Pictures Should I get a brother for my Blue and Gold??

[Jenphilly]

Keep in mind that a playstand is not always enough to keep a bird busy... My macaw absolutely will not play or stay on a stand, he is a floor bird, he has safe play areas, but it gives him the freedom to truly play, seek out activities and such and lots of exercise versus just a playstand.

Not say its an answer for you, but consider you might have a floor bird that needs more to do then just the playstand.

And the advice of never get a bird for your bird is one of the most accurate statements I read going thru this thread! Teaching your macaw to be independent and enjoy playing on their own can take some time. While my 'baby' was 25 when he picked me as his new mom, when he first came home he was a Velcro, constantly stuck to me. Now he'll play for hours on end, come out, climb up on his stand, get something to eat (poop, he only poops from his stand onto the towel below), see what I'm up to, find a new toy or such I might have left out for him and he will play with that or go back into his play tunnels and cause shred everything in sight But, he keeps himself busy and occupied for literally hours at a time now. Even to the point that I check on him more then he checks on me

Best of luck!!! And remember, you're the mom, just like with a human child, you need to teach him how to play and enjoy being his own 'person'

 

[Jenphilly]

Thank you all for these awesome ideas and advice and for telling me how beautiful he is . I absolutely ADORE him but I don't need to tell all of you how this love is so amazing

I do have toys all over his tree and all over his cage. I even have a thing that goes on my recliner that I can hook toys too so he can be near me but still occupied at the same time, it doesn't work LOL! He just crawls down onto me and gets right in my face as if to say "Excuse me! Talk to me! Play with me! Focus on me ONLY!" When I'm sitting in the chair with him, he doesn't allow me to do anything other than touch and talk to him. If I start talking to someone else, he gets in my face and nips at my lip (not hard but hard enough to make me stop talking...guess he knows what he's doing LOL). It's hard to find foraging toys that he doesn't destroy in 5 minutes so I really like those PVC ideas that I saw and I'm definitely going to try to make some of my own.

I DO want another Macaw. I wouldn't just be getting another one to keep him distracted but my husband is about at his wits end with him as it is and feels a lot like most of you in that it would just be double the attention seeking, double the mess, double the screaming, etc. So I just don't know

Another question that I have is, exactly how much time should I be spending with him, one on one, every day. I cannot find a clear answer anywhere and I think that part of the problem is just me worried that I'm not spending enough time with him. Everyone scares you before you get a large parrot saying things like "they need 8 hours of attention per day" which, to me is absolutely ridiculous and is the reason why I feel like another Macaw (flock mate) would help because I physically cannot spend 8 hours a day with him. I usually spend about 30 minutes with him after he eats his breakfast and while I'm having my coffee in the morning. Then I put him on his tree and start work (I work from home). Then I'll spend another 30-45 minutes with him after dinner before I put him to bed for the night. Am I spending enough time with him????

I've started carrying pine nuts in my pockets for when I leave the room and when he says something like "hello" or " peekaboo" or "i love you" I say (from the other room) "That's a good baby". He seems to really like it when I tell him he's a good baby . I repeat this over and over until I can get back into the room again and if he was able to keep from screaming, I give him a treat and tell him he's a good baby and give him kisses. If he does scream while I'm out of the room, I say nothing at all. I don't speak until he makes a quiet jabber or says a word. I've tried to pick up and leave the room as soon as he screams to teach him that screaming makes me go away but it's so hard to do when I'm working because it happens so frequently.

Sorry for the long post again, I just am so desperate to fix this because I love him so much and my family is starting to hate him and that breaks my heart so I really appreciate all of your posts and suggestions and advice

You were typing while I was typing When we work with adopters, its more socialization and interaction time, versus 'time with your bird'.... if someone asked me how much time do I spend with Max... well depends on the day, some days its hours, other days its no more then few minutes here and few minutes there depending on what he is up to on his own. But, how many hours a day is Max out for socialization, it can be 10 to 12 hours if I'm up and functioning early. But that does not mean he's with me that entire time. Its like having a kid in the house, they are playing and getting in trouble, come looking for mom when they are hungry or finished their favorite treats; or for lunch when I go to get food and he follows me out to the kitchen to see what I'm gonna make for him. Or interaction might be I'm on the computer on the sofe and he's playing in his tunnels and I'll randomly here - hey momma, and he's not looking for me to come play with him, I just need to answer and let him know I'm here and reply. Some days he climbs up on the sofa and gives me a hard time about being on the laptop or gets into whatever paperwork I'm dealing with.

And how much time depends on the bird... there are macaws who would not be happy living the type of lifestyle that Max does, so them being out an hour in the morning, and then a couple hours at night. If they area happy, that is what is most important. There is no absolutely no written in stone answer for how many hours...

boy that answer probably didn't help at all!!!

 

[Chopper]

Keep in mind that a playstand is not always enough to keep a bird busy... My macaw absolutely will not play or stay on a stand, he is a floor bird, he has safe play areas, but it gives him the freedom to truly play, seek out activities and such and lots of exercise versus just a playstand.

Not say its an answer for you, but consider you might have a floor bird that needs more to do then just the playstand.

