Bringing Home Goldie

[kq_fan]

Oh my, I didn't see your second post! Are you shore she going or is it a maybe because she will get use to you cleaning out her cage, maybe do that when he isn't home? She is just getting use to the idea of being with you.

 

[Buzz2537]

There is nothing like the scream of the Macaw and Cockatoo. I really wish you would give her more time. She has come a long way in the little time you have had her. The screaming can be broken. The best thing to do is to,ignore it, and ai know that is hard but any reaction is still attention. IF YOU ARE not going to keep her I would urge you to contact a local bird rescue or local bird club for help placing her in an experienced hime. The pet store is no place for her. It breaks my heart

 

[luvmyfam]

I've gained a little more time. He gave her seven days to prove she is not a full time screamer. I agree with everyone that she needs more time. I really want her to be a part of our family, and I think she really has come a long way since I first started seeing her at the store. I just spoke with my mother - she lives with us - and she said she hasn't heard her scream today - knock on wood. She's let out a few Eric's - not sure who that is - and a Ma, but that's about it.

I'm just going to pray that we can work through the screaming before he gives up completely. I am such a softy when it comes to animals and she really tugs at my heart. I just feel like she has had a horrible life, and she deserves a family.

So for tonight, can you all give me some ideas for food. She hasn't been the best eater since she came home because I refuse to feed her junk food. They basically told me she prefers fried chicken and pizza. I broke down and gave her three cheetos - please don't hate me - today just to get her to dig around in her food bowl. I tried cooked broccoli and califlower last night with some mixed nuts and fruits, but she only picked out the peanuts and almonds. What are some of their favorites?

 

[luvmyfam]

I wanted to share a couple photos with you all. She is such a pretty bird. I really hope things will work out for us.

 

[TheKomoman]

I've gained a little more time. He gave her seven days to prove she is not a full time screamer. I agree with everyone that she needs more time. I really want her to be a part of our family, and I think she really has come a long way since I first started seeing her at the store. I just spoke with my mother - she lives with us - and she said she hasn't heard her scream today - knock on wood. She's let out a few Eric's - not sure who that is - and a Ma, but that's about it.

I'm just going to pray that we can work through the screaming before he gives up completely. I am such a softy when it comes to animals and she really tugs at my heart. I just feel like she has had a horrible life, and she deserves a family.

So for tonight, can you all give me some ideas for food. She hasn't been the best eater since she came home because I refuse to feed her junk food. They basically told me she prefers fried chicken and pizza. I broke down and gave her three cheetos - please don't hate me - today just to get her to dig around in her food bowl. I tried cooked broccoli and califlower last night with some mixed nuts and fruits, but she only picked out the peanuts and almonds. What are some of their favorites?

It can be very hard to be rational when they're in the midst of one of their tantrums, I'm glad he reconsidered. She WILL still scream sometimes but there are ways to manage that. Typically it's doing exactly as you were advised earlier in the thread - ignore them. Any attention provided when she screams - going to where she is, talking to her, even yelling at her can reinforce the bad behavior. Any attention, even negative attention, is after all attention. So make an effort to treat her when she's NOT screaming, that will help her learn what you consider good vs bad.

It's always hard to change their diet. You're going to have to accept some compromise. I'd be careful with the amount of chicken and Cheetos though! They can eat meat, but their bodies aren't really designed for it and too much protein isn't good. Pizza isn't as bad as you might think, at least the crust with a bit of sauce on it anyway. I'd avoid the cheese and any meat though, of course. You may want to try birdy breads - there are commercially available mixes and I'm sure some searching here would turn up lots of recipes. She likes the pizza crust so she'd probably accept a bread and if you can bake veggies into it then that's a good way to "sneak" it.

The consensus, though I know there are those who disagree, is that a pellet diet is the way to go for the essentials, then you supplement with fresh vegetables and fruit. There are a lot of vitamins and minerals added into pellets. You want to stay away from the brightly colored ones as they're just designed to look good to you - the bird doesn't really care - so all you're doing is feeding them food coloring. I'd leave pellet in the cage and mix other things she'll eat in with it so she has a chance to get used to it. Don't starve her, but limit the stuff she likes so that she'll turn to the pellet. You're going to have to gauge this carefully with her mood as well as she's got a LOT of change right now so you need to manage that.

