.

I changed my macaws name. She took to it right away. So I think if you want to change his name he'll be fine with it.

 

[Fia Baby]

I think changing can go okay if you bridge the new name to the old one for a while, dropping the old name after a couple weeks/months.

 

[Big Blues]

I’m at the store this morning to pick up some food. No one had taken him out of the cage so I did. He was difficult and struck me on the arm. He was obviously scared so I gave him a few minutes and tried again. It took a few more tries but I did get him out and on a hanging tree. It’s going to be a slow process.

Very small steps, sounds like he needs to build human trust, you can do it.

 

[BrianB]

We made it home. A friend with a big truck moved the cage for me. It was difficult to get him into the carrier, but we made it work. He was on my shoulder so one of the employees put a towel over my head just to protect my face and then grabbed him with a towel. Once he was in the carrier he was fine. When we got him home I opened the carrier and he lifted his foot for me. I was thinking I would have to slide the towel out and bring him with it, but he stepped right up. I had him on my arm as I walked over to the cage. My cat saw him and his eyes got really big, then he took off down the hallway. Now he's under my desk giving me the evil eye. He went into the cage without an issue. I've given him some quiet time so he can relax. I opened the cage and it took a little work, but I got him onto my arm. We took a slow walk around the house while I talked to him. I was able to stroke his beak after we stopped for a picture. I put him on top of his cage while I opened the door and then he stepped back up for me and went right into the cage. I offered him a half of a walnut. He took it then dropped it. I put the other half in his bowl and when I walked away I could hear him crunching on it. We've got a lot of baby steps ahead of us, but I think we're both going to do just fine.

 

[Hankmacaw]

What a magnificent bird. I'm sure he will be a great joy to you for a long time.

PS - I'm jealous.

 

[Toy]

He's beautiful. You've already accomplished a few steps. Time & patience. One thing macaws love is sharing meals. Have him sit at the table with you. Give him a bowl of food while you eat yours. He can have some human foods too. Mashed sweet potatoes are a good food as they provide Vitamin A. What ever veggies you can get him to eat. My B&G is picky, but she loves sweet potatoes. A small sweet potato washed, with a few holes poked in it, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, turn over & do another 2 minutes. It should be fork done by then. Slice it open it with a sharp knife, let it cool & then scrape it out & mash it with a fork.

In-shell nuts like walnuts, almonds, pecans are good & they help to wear down the beak.

If you don't have a swing in his cage get him one. Macaws love to swing. All 3 of my parrots have a swing as their high perch. They sleep on them & spend a lot of time on their swings.

Did you tell him he is now home? If not do so. Also keep explaining things to him. He'll pick up on it pretty quick. They are so smart. My girls know when I say Mom needs a nap it's quiet time & they go quiet.

For his travel crate. Make it a fun place. Let's go for a ride & then take him for a short ride, give him a treat, etc. Try to get him in it without using a towel. My B&G will climb off her cage & right into the travel crate. Getting her out is another story, as she loves the darn crate. She knows it's for going for a ride or to the aviary. Last time was to the vet & she jabbered the whole way there.

Don't forget they like silly, dance, sing, etc.

He'll learn to trust you in time.

 

[sunnysmom]

It sounds like your first day went great! Those are all big steps for a new bird. I'm sure the two of you are going to be very happy together.

 

[BrianB]

I had taken a carrier with me to pick him up, but it turned out to not be big enough. I used one from the store and then took it back once he was home and settled. I'll need to get one that's a better size for him. His tail is huge and there wasn't room for it and his body in the smaller one. He's just under 3 lbs as well.

Once he's had some training and self-confidence, I would like to take him back into the store on the days when I work. Many of the employees bring their birds to work with them. That will be some months from now. I don't want him to think he's going back there, so maybe short trips to reinforce his confidence before we do a full shift there. I need to get a tree stand for him so he can be in different parts of the house as I move around.