And the advice of never get a bird for your bird is one of the most accurate statements I read going thru this thread! Teaching your macaw to be independent and enjoy playing on their own can take some time. While my 'baby' was 25 when he picked me as his new mom, when he first came home he was a Velcro, constantly stuck to me. Now he'll play for hours on end, come out, climb up on his stand, get something to eat (poop, he only poops from his stand onto the towel below), see what I'm up to, find a new toy or such I might have left out for him and he will play with that or go back into his play tunnels and cause shred everything in sight But, he keeps himself busy and occupied for literally hours at a time now. Even to the point that I check on him more then he checks on me

Best of luck!!! And remember, you're the mom, just like with a human child, you need to teach him how to play and enjoy being his own 'person'

What is a play tunnel?

 

[Jenphilly]

What is a play tunnel?

tunnel like what kids crawl thru or you use for agility training with dogs. I have them between the sofa and the wall so he has his own play space without any worry of him getting to the expensive molding in my living room We have a large sectional so there is that big corner space at the corner , he has lots of toys and I have the walls lined with cardboard so he can shred an play without actually damaging anything. Parrot playpen with lots of toys and such every so often it gets shop vac'd out while he yells at me for messing up his play stuff Its really funny.

 

[Chopper]

Cool. Thanks for the info. My cats would really love to play in that.

 

[babyblue35]

tunnel like what kids crawl thru or you use for agility training with dogs. I have them between the sofa and the wall so he has his own play space without any worry of him getting to the expensive molding in my living room We have a large sectional so there is that big corner space at the corner , he has lots of toys and I have the walls lined with cardboard so he can shred an play without actually damaging anything. Parrot playpen with lots of toys and such every so often it gets shop vac'd out while he yells at me for messing up his play stuff Its really funny.

Could you maybe show us a photo of how you have that set up? I really like this idea

 

[babyblue35]

You were typing while I was typing When we work with adopters, its more socialization and interaction time, versus 'time with your bird'.... if someone asked me how much time do I spend with Max... well depends on the day, some days its hours, other days its no more then few minutes here and few minutes there depending on what he is up to on his own. But, how many hours a day is Max out for socialization, it can be 10 to 12 hours if I'm up and functioning early. But that does not mean he's with me that entire time. Its like having a kid in the house, they are playing and getting in trouble, come looking for mom when they are hungry or finished their favorite treats; or for lunch when I go to get food and he follows me out to the kitchen to see what I'm gonna make for him. Or interaction might be I'm on the computer on the sofe and he's playing in his tunnels and I'll randomly here - hey momma, and he's not looking for me to come play with him, I just need to answer and let him know I'm here and reply. Some days he climbs up on the sofa and gives me a hard time about being on the laptop or gets into whatever paperwork I'm dealing with.

And how much time depends on the bird... there are macaws who would not be happy living the type of lifestyle that Max does, so them being out an hour in the morning, and then a couple hours at night. If they area happy, that is what is most important. There is no absolutely no written in stone answer for how many hours...

boy that answer probably didn't help at all!!!

LOL! No...it did help a lot Actually, it's exactly what I was looking for as an answer because I certainly don't want to give him any less attention than he actually needs but I also don't want to give him too much attention because he is already so in love with me LOL! So thank you for your reply

 

[Jenphilly]

Here are pics of Max and his play areas. He has several spots set up where he can find toys. And is like a kid, spends the day out and playing, so is not required to be stationed, he can 'wander' a bit if he wants. This lifestyle may not fit many homes or birds. We could never have a dog with Max because he literally covers the area that a dog would likely be and I wouldn't want to keep the dog confined or Max either. But hopefully the pics show some of his area, and also pics of the mess he makes. I literally vacuum typically twice a day.


Actually having trouble finding a lot of pics I know I have... got a new laptop at Xmas and a new phone just the other week... they are backed up somewhere!! But here are a few photos that shows Max with his tunnels as well as his play area on the landing of the stairs with one of his toy buckets. And the pic of him on the chair is his 'stand'. We have drilled holes and attached an extra wood perch to it (which actually is no longer there, he never used it), but the bowl holders are attached like what you would use in a cage, so the stainless steel bowls pop in and out just like in a cage.

He is not comfortable on playstands (we have 2 gorgeous huge java trees and 3 smaller tabletop types just on the main level of our home), and he gets panicky and nervous when he is placed on a stand. I even put a long wooden toy that he can climb up and down from the floor, but he just climbs off the stand as quickly as he can. He is a bird that definitely needs to have some freedom of movement.

 

[Macaw Lover]

Great nest box set up, cozy, out of the way, protected. Keep that in mind for all female owners though.

 

[Chopper]

That is so cool.

 

[Jenphilly]

It's not a nest box.... HE plays... literally, toys and such. Not protective and year round. No behavior changes when it's hormonal time of the year. He got nesty under my bed one year, but his tunnels are no more a nest box then a Java playstand for any other macaw that likes to be on a 'tree'. He arrived to me as a floor bird, I won't force him to change where he likes to play, its part of who he is. I have climbed behind the sofa more than once and can pull toys out of the tunnels to vacuum up his mess. Not even a tiny bit of nest habit, just how my silly boy likes to play and hang out. He has almost 8 feet back to corner and then another 3-4 feet of play area.

 

[Jenphilly]

I can't believe I can't find a pic of my upper living room. But this is the sectional we have. His tunnels run down the left behind sectional and opens to the open space in that triangle spot at corner and the several feet along back. It's blocked maybe halfway behind the back because the heating / ac vent as well as a wall outlet I use for my laptop is beyond that point. So for safety he has the rest I've actually climbed back behind the sofa to clean and back up when he's taken shred toys or egg crates back there. He only gives me heck for taking his toys or reactive arranging. He is more dog or ferret then bird with his play areas and hiding stuff!