 

[Buzz2537]

Bird paradise has a great food called ultimate blend. They are in NJ but they do ship. When I got my Hahns I was told that a big part of a Macaws diet is nuts because they require more fat in theor diet. Now, if I was to,d wrong guys correct me, because I have only had my Hahns since Aug. 8. Anyway, their site you can google bird paradise, they have a ton f different foods, anything you can think of. You could probably call the too and askwhat to order. I also found that at least my baby loves Kiwi as one of her favorites and Yogurt drops, and she loves nuts as wellas the ultimate blend. My Cockatoo who I had to rehome due to severe asthma is now also on the ultimate blend her new mom says and she loves it, prior to that I had her in a not so nutritious diet of Abba. Because I never knew about bird oaradise ormtheir foods. I also found she likes tri pasta cooked as well as pine apple and cranberry. If i can think of more i will let you know. Please though try the ultimate blend you may have some success. And also,order their mixed nuts blend and kiwiw etc. they have everything.

 

[luvmyfam]

All went very well all day yesterday. When we got home I went out to spend some time with her for about an hour before I had to go to the store. She did her typical and blew me some kisses when she saw me. Then she went back in her cage and I ran off to the store. I guess while I was gone she let out a series of three to four screams two or three times. My daughter made the mistake of going out to sit with her until I got back. I told her next time to just ignore her even though I know it's loud, but it was still pretty early in the evening so it shouldn't disturb anyone too much.

I'm basically just trying different things in her food bowl for now. I give her a mixture of seed and a tropical nut blend in the morning, and I usually throw something different in there like crackers or apples to try and get her interested in it. At night I give her some cooked veggies, and some more nuts. She did eat some of the cauliflower I gave her last night, but not much. I am going to go online and see what kind of bird bread I can find today. Bread definitely seems to be her favorite. I would really like to try and get her to eat some more natural healthy food, but I am sure that will take some time.

So last night when I was covering her up, she said "Good night Pepper. Good night Goldie". It was just too cute. Then this morning as I was saying bye to her she said "bye bye".

My husband says I get attached too quick, but this girl has won my heart!!!

 

[Captsteve]

As a treat once in a while, Give her a whole fresh Jalapeño pepper! She will love it, you can even cut a small slice in it and put some almonds in it for her.

Just don't let her kiss you or get on you for a while after, it WILL burn!

Oh yeah, what part of the country are you in?

 

[luvmyfam]

I had heard that she can eat Jalapeno's but I just didn't know for sure! Are they not spicy to them? I don't have to worry about the kissing part just yet. I trust her about as much as she trusts me! She still lunges at me whenever she is in her cage, and sometimes even when she is outside of her cage and gets up on top. I'm sure it is just her way of telling me to back off, but I am pretty persistant and peanuts go a loooooong way with her

We are in Central Florida. It's nice now because she can stay outside in her cage during the day on the lanai. I feel like she likes it, but I am still learning how to read her.

 

[Captsteve]

No they are not hot to them. they have no saliva. They love them and are good for them.

I'm up near P'Cola, If it does become too much let me know. I may have room.

Steve

 

[luvmyfam]

Oh! I had no idea that was why they were hot to us! Learn something new everyday

 

[TheKomoman]

Bird paradise has a great food called ultimate blend. They are in NJ but they do ship. When I got my Hahns I was told that a big part of a Macaws diet is nuts because they require more fat in theor diet. Now, if I was to,d wrong guys correct me, because I have only had my Hahns since Aug. 8. Anyway, their site you can google bird paradise, they have a ton f different foods, anything you can think of. You could probably call the too and askwhat to order. I also found that at least my baby loves Kiwi as one of her favorites and Yogurt drops, and she loves nuts as wellas the ultimate blend. My Cockatoo who I had to rehome due to severe asthma is now also on the ultimate blend her new mom says and she loves it, prior to that I had her in a not so nutritious diet of Abba. Because I never knew about bird oaradise ormtheir foods. I also found she likes tri pasta cooked as well as pine apple and cranberry. If i can think of more i will let you know. Please though try the ultimate blend you may have some success. And also,order their mixed nuts blend and kiwiw etc. they have everything.

