New owner b&g macaw

[Matt0071]

Nope I'm in the mix of building a play gym for her something like this to get her away from the cage and always going to the top lol

Something like that but bigger for her

 

[Shezbug]

To be honest with you, my bird from time to time decides to be a total poop head and steal my underwear from my drawers ..... straight up to the top of something high he goes with what ever cool forbidden item he can get his grubby beak on. If I am busy focusing on getting him down he thinks it is a game or at least turns it into his game. If I turn my back on him and leave him to it and find something to do like rummage in a drawer or look under the other furniture he can not resist and comes to check out what I am doing or what cool stuff I may have.

Finding your girls favorite treat will also be a massive help to you..... never free feed the fav food and you can always use it as bribery!!

 

[Shezbug]

Something like that but bigger for her

you bet me to it....... lol I was gonna say I was so jealous of you for having one of them budgie sized macaws! hehehe the mini macaws photo shopped into cages and play gyms have quite the following here

 

[Matt0071]

Lmao since u put a sad face on that post I had to let her out but ya straight up to the top again lmao and does the hello haha

 

[Shezbug]

She's so pretty

 

[Matt0071]

Yeah she is I love the girl and already attached to her
She can be feisty at times but what female isn't

 

[Matt0071]

My dog Winston and Daisy they get along too
I'm always around if there both out but there always curious of one another lol
She will now say Winston and then laugh haha

 

[Matt0071]

My boy Winston
Almost a year old

 

[BrianB]

Slow and steady progress. I brought a macaw home just over 3 weeks ago who came from a rough situation. Every day is something new. Some days we make progress, and some days we don't. We're moving at his pace, so I don't expect major breakthroughs, just baby steps leading to a much better life. Everyone has given great advice. Congratulations on your new family addition.

 

[Matt0071]

Yes lol
The thing about b&g macaws I have noticed is at times it's like 1 step forward, 3 steps back lmao
It's like ahhhhhh I got this now and then back to the drawing board once again

 

[Matt0071]

Slow and steady progress. I brought a macaw home just over 3 weeks ago who came from a rough situation. Every day is something new. Some days we make progress, and some days we don't. We're moving at his pace, so I don't expect major breakthroughs, just baby steps leading to a much better life. Everyone has given great advice. Congratulations on your new family addition.

He/she able to step up and please explain what progress u have been going through
Does your macaw have trust u yet or a bond?
Does your macaw have a hard time stepping up or go straight up the the top of the cage as well?

 

[Shezbug]

He/she able to step up and please explain what progress u have been going through
Does your macaw have trust u yet or a bond?
Does your macaw have a hard time stepping up or go straight up the the top of the cage as well?

Buffon's Macaw

I have a chance to adopt a Buffon's macaw. I had mentioned before that I was talking with someone about a pair of scarlets. The more I talked to them the weirder it got. Something wasn't right so I backed away from it. This bird is 16 years old and has been through 2 homes. The store owner...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[BrianB]

He/she able to step up and please explain what progress u have been going through
Does your macaw have trust u yet or a bond?
Does your macaw have a hard time stepping up or go straight up the the top of the cage as well?

Mine has major trust issues, has no self-confidence, and doesn't care for women. His last owner was a woman and it wasn't a good experience for either of them. He's a Buffon's Macaw, so he's a big bird. She was afraid of him and didn't let him out of his cage often enough. I have reason to believe he may have also been abused a bit. He also has an issue with one of his wings and is a bit clumsy. I've been working to regain his trust in people. He does step up, but he's nervous about it. Some of that is his wing issue and being unsteady on his feet, and some is a lack of trust. I take things at his pace, and if he's unsure about stepping up, I back off and wait for a bit. Most mornings when I open his cage he will lift his foot for me. Some mornings he's not interested so I go do something else and come back to him later. I don't feel that he has a bond with me, at least not yet. He's 13 and was with his previous owner most of those years. I think it will take months for him to regain trust in people. He hangs out on top of his cage, or on a play stand I put in front of his cage door. He doesn't let me touch him that often. There was one day when he was freaked out about something and got really loud. He's a very quiet bird, so this was unusual for him. He let me scratch his head and rub his back, but when he was calmed down he let me know I was no longer welcome to touch him. My approach has been to acknowledge him every time I come in the room, even if I'm just passing through. I go to his cage as often as I can and speak to him in a calm quiet voice. If he lifts a foot I let him step up. If he doesn't, I don't force it. I want him to trust that I won't hurt him before I start to make progress with more physical interaction. We've had some progress and he did take a pine nut from my fingers with very gentle motion and made no attempt to touch me with his beak. Considering that he bit someone at the store and they needed stitches, I call that progress.

