Advice Needed - Parrot Ownership

[JohnK]

I need your advice.

The Good:
I’ve always been a bird lover and enthusiast. My first pet was a budgie at age 9
In my adult life I have always had a large aviary flight outside and have gone from owning many exotic finches to currently having an Indian Ringneck and two Alexandrians with one rescued Budgie in a large exterior flight in California.
My aviary is 32’x12’ and can be separated into two compartments.
I have always covered it in the winter with plastic to keep it from freezing inside.
I am currently converting the shed next to it into a winter home so that the birds can fly in to get warm.
I am able to spend an hour in the morning and a half hour at night with the birds in the summer….during the winter there is less light and I can only spend time in the morning.
I feed fruits and vegetables daily along with quality seed.
I have two teenage children and one tween. They all like birds and spend some time every month with the birds and me…they are very busy with homework and sports.
I have recently fallen in love with a B&G Macaw that is a young bird.

The Bad: My wife is not a bird lover. One of the reasons I’ve always had an aviary outside is that she can’t stand the noise and the mess.
Additionally I have to go away on business a few times a year for two or three weeks at a time. Usually she or a pet sitter will feed and water the birds. My birds have remained tame over the years for me.

My question is: Can I be a Macaw owner? Would I be spending enough time with her to keep her entertained and bonded to me? Would she ever talk if housed with other birds all day? Should I rescue an older bird instead?

What kills me is that I know I’m a great choice for a life-long Macaw but I know it would be better for her to spend more time inside the house with the family and me. It’s just not possible…should I give up on my dream?

PLEASE BE BRUTALLY HONEST. Thanks

 

[weco]

The answer to your question is both yes and no.....to qualify that, for over 8 years I was out of the country 70% of the time...I had a neighbor as a walk-in birdsitter, who would check on, feed, cage clean and interact with my flock, but she came from & went back to her house every day.....

I mad a couple of DVDs and a couple of CDs, that along with the TV & radio, provided stimulation & kept me from being forgotten.....when I would come home, it usually worked out that I would return after dark & I could sneak in the house without raising an alarm, then I would ask "are there any birdies here" or something similar and the house would erupt.....I'd open the cage doors and we'd sit around for an hour or two with birds all over me.....no fighting or arguing...normal happenings.....

As to whether you are a candidate for a macaw or not, you do realize that a macaw can increase your area noise factor considerably.....will this cause a problem with your wife?

On one trip, I routed myself through Houston, to pick up a nanday & sun pair that a friend could no longer keep because of health problems...the doctor had told her to get rid of all her birds...I'd had a former employee drive one of my vans to Houston on his Christmas visit home to Mexico & when I got back, we spent 16 hours on the road together, then I had 2.5 weeks to get them acclimated to their new home & flock...since I knew the birds, I dispensed with quarantining & simply introduced them around.....They're still here and have fared very well.....

So, I think that as long as you don't offer too much attention then take it away when you leave on your trips, you & your new friend should be OK, but I think I might opt for a birdsitter for those times...at least until you know whether or not your wife would be comfortable going in the aviary with a macaw.....

Good luck.....

 

[MonicaMc]

Weco said it pretty well.

A macaw can be a pet if it lives outside. It's not what most owners would agree with, as many people believe that pets should be in the home where the family is and should only go outside for short periods of time or with people.

As you have already noticed, you can have out-door pets that remain tame. The only concern is a place for your B&G to live separately from your other birds to reduce chances of injuries between species. From the sounds of it, this isn't a big issue for you.


What it ultimately comes down to is if your wife is ok with the addition of a larger parrot and whether or not you and your family can properly care for the bird.

 

[Kalidasa]

On the other hand, it would have much more space, company (bird), fresh air and sun, which is better than most. Even if you're not home, he'll be outside in a 32 ft enclosure. That's room to fly and be a bird when you're not home, which is way more than sitting in some small cage indoors waiting on someone to get home. You'd be giving the bird a better life than many can provide in a nice climate.

 

[JohnK]

Thanks for the quick responses! The aviary is about 100ft from the house but my Indian Ringneck is a screamer and we can hear it in the morning (one of the reasons my wife said no more birds in the house). Macaws are louder I know but I don't have any close neighbors so as long as we can deal with it it will be okay.

Weco, where the DVDs and CDs of you talking to the birds? or just things you thought would entertain them?

MonicaMC, I plan on keeping the Macaw's wings clipped but the Alexandrians and Ringneck have full flight feathers, I know this is no guarantee but would the Macaw surely attack if close enough?