I left out nuts in my post and did not intend to say they shouldn't be fed. Nuts are absolutely part of any parrots mix and boy do they love them, but they're in the same ballpark as seed when it comes to fat content so as always it's a matter of moderation. Most of the nuts that Rock gets from us are either in his foraging toys or from us during training sessions. When we first got him his bill was a good 1" too long and now is nearly perfect and I credit cracking open walnut shells with a large part of the trimming that was needed. We'll put 5-6 walnuts in the foraging cage and wheel, a few other almonds in the shell and then I have started using pine nuts for training as they're conveniently sized for small rewards.

It sounds like Goldie is adjusting very well. While ignoring her tantrums is long term the right thing to do it is still VERY early days and your daughter helping her settle down by being there isn't all bad. We have been feeding Rock "Bountiful Harvest" from MySafeBirdStore.com. He took to it immediately and even gobbles up the pellet in the mix to the point where we've been able to blend in a higher % of pellet. They use Hagen Tropican Lifetime Parrot Sticks and Pretty Bird Natural Gold Medium in their mix so I bought more of those and have upped the relative quantity. Macaws are big "dunkers" and I moved one of his water bowls on the side by his primary food bowl (we use one for the pellet mix and one for fresh, 2 water) and it seems he eats more of his mix now that I've done that. The mix includes dried fruits & veggies and he dunks those as well as the pellet. If Goldie doesn't have a water dish right by her food dish you might want to try that.

Fingers crossed for continued success!

 

[Buzz2537]

Bird paradise has a great food called ultimate blend. They are in NJ but they do ship. When I got my Hahns I was told that a big part of a Macaws diet is nuts because they require more fat in theor diet. Now, if I was to,d wrong guys correct me, because I have only had my Hahns since Aug. 8. Anyway, their site you can google bird paradise, they have a ton f different foods, anything you can think of. You could probably call the too and askwhat to order. I also found that at least my baby loves Kiwi as one of her favorites and Yogurt drops, and she loves nuts as wellas the ultimate blend. My Cockatoo who I had to rehome due to severe asthma is now also on the ultimate blend her new mom says and she loves it, prior to that I had her in a not so nutritious diet of Abba. Because I never knew about bird oaradise ormtheir foods. I also found she likes tri pasta cooked as well as pine apple and cranberry. If i can think of more i will let you know. Please though try the ultimate blend you may have some success. And also,order their mixed nuts blend and kiwiw etc. they have everything.

I left out nuts in my post and did not intend to say they shouldn't be fed. Nuts are absolutely part of any parrots mix and boy do they love them, but they're in the same ballpark as seed when it comes to fat content so as always it's a matter of moderation. Most of the nuts that Rock gets from us are either in his foraging toys or from us during training sessions. When we first got him his bill was a good 1" too long and now is nearly perfect and I credit cracking open walnut shells with a large part of the trimming that was needed. We'll put 5-6 walnuts in the foraging cage and wheel, a few other almonds in the shell and then I have started using pine nuts for training as they're conveniently sized for small rewards.

It sounds like Goldie is adjusting very well. While ignoring her tantrums is long term the right thing to do it is still VERY early days and your daughter helping her settle down by being there isn't all bad. We have been feeding Rock "Bountiful Harvest" from MySafeBirdStore.com. He took to it immediately and even gobbles up the pellet in the mix to the point where we've been able to blend in a higher % of pellet. They use Hagen Tropican Lifetime Parrot Sticks and Pretty Bird Natural Gold Medium in their mix so I bought more of those and have upped the relative quantity. Macaws are big "dunkers" and I moved one of his water bowls on the side by his primary food bowl (we use one for the pellet mix and one for fresh, 2 water) and it seems he eats more of his mix now that I've done that. The mix includes dried fruits & veggies and he dunks those as well as the pellet. If Goldie doesn't have a water dish right by her food dish you might want to try that.

Fingers crossed for continued success!