I make it a point to acknowledge him when I come into the room. This has worked for other birds I've taken in. It gets their attention and they know they are not alone in the house. For being such a big bird, he's fairly quiet. Even at the store, he was quiet. I also ask permission before I touch them. For my blue crown conure I started by holding my hand up and asking "Can I pet you?" then following with the action. When he's not in the mood, he pulls his head back or turns it to the side and I don't touch him. When he is, then he leans forward. I do this with an old lady B&G we have at the store. I have a feeling that she's been abuse some over the years so I give her the choice of being touched. She's been receptive once she understood what I meant. I've started with him, but we're nowhere near the point where I can touch his head. I do stroke his beak after I ask "Can I touch you?". It's all baby steps.

I was going to put him on the island while I did stuff in the kitchen. That would let me see how he does out of his cage. I'm just a few steps away, and there is nothing there he can get into unsupervised.

He has a boing in his cage that he loves to hang on. I've seen him almost upside down on it swinging back and forth. I'm going to work on some foraging toys when I learn a little more about him.

I'm open to more suggestions. He's the first big bird I've owned and how I deal with the little birds may not always translate to him.

 

[Shezbug]

Omg he is just beautiful

 

[TikkiTembo]

I've seen one of these macaws at the rescue I volunteer at, and always thought it was a red fronted macaw. He's beautiful, sounds like you two will be just fine. I like to keep my U2's beak busy with treats when he's on me. And I only have him on me when he's being transferred from one place to another. A beak that big and a potentially unpredictable bird doesn't need to be within striking distance of my face just so we can hang out. Stationing will be your friend!

 

[BrianB]

It's only been a day but I'm learning more about him each time I interact with him. Yesterday I put him on the island for a while just to let him see his environment. The kitchen, living room/dining room, and family room are all open to one another, so from there he can see a large part of the house. That all went fine. This morning I got him out of the cage around 7 am and put him on the island with his food dish while I made food for the conure chicks. We had no issues in him stepping off of me and him walking around the island. I kept an eye on him and stayed where he could see me the whole time. He looked around and paced a little. He eventually went to his food dish and ate a little. When I was done with the babies and had all of that cleaned and put away I went back to the island and put my arm down, then told him to step up. He walked right over to me and did exactly that. I gave him a pine nut as a reward, and he gently took from my fingers.

Yesterday while I was in the office, the Golden Conures were screaming and I'm pretty sure I heard him say "Shut Up". I've tried a few other things like putting him on the floor with me in the living room. He walked away and went right to his cage. I've put him on top of his cage to see if he will stay there. Unfortunately, the cage is very tall and the ceiling drops right above him. I think it was too close and made him nervous. When I saw he was uncomfortable I put my arm up and he stepped right off onto me. I put him back in his cage for a while. I think maybe a stand will be better for him and not so close to the ceiling. The play top has seen better days so I'm going to take it off.

My other half thinks I shouldn't spend a ton of time with him so ultimately he can be a breeder. I don't agree. Even if we do breed him at some point, I think he needs to get over whatever he's gone through and be able to trust humans again. Without that, we're just going to have a miserable, unhappy bird. We all know how that turns out for macaws.

In the meantime, check out that beautiful tail.

 

[Fia Baby]

He's a beauty! If you ever breed him, I want one!

 

[Toy]

Amazing how much progress you've made in one day. He sounds like he will settle in nicely. He's a beauty.

 

[aooratrix]

I'm glad he's with you. If you decided to breed him, I'm not sure you could find him a mate. I only know of a breeder in Canada (not sure they're still breeding) and a breeder in Florida who doesn't sell babies. I say enjoy him as a companion.

 

[BrianB]

I'm glad he's with you. If you decided to breed him, I'm not sure you could find him a mate. I only know of a breeder in Canada (not sure they're still breeding) and a breeder in Florida who doesn't sell babies. I say enjoy him as a companion.

i haven’t been able to find them for sale. I found a posting from last year for a female that was 6 thousand dollars. One of the reasons I got him so cheap is that the store owner couldn’t find them for sale through her contacts and she’s been in the business for 30 years. She said she knows I’ll take care of him either way.