Feathermint
Meeting neighbors
Hi! My name is Brittany and since I was very young I have been raising birds. Not breeding them, never doing that, but I've always felt an empty space in my life whenever I can't clean out a bird cage, prepare birdy meals or listen and watch them squawk and carry on. I love interacting with parrots, letting them be birds, and having them as part of the family. My life pretty much revolves around my birds, and I suppose my dream in life is to eventually become financially stable enough to build my own aviary, or work for a bird rescue that has one.
Fast forward to today: I still care for and have an obsession with parrots. I've done extensive research on macaw species over the years and have interacted with a few macaws that were not mine because it's been a dream of mine to be a macaw mama. So I am well aware of the warnings that they are very emotionally demanding, perpetual 2 year olds that require a great deal of time and patience. Especially to adjust to a new home. Still, any information is good information to me as I have never actually owned a macaw before.
I am now in a position where I was finally able to rescue a sweet 5 year old blue and gold macaw. I did not make this decision lightly and it was discussed with the family before making the commitment to bringing her home. Now I know her sweet behavior may or will not last, and as expected as soon as she was brought home she does not want to interact directly with the family yet, but my family and I are 100% committed to giving this macaw the best care we can possibly manage and so far she's been responding well to our company despite not wanting to step up yet.
We'll be making sure she gets plenty of time outside the cage anyway, and we've made sure the whole family understands that she is not a domestic creature and will require respect at all times. As we learn the ropes of having an actual macaw around, I hope we'll eventually learn to co-exist together to a point where she can be comfortable stepping on mine and/or my family's arm. Perhaps at some point I can take her outside on walks with me (with a harness of course, and if the outside doesn't scare her too much). So far she seems really happy when we talk and dance with her, play music for her or let her watch TV/Youtube videos with us. We don't push her to interact and if she gives a warning to back off we always respect this. She's been very good about giving warnings instead of biting and her previous owners said she usually only bites when scared.
I've read somewhere that joining a forum where people have raised macaws themselves is important because even though I have researched as much as I can about the species, nothing quite ever prepares anyone for being a first time macaw mama. I think it's going to be an adjustment period for both of us, but I love her so much already and I want to make sure I'm doing the right things with her best interests in mind, and my family as well.
My only problem so far is as soon as we brought her home I started feeling a lot of anxiety out of nowhere? I suppose it's a back of the mind worry that I hope this relationship works out in the long run and we will be this macaw's forever home. I am very patient, good at reading parrot body language, I'm home 24/7 and we have all the time in the world to take things slow and at our own pace. I've read it might be about a year or more of just hanging out with her before she warms up to us enough to do proper training. Right now though I just can't get this anxiety to go away no matter what (though it has only been one day of having her home as of this post). Did any of you feel this way when you first brought a macaw or other parrot home? I've heard of it happening with new dog owners and people who bring a baby home for the first time, but I can't find any information about people who felt anxiety after bringing a new parrot home.
Fast forward to today: I still care for and have an obsession with parrots. I've done extensive research on macaw species over the years and have interacted with a few macaws that were not mine because it's been a dream of mine to be a macaw mama. So I am well aware of the warnings that they are very emotionally demanding, perpetual 2 year olds that require a great deal of time and patience. Especially to adjust to a new home. Still, any information is good information to me as I have never actually owned a macaw before.
I am now in a position where I was finally able to rescue a sweet 5 year old blue and gold macaw. I did not make this decision lightly and it was discussed with the family before making the commitment to bringing her home. Now I know her sweet behavior may or will not last, and as expected as soon as she was brought home she does not want to interact directly with the family yet, but my family and I are 100% committed to giving this macaw the best care we can possibly manage and so far she's been responding well to our company despite not wanting to step up yet.
We'll be making sure she gets plenty of time outside the cage anyway, and we've made sure the whole family understands that she is not a domestic creature and will require respect at all times. As we learn the ropes of having an actual macaw around, I hope we'll eventually learn to co-exist together to a point where she can be comfortable stepping on mine and/or my family's arm. Perhaps at some point I can take her outside on walks with me (with a harness of course, and if the outside doesn't scare her too much). So far she seems really happy when we talk and dance with her, play music for her or let her watch TV/Youtube videos with us. We don't push her to interact and if she gives a warning to back off we always respect this. She's been very good about giving warnings instead of biting and her previous owners said she usually only bites when scared.I've read somewhere that joining a forum where people have raised macaws themselves is important because even though I have researched as much as I can about the species, nothing quite ever prepares anyone for being a first time macaw mama. I think it's going to be an adjustment period for both of us, but I love her so much already and I want to make sure I'm doing the right things with her best interests in mind, and my family as well.
My only problem so far is as soon as we brought her home I started feeling a lot of anxiety out of nowhere? I suppose it's a back of the mind worry that I hope this relationship works out in the long run and we will be this macaw's forever home. I am very patient, good at reading parrot body language, I'm home 24/7 and we have all the time in the world to take things slow and at our own pace. I've read it might be about a year or more of just hanging out with her before she warms up to us enough to do proper training. Right now though I just can't get this anxiety to go away no matter what (though it has only been one day of having her home as of this post). Did any of you feel this way when you first brought a macaw or other parrot home? I've heard of it happening with new dog owners and people who bring a baby home for the first time, but I can't find any information about people who felt anxiety after bringing a new parrot home.