 

[JohnK]

On the other hand, it would have much more space, company (bird), fresh air and sun, which is better than most. Even if you're not home, he'll be outside in a 32 ft enclosure. That's room to fly and be a bird when you're not home, which is way more than sitting in some small cage indoors waiting on someone to get home. You'd be giving the bird a better life than many can provide in a nice climate.

Kalidasa, Thanks, My birds seem extremely happy....I'm just afraid that the Macaw won't consider me as part of the flock...I've always wanted a friendly talking Macaw. Do you think a young bird would ever learn to talk when 90% of it's activity is with other birds?
Thanks again

 

[MonicaMc]

Clipped wings wont prevent attacks. It's possible a macaw could get along with a smaller bird (I've seen a greenwing preening baby cockatiels and a hyacinth that has a quaker as a buddy) but I wouldn't recommend housing such vastly different sized species together. Just because it works for one person doesn't mean that it will work for another. Flighted or not.

 

[JohnK]

Here's an update.
After considering the responses and the time the new parrot would have to spend away from the family, I decided to find an older parrot. I figured the older parrot would adapt easier.
I found a 16 year old male Catalina Macaw +:red: that the owner wanted to trade for just about anything. I traded him one of my kids old go-karts LOL.
I met him the first evening and although he seemed well adapted to the people he was with...he didn't like me as a stranger. This bird had been living in the yard (on the roof!) of a low income neighborhood house for the last two years with the second owner. He let himself in and out of his cage in the garage and ate who knows what. His plumage is a bit rough.
I made the trade and brought him home during the morning hours the next day so that he would have the day to assimilate.
I scrubbed the filthy cage and set it up in my newly insulated shed with an oil radiator electric heater I have used for birds before.
So now I am his third (and final?) owner. He seems very happy with his aviary corner and is now venturing out to explore slowly. He is eating right and loves the fruits and veggies I give him. He readily gets in his cage from my arm every night and happily gets out onto my arm in the morning to go to the aviary. I have been spending an hour during breakfast bringing him to the house to have breakfast with me and then training. Sometimes he will come in the house for dinner.
Some of the observations with him:
He blushes a lot...I have found that he loves girls and blushes and eye pins. The first day my daughter got him on her arm and he parroted in whisper every syllable she said! then laughed out loud when we all laughed.
However, since then he sees a girl and wants to get down from the perch and charge them. He did this to my daughter the next night.
Whenever someone new is around like my other four family members he blushes and turns pyschotic! The first day when he was swooning over my daughter, I tried to get him off a perch onto my arm and he put two separate holes in my arm. Since the first day, I have realized that the blushing 90% of the time with him means anger. I have to use a stick to get him off his high roost or pick him up in his anger....he happily steps up on it and the blushing ends instantly.
There has been a few times he has lashed out and bit me when I've offered food. He takes it 75% of the time but he lashes at me the other 25%. I've learned to make him reach for it so he cant coil up and lash.
I'm reading the signs better and not continuing to offer if he seems uninterested right away.
I figure he is a bit like a grown Rooster. I had a Rooster once that would attack my leg about once a month out of the blue when I went to feed my chickens.
Now that I can read his signs, I am having better success. As long as he is alone with me my training going well.
I was able to touch his feet yesterday and today was the first time I've touched his head.
He's getting better and I think he will be a great bird once used to the whole family. It will take time as it is with me.
I've been ending training on a good note and walking away and coming back if I see any disinterest or blushing. He seemed to enjoy our morning training today so I'm excited about tomorrow.
Wish me luck:41:

 

[weco]

Weco, where the DVDs and CDs of you talking to the birds? or just things you thought would entertain them?

No, the two DVDs were made from a few times that we were doing fun things all together in the several days I got back with the two birds from Houston.....the first time one of the DVDs was used, after I had been gone for a couple of weeks, apparently Fenix, the Houston nanday, tried his best to find me...he climbed down from the cage he was sitting on, walked over to & carefully looked at the video screen and all around the speakers, where I was talking to them from, but in answer to your question, everything was recorded from our various interactions before I left.....I don't know if it would benefit your guys to get an old TV & rig it with a programmable VCR/DVR to give them some different stimulation.....

Good luck.....

 

[Echo]

You seem to be doing everything right with him! Learning his body language will save you from his bites most of the time. Training is also very efficient in the evening when they tend to be more mellow and docile, keeping in mind that parrots rarely fight if they can't see well because the flight option is gone.