Something I've noticed about some macaws is that they prefer to step-back instead of step-up. Instead of them stepping forward into your arm, they would rather you put your arm behind them and let them step back onto you. I work part-time at a local exotic bird store and we have a young military macaw that was surrendered a few weeks ago. He will not step up for anything. If you put your arm in front of him, he will try to bite you, but if you put your arm behind him, he will step back onto it without any problem. It took a while to figure out that this is what he wanted. In the mornings, someone would have to get him in a towel to get him out of his night cage and go onto a hanging tree. Once we figured out he will step back, but not up, that changed everything. He's still a problem getting out of his cage, but now we open the top door and let him climb out, then put an arm behind him and off we go.

Sometimes birds don't understand what we're expecting from them, so if you break it down into a set of smaller tasks it works better. Go for small bits of progress instead of big leaps. I've also found that sometimes it helps to show them before you ask them to do it. This works really well with trying new food. A bird may not recognize something as being edible, so if you make a big production of eating it in front of them, they get curious and will most likely try it themselves. Just take it slow and steady. It may take months for your bird to fully trust you.

 

[Macawnutz]

Okay, I'm laughing a little. Just let her head up there if she likes it. Put some toys up there and let her hang out.

The more you make of something the more they will do it. It's her cage, if she wants to get up there to get a feel for the room before coming down and out to explore I would let her. Once she sees you eating/doing something better she will come down on her own. I don't dare make a stink about going up to the tops lol

 

[Matt0071]

I have found right now luring her with her seed food works best
I'll place it on the table and pull the cage up close and she will come down off the top of her cage right down to the table then I'll pull her cage away out of sight
Whatever works to create more of a bond with her and interact with her and show her it's not a bad place to hang out lol
In the mix or building a play gym for her I'll post some pics when its completed
It's going to be 3' wide× 4' in length and 4' high
I don't want to make it that high just for the fact I want to be higher than her to have her easily step up

 

[Matt0071]

I have found right now luring her with her seed food works best
I'll place it on the table and pull the cage up close and she will come down off the top of her cage right down to the table then I'll pull her cage away out of sight
Whatever works to create more of a bond with her and interact with her and show her it's not a bad place to hang out lol
In the mix or building a play gym for her I'll post some pics when its completed
It's going to be 3' wide× 4' in length and 4' high
I don't want to make it that high just for the fact I want to be higher than her to have her easily step up

It's not going to be enclosed either it's going to be wide open

 

[jh81]

Wonderful read

i really love the big Macaws, but im always too afraid of their beaks

 

[Matt0071]

Lol getting bite sucks but I guess it's part of the process of bringing home a new macaw when they are use to there previous owners from 6 months old to 2 1/2 years old
I was looking and looking and came across her on kijiji
They had her plus her brother same age but they recently had a new born and they were keeping the child awake at times vise versa so they decided to look for a new home for daisy and kept the Male
When I went there a few times before purchasing her he could flip her on her back and she would lay down lol
I myself haven't tried that yet obv but everyday shes coming along just nicely
When I first brought her home she would scream quite a few times during the day
If u ever heard them screaming it's not a pleasant sound lol
Didnt really much so bother me but bothered my gf lol
She has calmed down alot and instead of the screaming she talks alot or whistles which is awesome
She sleeps like a baby too don't even hear a peep out of her at night what so ever!

 

[Matt0071]

Lol getting bite sucks but I guess it's part of the process of bringing home a new macaw when they are use to there previous owners from 6 months old to 2 1/2 years old
I was looking and looking and came across her on kijiji
They had her plus her brother same age but they recently had a new born and they were keeping the child awake at times vise versa so they decided to look for a new home for daisy and kept the Male
When I went there a few times before purchasing her he could flip her on her back and she would lay down lol
I myself haven't tried that yet obv but everyday shes coming along just nicely
When I first brought her home she would scream quite a few times during the day
If u ever heard them screaming it's not a pleasant sound lol
Didnt really much so bother me but bothered my gf lol
She has calmed down alot and instead of the screaming she talks alot or whistles which is awesome
She sleeps like a baby too don't even hear a peep out of her at night what so ever!

Like they say they sense your tense or fear them they know and will bluff u till the cows come home haha

 

[Matt0071]

My gf on the other hand has got it pretty good but it's hard to tell her anything to be patient and let her come to u and don't force it
I can read body language pretty good myself and spend alot of time with daisy so I kinda figured out the signs
Then her friend came over and thought he could have her step up with his hand tucked into his sweater and scared of all beans
I was in the other room and by the time I seen it I heard a scream from him and he got bit pretty hard, enough that she went through the sweater and left a nice mark on his arm
She probably gave warning signs too and the dude never even seen it coming!
In other post I have read too the majority of the time its human error when u get bit not the birds fault