KOMOMAN, I am new to the forum and also a new Macaw owner. Just a mini, Hahns Macaw. I don't want to hijack Goldie's thread but maybe it is something that can help us both out, being she is also a new Macaw owner. When I bought my baby, just about three weeks ago I was told that most of a Macaws diet would be nuts, due to them needing a fatty diet. They gave me something called Ultimate blend, which has no seed in it. Looks like a mix of dried fruits,veggies and non colored pellets and pistachios. Along with it, theyngave me Asian Mix which has to be cooked and a small container of mixed nuts, basically every kind of nut their is. I was told that most of their diet would be nuts due to their needing a higher fat content? I am reading your post and you seem to have a different prospective. Can you give me a good menu for my Hahns? Such as what type of food blend tou feed. Right now with Hahnna, she is on three hand feedings a day, probably could be weaned down to two bit I do not believe i. Force weaning. She is eating well, but cannot crack shells open yet. i give her the Ultimate blend that the bird store gave me, along with nuts, and I also bought a ton of mixtures they had such as cranberries, cherries, (all dried) and yogurt drops which look kind of like a vanilla chip you would use in cookies, and dried string beans, kiwwi which she loves. Apples which she is not thrilled with, and a lot of other mixes I bought there. Plus I also cook fresh veggies, corn which she,loves, broccoli which not so much cares for, along with beans (i use 16 bean goya) now the beans i was told are not too good for,them that I need to watch her protein with them, and I also give her fresh carrots, pineapple, grapes and apples. Any advice? I am very new to Macaws. I also have an appointment with an Avian vet, could not get her in until the 7th. She has a slight weazing, bit eats fine and plays. I had her back to where I bought her and they said she was fine, and that it was the change of environment, but I don't know that did not sound right to me. If it gets worse I will brong her to an emergency vet but not many handle avian. I read to use steam so I boiled water and after, took it off the stove and held her over it, high enough away bit close enough to get the steam effect. It seems like one nostril is clogged then she sneazed and a little water bubble came out. i am very bondd with her already and would be crushed if anything happened to her. Thanks for any input and I am sorry if I hijacked your thread Goldie.

 

[TheKomoman]

KOMOMAN, I am new to the forum and also a new Macaw owner. Just a mini, Hahns Macaw. I don't want to hijack Goldie's thread but maybe it is something that can help us both out, being she is also a new Macaw owner. When I bought my baby, just about three weeks ago I was told that most of a Macaws diet would be nuts, due to them needing a fatty diet. They gave me something called Ultimate blend, which has no seed in it. Looks like a mix of dried fruits,veggies and non colored pellets and pistachios. Along with it, theyngave me Asian Mix which has to be cooked and a small container of mixed nuts, basically every kind of nut their is. I was told that most of their diet would be nuts due to their needing a higher fat content? I am reading your post and you seem to have a different prospective. Can you give me a good menu for my Hahns? Such as what type of food blend tou feed. Right now with Hahnna, she is on three hand feedings a day, probably could be weaned down to two bit I do not believe i. Force weaning. She is eating well, but cannot crack shells open yet. i give her the Ultimate blend that the bird store gave me, along with nuts, and I also bought a ton of mixtures they had such as cranberries, cherries, (all dried) and yogurt drops which look kind of like a vanilla chip you would use in cookies, and dried string beans, kiwwi which she loves. Apples which she is not thrilled with, and a lot of other mixes I bought there. Plus I also cook fresh veggies, corn which she,loves, broccoli which not so much cares for, along with beans (i use 16 bean goya) now the beans i was told are not too good for,them that I need to watch her protein with them, and I also give her fresh carrots, pineapple, grapes and apples. Any advice? I am very new to Macaws. I also have an appointment with an Avian vet, could not get her in until the 7th. She has a slight weazing, bit eats fine and plays. I had her back to where I bought her and they said she was fine, and that it was the change of environment, but I don't know that did not sound right to me. If it gets worse I will brong her to an emergency vet but not many handle avian. I read to use steam so I boiled water and after, took it off the stove and held her over it, high enough away bit close enough to get the steam effect. It seems like one nostril is clogged then she sneazed and a little water bubble came out. i am very bondd with her already and would be crushed if anything happened to her. Thanks for any input and I am sorry if I hijacked your thread Goldie.

Your Hahns is still a baby and the food requirements are very different for young, growing birds vs adults and I won't pretend I know what they are except in general! I have read in this forum before that younger birds need more fat, therefore more nuts, and it sounds like you have the right food and were given good advice based on what you relayed here. I would do some research on how her requirements will change as she gets older, but I think you're doing very well by her right now.

Respiratory problems should always be taken seriously with birds. It sounds like she might just have a cold (yes, they can catch them from us!) but keep a close eye on her, if she becomes lethargic, wings drooping and that congestion doesn't improve I'd find an avian emergency or let your vet know that it IS an emergency (they will often fit you in if that is the case). If nothing else maybe call you vet an ask for him or her to call you back so you can describe the symptoms and they can tell you if they feel like it is serious.

