Getting a Blue and Gold

[devin_09]

Hi, everybody. I am Devin, and I am getting a Blue and Gold Macaw. I get my baby in mid November. I am purchasing from a private breeder. I have few question. What would be the best cage to buy? Money is not that big of issuss for me. I am looking at the HQ,silverdom, and A&E cages. I like the Sliverdom it is roomy and beautiful at a good price. I am putting the cage right in the living room where my bird can have full interaction with my family and I. My other question would be diet, what pellet brand do you guys suggest. What is the best book to buy. I want to the best reading material and go to guide. I am really excited!! Anything else that is important please share!

Devin Inglet

 

[CrypticDelirium]

Welcome and congrats! = )

I'm not sure there's a "best" cage, but the more spacious the better, and they LOVE to play on the top, so if there's one you like with a play gym that would be great. Most macaws (at least from my experience lol) don't seem to care too much for being on the bottom of the cages. As far as pellets, harrisons is AMAZING. Since it's organic it doesn't have any artificial colors and such.
Parrots for dummies is a good one, a lot of need to know chalked into it. I haven't been on this forum very long, but it's absolutely lovely for any questions/concerns, or just sharing funny stories and pics ^_^. Hope you enjoy!

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Devin and welcome to the forum, California King and Avian Adventure are better quality brands of cages, while others such as Preview, A&E and HQ are a little less quality but ok for the money, while interaction with the whole family will be great for your new fid (fid=feathered kid) you'll have to make sure that where you place the cage will be a place that will also be one in which the bird will have plenty of time to sleep, if there is a a lot of activity later into the evening you may consider placing a smaller sleep cage in another part of the house that is much quieter, birds require 12+ hours of restful sleep, basicly sundown to sun up, a well rested bird is one that is usually much better behaved, as for a pelleted diet there are many on the market, some better than others, one of the better ones, and more expensive is Harrison's, its an organic formula that is a bit harder to find, you can mail order it, or sometimes you can find it at a good Avian vets office, others that are pretty good would be Roudybush, Zupreem, just to mention a few, I'm sure others will weigh in on what they use and recomend, you'll also want to feed fruits and vegetables along with some seeds and nuts, for my macaw I break it down to about 50% pellet, 30% fruits and veg, and 20% nuts and seed, macaws need a bit more fat in their diet than many other parrot species, a very good book to pick up would be "Parrots For Dummies" please don't be offended, there are many of us on the forum that have it and refer to it often, even those of us that have been around and worked with birds for many years, hope some of that helped, more advice from other members is sure to come, enjoy your stay

 

[devin_09]

Thank you guys for the awsome advise and quick reply. I am going to buy Parrrots for Dummies for sure. We go to bed early pretty much every day, no t.v or any disraction in the living room at night, and I am going to buy a cage cover for him/her, I heard it helps them sleep better. I found out the breeder weans their birds on Zupreem, so I will keep my baby on the same diet. Plus fruits,veggies, seeds and nuts. I will definatly look at those cages you suggested Bobby. I want the best for my bird! Also what is the funniest play gym to purchase, there is so many gyms to choose from!

Devin Inglet

 

[Bobby34231]

As far as playstands/gyms go its pretty much comes down to personal preference, there are so many out there, PVC, wood, metal ect, you can also consider cages with playtops vs the dometop type especially if space might be an issue, here is a link to different types of playstands just so you can get an idea........

Bird Play Gyms: Cage Top Bird Playstands, Play Pen, and Gym