applessauc
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 11/12/23
- Messages
- 1
Hi!
There is a bird store in my area and the owners also sorta run a bird sanctuary and so people will surrender their birds to them and they adopt those birds out.
I've been looking into getting an older bird and saw they have a greenwing there about 50+ years old and went to go take a look earlier today.
This sanctuary/store is a bit old and there are a lot of birds there and the majority of them are no tame other than a few hand fed/raised birds. Most of them have pretty large cages and spaces but they don't usually get time outside of their cage. The cages do seem pretty old too and are pretty rusty.
The greenwing I was interested in was fearful which is completely understandable considering his age and how rarely he gets handled. But to me it felt like the owners of the store were a bit harsh but I can't tell if I'm overreacting or being too "soft". When I asked if there was any way to get to know this bird more they told me I could step into his cage and try seeing if he would let me touch his tail or his head.
I don't have as much experience with macaws but I used to have a cockatoo and a quaker and at the moment I have a cockatiel who used to be very fearful and sometimes she's still a little jumpy and cautious, but she has gained a lot of confidence and has gotten comfortable around me. I'm mentioning this because she is the only bird I've had that has had any fear related aggression issues so my experience regarding this is minimal but with her I try to be patient and take my time building a positive association with everything and don't really force her with anything.
Back to the greenwing, after a few minutes of standing in the cage with the macaw, the owner said that we can try taking him out to a more neutral area on a perch or something and see if his behavior changes. He then towels the bird kinda aggressively and brings him into a different room and the macaw seems scared of the towel and moves away when he sees it. The owner then tells me I should just try to pet his head and proceeds to demonstrate by really quickly putting his hand to the bird's head and petting him even after the bird showed signs of not wanting to be pet and was very stiff tried to snap a little at their arm at first.
Any time I tried to move my hand closer to him, he would fluff up his feathers on his head and kinda snap in my direction, basically telling me to keep my distance. From my experience with my cockatiel, my reaction was to back off a little and try a different approach and asking one of the workers there if they had any treats I could offer him. He did take one treat from me but wasn't comfortable enough to eat until a few minutes later.
The owner then kept trying to convince me to just pet him and not be afraid of being bitten. My worry wasn't being injured though, it was that if this bird felt the need to bite or snap at me it meant that I ignored warning signs and pushed boundaries which would cause an even bigger setback in any potential relationship.
Then the owner tried to get the bird to step up by pushing his arm into his chest and the bird clearly did not want to step up and put up a bit of a fight and eventually the owner stopped trying.
The owner said that if I wanted, I could come by every week or so to try and bond with this bird first but my concern is that if I come every time and he is this pushy with this bird every time just to get the bird out of his cage, there probably won't be much bonding happening.
Am I overthinking things like am I being too soft with this or is the owner being too harsh with this bird?
There is a bird store in my area and the owners also sorta run a bird sanctuary and so people will surrender their birds to them and they adopt those birds out.
I've been looking into getting an older bird and saw they have a greenwing there about 50+ years old and went to go take a look earlier today.
This sanctuary/store is a bit old and there are a lot of birds there and the majority of them are no tame other than a few hand fed/raised birds. Most of them have pretty large cages and spaces but they don't usually get time outside of their cage. The cages do seem pretty old too and are pretty rusty.
The greenwing I was interested in was fearful which is completely understandable considering his age and how rarely he gets handled. But to me it felt like the owners of the store were a bit harsh but I can't tell if I'm overreacting or being too "soft". When I asked if there was any way to get to know this bird more they told me I could step into his cage and try seeing if he would let me touch his tail or his head.
I don't have as much experience with macaws but I used to have a cockatoo and a quaker and at the moment I have a cockatiel who used to be very fearful and sometimes she's still a little jumpy and cautious, but she has gained a lot of confidence and has gotten comfortable around me. I'm mentioning this because she is the only bird I've had that has had any fear related aggression issues so my experience regarding this is minimal but with her I try to be patient and take my time building a positive association with everything and don't really force her with anything.
Back to the greenwing, after a few minutes of standing in the cage with the macaw, the owner said that we can try taking him out to a more neutral area on a perch or something and see if his behavior changes. He then towels the bird kinda aggressively and brings him into a different room and the macaw seems scared of the towel and moves away when he sees it. The owner then tells me I should just try to pet his head and proceeds to demonstrate by really quickly putting his hand to the bird's head and petting him even after the bird showed signs of not wanting to be pet and was very stiff tried to snap a little at their arm at first.
Any time I tried to move my hand closer to him, he would fluff up his feathers on his head and kinda snap in my direction, basically telling me to keep my distance. From my experience with my cockatiel, my reaction was to back off a little and try a different approach and asking one of the workers there if they had any treats I could offer him. He did take one treat from me but wasn't comfortable enough to eat until a few minutes later.
The owner then kept trying to convince me to just pet him and not be afraid of being bitten. My worry wasn't being injured though, it was that if this bird felt the need to bite or snap at me it meant that I ignored warning signs and pushed boundaries which would cause an even bigger setback in any potential relationship.
Then the owner tried to get the bird to step up by pushing his arm into his chest and the bird clearly did not want to step up and put up a bit of a fight and eventually the owner stopped trying.
The owner said that if I wanted, I could come by every week or so to try and bond with this bird first but my concern is that if I come every time and he is this pushy with this bird every time just to get the bird out of his cage, there probably won't be much bonding happening.
Am I overthinking things like am I being too soft with this or is the owner being too harsh with this bird?