I saw one of your vids earlier, Hahna is adorable and I hope she feels better very soon.

 

[Buzz2537]

Thank you. Yeah I calls my vet of 18 years we have for our Yorkies, but he referred us to Dr. Doolan. From North Star. They do have a 24 hour emergency, but only Doolan is the Avian. They said if I have to bring her i. Early just come and one of their vets will look at her and call Doolan on a phone consult. The other Avian vet is on vacation until next week. I am watching closely and will call around tomorrow too. In our area, there are only really one Avian vet, Dr. Doolan who is an hour from me. The other vet sees birds, and says Avian, but loosely if you know what I mean. Doolan is the best but not cheap $130 to walk in the door, which does not bother me. Just blows my mind how hard it is to get in. i am going to call his liaison tomorrow and see if they can squeeze me in somewhere, the other issue is he is only there a few days a week. we really need more that are capable of treating parrots.

 

[luvmyfam]

Hello Everyone

So we still have Elle (it's gone from Goldie, to Blue, to Elle - but I think Elle is going to stick). She seems to be adjusting well. My husband still has his moments with her, but he seems to be happy that I am happy... isn't that the way it works!

I keep trying different things in her food bowl. Mornings are really basic, but last night I cooked some brown rice for her and added some shredded fresh broccoli. She seemed to like it, but didn't eat very much. I also bought some jalapenos but she didn't touch it... she did however eat the almonds I stuffed in them. I am going to cooker her some tri color pasta tonight… we will see how that goes. The store I got her from did not sell any bird bread so I'm going to see if I can find something online.

I really appreciate all the support I've gotten from you all. It's kind of refreshing to have people who actually want to help you succeed.

 

[Buzz2537]

Glad to hear it is going better. I have some bird recipes for birdie breads I can send you if you like. I actually have a book, homecooking for your bird. I have to work soon but can get some for you in the next day or two. If you get a chance check out Bird Paradises web site. It is an amazing store with every kind of food and toy you could think of. They also carry birdie breads and fruit toys as well as hundreds of different kinds of foods and mixes. I go crazy in there. As I said they are in NJ so I feel lucky to have them close by, but they do ship. They actually have monthly auto ships too if you are interested, but Imwould try it out with Elle first to see what she likes. Elaine and Hahnna

 

[luvmyfam]

Hi again! So we have made it past our 7 day mark! Yeah!!! Things seem to be going better. She still screams every now and then, but I told my husband that is typical macaw behavior. We are still working on food so if you have any recipes please feel free to send them my way. We would both really appreciate it I gave her some eggs this morning and she gobbled them right up, but that is the first thing I have seen her actually pick through and eat... other than peanuts.

So I have a couple of questions on how to approach her behavior when she is in/on her cage.

She can be very aggressive when she is in or on - never should have let her climb on top - her cage. And sometimes she will lunge at me if I am putting her food or water back in her cage. Is there anyway to get her out of that?

I also have the hardest time getting her off of the top of her cage when I let her out. I'm sure it's not the wisest thing to do, but right now it's the only outside of cage time I can give her since we are not quite to the point of BFFs yet. It's a chore to get her down, and most of the time she will either lunge at my hand or run away. It's like I have to wait until she is ready to get down. What am I doing wrong?

In the end I am sure both of these things are clever Macaw games that she is playing to tire me out, but I figured I'd get some advice from the pros

 

[TheKomoman]

Glad she's progressing so well! She will always scream some, so you told your husband the simple truth. Macaws are loud critters.

Aggressive behavior in the cage is pretty normal, as I've mentioned before that's safe zone so I wouldn't focus too much on that. As your relationship improves I suspect it will take care of itself. As for on top of the cage that's fairly normal too, but something you can and should take a bit more action with. It all comes back to rewarding positive behaviors and removing positives for negative behaviors. She lunges at you, you walk away and even leave the room. Yes it shows her that lunging gets her what she wants, but it also gets her a lack of your attention, and I suspect she wants your attention. What is typically an easy way to get them in their cage is to put a treat inside. I would back that up with a consistent verbal statement like "time to go in" and eventually she'll know what "time to go in" means and it will have a good association.

Keep at it, patience is the key and you're off to a great start.