First Time Macaw Owner...

[Xystoi]

and I'm a little stressed out, haha. So I'd like to say that he is the biggest sweetheart; a little four month old greenwing who's very mild-mannered, not nippy, not loud, and incredibly affectionate with everyone. I understand that'll change eventually, but he is wonderful! He's been here for about week and I've been noticing some things that I'm not sure if I should be worried about.

First, the feathers at the end of his wings are frayed. So much so that is seems like one side of the feather is almost completely gone. He's also got quite a bit of stress bars, though he's been eating very well and they have only recently begun to develop. He doesn't seem to be preening, either. He occasionally bites at his feet and regularly scratches at his eye patches.

I'm not sure if I'm just overreacting or if there is something to worry about. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[junglenutcracker]

Congratulations! We’d all love to see some pics of your sweetheart GW!
The frayed feathers could be just from macaw rough play...he’s still very young and may not be paying too much attention to his feathers as he goes about. Our Grey’s wing feathers were like that too in the beginning.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Welcome to the forums, Xystoi

I wouldn’t be overly concerned with the feather conditions at this age, especially because most big macs are quite clumsy for a while.

Has he had any baths yet? Frequent baths will help with the feather condition and itchy spots.

Has your ‘baby’ GW had a well visit with an avian vet yet? Oh please, do share a photo (or two) of your new baby. We all LOOOVE pictures.

 

[Allee]

Welcome and Congratulations! We do love photos!

 

[Xystoi]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! Haha, I thought I might've just been overreacting. Can never be too sure though, right?

 

[Birdman666]

1. He's gorgeous!

2. If they get out handled, and you put the normal boundaries in place, they generally STAY that way... what you don't do with a macaw is ignore them! (Mine is now around 17 or 18 years old, and a just flaming red ball of mush...)

The more you work with them, the mushier they get.

3. Baby big macs are CONSTANTLY breaking feathers, especially tail feathers. For the first two years or so, their tail feathers look really ratty... it's entirely normal. His feather condition looks fine to me...

 

[thekarens]

Sweet baby GW! Congrats!

 

[Xystoi]

1. He's gorgeous!

2. If they get out handled, and you put the normal boundaries in place, they generally STAY that way... what you don't do with a macaw is ignore them! (Mine is now around 17 or 18 years old, and a just flaming red ball of mush...)

The more you work with them, the mushier they get.

3. Baby big macs are CONSTANTLY breaking feathers, especially tail feathers. For the first two years or so, their tail feathers look really ratty... it's entirely normal. His feather condition looks fine to me...

That's a relief! Thank you, haha. The feathers were honestly my biggest worried, I'm so glad it's not out of the ordinary.

Seriously, I can't thank all of you enough for the help. You're honestly some of the sweetest people I've talked to.

 

[Weezerj]

The people on this site do ROCK!....and your baby is gorgeous!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Oh my gaaaawsh what a cutie pie!!!! :32: Can I just scoop him up and snuggle with him?

Beautiful baby you got there!!!

What's his name? (And you can continue with the pictures, I promise, nobody would complain. )

 

[Xystoi]

I'm sure he appreciates the compliments, haha. He is pretty rowdy though; he plays rough and hangs upside down from his toys and whatnot. His name is Maverick.

Also yes all the snuggles, he is incredibly cuddly.