Adopting a 7 Year Old Macaw

[AshandBirds]

Hello Everyone! I am adopting a 7 year old green wing macaw. I'll be bringing him home sometime in the next few days. I'll be getting his cage and dishes too. This will be my second bird, I have a sun conure, but will definitely be the largest bird I've ever owned!

I've met him 2 times now, I'm going to visit him again tomorrow too. He seems to be a very even tempered bird. Very calm, will step up fine for me (after a bit of fidgeting) and lets me scratch his head. And when he didn't like something he would slowly turn his beak towards me, very gentle and no lunging or overly aggressive behavior.

The person I am getting him from is his second owner. They have only had him for about a month and have decided they're just not bird people. They say that he is a very gentle bird, that he will play fetch, knows a few words and that he likes attention and wants to be around people on a play stand instead of in his cage. But also said that he doesn't like to play with toys and is "boring" when it comes to things like swings or playing.

What advice can you all give me as a new large parrot owner? What can I expect bringing him into a new environment? Are there things to know about adopting an adult parrot? Are there any extra items other than the basics (cage, food, dishes, perches, play stand, etc) that you all recommend I get before bringing him home? Favorite treats or general other advice to make him happy in his new home?

Please help me make this transition as awesome as possible!

 

[Scott]

Congratulation for your new Green Wing! They are among the most endearing of the macaw family and my personal favorite! Kudos for taking a measured approach prior to adopting!

Along with the size increase as compared with your Sun comes increased noise and potential for harm to your environment (chewing, etc) and bites that can be dangerous. You'll want to carefully plan for the "honeymoon" period and limit interactions with your Conure to strict supervision. A quarantine period of 30 days is a generally accepted technique to safeguard your Sun.

It seems he prefers people to toys; that may be a reflection of personality or the absence of suitably challenging items. Wood chew-toys are a favorite of many! If you are away for periods of time, you'll want to ensure he is sufficiently autonomous or challenged to prevent unwanted plucking or destructive behaviors.

The following links may be of help! I would highly recommend skimming the many threads in the macaw sub-forum!

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html

Good luck, and please keep us updated with questions and observations!

 

[AshandBirds]

Thank you so much for your response! Both of those threads were wonderful! I fully intend to read as much as I can get my hands on before I get to bring my new guy home.

Is there anything I can do in the 30 day period that will make the introduction between my new green wing and my sun smoother? Do birds like my two generally befriend each other over time or do people with mutliple birds generally prefer to spend time with them seperately? I've never had more than one at a time.

Also, I have read a few of the threads on here about changing names. It seems like it's a case by case sort of thing? Is 7 too old for a macaw to have a new name? Because I just don't think his current name of Spike fits him at all!

 

[LeaKP]

Oh congrats on the new greenwing! I'm truly jealous, they are, in my limited experience, of the most genial of the macaws. Can you find a name that suits him better that kind of sounds like Spike?

Looking forward to news. Patience. Consistency. Routine. And lots of treats!

 

[MacawDad]

Congratulations! I myself a new dad to a 5-6yr old B&G macaw ^.^

 

[wrench13]

You might have much bigger issues then a name change in front of you. I would not get hung up on that. You need to develop bonds with this Mac to replace any he had with his former owners. You're gonna learn to not sweat the small stuff and mind the big stuff real soon. The good thing is he is 7 trs old, so what you see is what you get. On younger birds, once they hit puberty, they can do a 180 on who and what they like. As every one has said , read every post by Birdiman666 who is the resident Macaw expert..read them 3X , once to yourself, once to your Macaw, aloud, and then one more time again to yourself. Same goes for any family member who intends on handling your Macaw. These can be the difference between a little bruise or nudge, to a bite needing stiches. Macaws generally telegraph their intent, not as much as Amazons, but they do. You and your family must learn to be aware of what they are telling you . You must make hi a part of your flock.

 

[AshandBirds]

Turns out I'll be picking him up tomorrow, sooner than I thought but he ate a curtain and the people who have him now want him out sooner than later. ��

Looks like I've got a lot of birdman666 to read tonight!

 

[AshandBirds]

Well, I am officially a 2 bird household now! I got him home and everything all set up for him and figured I would give him a day or two to get used to his new surroundings before I start doing the bonding routine linked in this thread! It's so nice to have a plan ahead of me!

Thankfully my new guy doesn't seem too overwhelmed by the transition at the moment. I can hear him chatting from the other room "Hi!" "Thank you!" "Hello!" "I love you!" And I'm pretty sure I'm going to be one ball down by morning the way he's been playing with it!

I can't wait to start getting to know him better! Thank you all in advance for the millions of questions I'm bound to have!

 

[Teddscau]

I don't know how you can resist smothering your new kid! I've never had a bird who's larger than a kākāriki, so I'd have a hard time not spending every second with him . I'm hoping to foster a large parrot this summer, and I'm hoping for an African grey, macaw, or eclectus.

 

[Scott]

Congratulations! I suspect you have an awesome bird! Planning for his arrival should pay great dividends. Let us know how the honeymoon goes!

 

[itzjbean]

How very exciting for you!! We would love pictures of the new fid!! I used to watch these videos on youtube, a guy rehabilitated a Greenwing macaw named Santini, it was just terrific the training he did with her. She went from lunging and biting to being trained to go into a carrier and different tricks.