cagemates

[mauijim]

Hello, we just adopted two macaws, a hyacinth, and a green-wing. the previous owner had them both in the same cage. its pretty big, but they seem to bite at each other alot. Should I seperate them? They talk ALOT! Goodbye! Hello! It's pretty annoying well bye!

 

[triordan]

i guess it depends how much time they spend in their cage, but i would probably get another one~i saw your intoduction post and it is a large cage, perfect for one large macaw ...tell us a little more about them? how old are they? how did you aquire them? I would keep the hyacinth in the SS cage, they have very strong beaks

 

[Bobby34231]

I would also strongly suggest seperating them, the bite potential of both of these lage macaws is tremendous, as suggested a stainless steele cage at least for the Hy would be a wise investment, they can go through the standard powder coated wire cages in just seconds......just a small bird's eye view of the destructive power of the hyacinth macaw in this video.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ozZFsGAEJs&p=B9A5F084FD83CDE1&playnext=1&index=29]YouTube - Hyacinth Macaw destroys cage[/ame]

 

[mauijim]

haha my daughter made the last part of that first post. (i got her started) apparently she finds their chatter "annoying"?? seemed like she was enjoying it to me! (shrugs)
ok, these birds are both males, both 15 yrs old. theyve apparently been in this cage together for years. the previous owner, a quadraplegic, used to let them out of the cage and handle them frequently, but not so much in the past 3 or 4 years, and now they dont handle to well. they both bite moderately hard. hyac really seemed to warm to me even at prev owner's office, where they resided. tonight, i handled hyac for an hour and a half or so- letting him sit on my arm, knee, petting/stroking, etc. i think he's gonna be fine if i can get him to stop biting. theyve been sittling peacefully on top of their cage all evening (6-8 hours).
green wing warmed amazingly to my 19 year old when she came by. odd how they take to some humans so quickly.
great pair of birds. i'm wondering if the change of scenery isnt what made them become more aggressive toward each other this afternoon.

 

[wildheart]

I almost fell of my chair when I read that you find their chattering annoying! Thank goodness you set that record straight.

The problem can be jealousy.

i handled hyac for an hour and a half or so- letting him sit on my arm, knee, petting/stroking, etc. i think he's gonna be fine if i can get him to stop biting.

What you do with the one you need to do with the other. I can just imagine how hurt and jealous the macaw felt when you did the above to the hyac.

I have also seen to many people new to parrots who warm up to one parrot and not the other and then end up giving the 'problem' away. The one that you do not give the same attention will start showing 'behavioral problems'. Well that is the way people see it - I see it different - the owner is the problem and the bird just express his feelings.

Having two macaws will not be easy - your husband or another family member will have to step in as well so that you can give BOTH birds EXACTLY the same.

I will go for 2 cages and allowing them LOTS of out of cage time together. I will also make the change right now because they havent settled in yet, it is always better to change everything at once and not a little by little. After they have settled in you can start working on the biting issue.