guacamayo(de)aur
New member
- Apr 4, 2025
- 1
- 0
- Parrots
- Blue-and-Gold Macaw, Parrotlet
Hello everyone,
My mom has a passion for birds that she passed down to me. I have had birds my whole life, first budgie when I was five years old, and I have always wanted a macaw. I know they are a lot of work, need interaction and attention, decent space, and are gifted with longevity among birds. After three years of considering and saving for adoption or purchase fees, I recently adopted a surrendered 17-year old male Blue-and-gold macaw. I am not sure about the circumstances of his surrendering, but he is kind of a 'runt' and the avian store owners to which he was surrendered said that he cannot fly; I asked why and they said that he lacks the muscle mass for flight. They trimmed his nails for me and he did not like being held and he bit the owners repeatedly as well but he did not break skin.
At home, he is still adjusting. He steps up and expects a treat (I am guessing he was trained that way and I am trying to retain the positive reinforcement aspects of treat giving). As long as he gets a treat after, he usually will step up. However, without a treat already in hand and visible, he will bite. I've been bitten twice and neither time was serious, just hard pinches. Still, I am nervous about if he bites harder. He does seem to be pretty good about giving warning bites if you missed his body language cues. When he doesn't want to step up, he puts his head down as if to say don't even think about it. If I don't notice and just instinctively put my arm up, he'll nip it. It left an indentation that lasted a few minutes but nothing more serious.
Do other macaw/large parrot owners have advice on how to continue positive reinforcement? Any advice on how to be better with the use of rewards? Do you have any advice for what to do if you are bit harder than just a nip? Thank you all in advance!
My mom has a passion for birds that she passed down to me. I have had birds my whole life, first budgie when I was five years old, and I have always wanted a macaw. I know they are a lot of work, need interaction and attention, decent space, and are gifted with longevity among birds. After three years of considering and saving for adoption or purchase fees, I recently adopted a surrendered 17-year old male Blue-and-gold macaw. I am not sure about the circumstances of his surrendering, but he is kind of a 'runt' and the avian store owners to which he was surrendered said that he cannot fly; I asked why and they said that he lacks the muscle mass for flight. They trimmed his nails for me and he did not like being held and he bit the owners repeatedly as well but he did not break skin.
At home, he is still adjusting. He steps up and expects a treat (I am guessing he was trained that way and I am trying to retain the positive reinforcement aspects of treat giving). As long as he gets a treat after, he usually will step up. However, without a treat already in hand and visible, he will bite. I've been bitten twice and neither time was serious, just hard pinches. Still, I am nervous about if he bites harder. He does seem to be pretty good about giving warning bites if you missed his body language cues. When he doesn't want to step up, he puts his head down as if to say don't even think about it. If I don't notice and just instinctively put my arm up, he'll nip it. It left an indentation that lasted a few minutes but nothing more serious.
Do other macaw/large parrot owners have advice on how to continue positive reinforcement? Any advice on how to be better with the use of rewards? Do you have any advice for what to do if you are bit harder than just a nip? Thank you all in advance!
