Help Introducing My Grey To A Macaw

[Blancaej]

Hi There,

As some of you may have already read I have a 13 year old Congo African Grey named Quincy. I've had him since he was 3 months old. He tends to be a cautious and nervous little guy so I am looking for tips and suggestions for introducing him to GW Macaw I may be adopting. I will find out officially tomorrow. So excited!

She is 19 years old and sounds like she's been cage bound for most of the last several years. Her owner doesn't have time for her anymore and the owner is getting older. She loves her cage and doesn't come out much, but I hope to change that.

I really want the addition of this new family member (if we decide to adopt her) to be a positive transition for both birds. Any good tips or suggestions?

Also, my Grey is male and the Macaw is female. Is there any thing I need to worry about with that aspect.

I posted this on the Grey forum and had one response that was helpful. But I was hoping to hear more from the many multi bird owners on this forum. So I thought I would try posting this here. Thanks!

 

[Grinder]

I tend to give the same info when it comes to this topic, but it's definitely important. Obviously they should be supervised when allowed out, but one of the biggest points to remember is that you need to let your Grey know that he is the flock leader when it comes to new birds coming into the home. So always let Quincy out first. He gets his meals and treats first. He is last to go back into his cage at night. This will help with the coping of a new bird. Are your birds flighted? If so, be prepared to remove them from each others' cage should one fly to the other. They may completely tolerate each other, but most likely wont appreciate the other invading their 'home'.

I wish you luck if you move forward

 

[Featheredsamurai]

You should keep them separated at first, this is a quarantine period to make sure the macaw is healthy. It's highly recommended to get a new bird check up, once the results are in you can have the two birds around one another. Being sick sucks for our birds, and it's expensive for us.

With Kinji I would carry Rosie to were Kinji's cage was and let them meet one another. At first both were unsure, Kinji kept making alarm peeps and had his hackles raised while Rosie leaned towards me to get away. Now they share a room and are doing very well together, I won't let them get close to one another though.

 

[Blancaej]

Thank you both for some awesome advice!

Grinder - That is a very good point about flock leader. I will be sure to do those things. Quincy is clipped and will be clipped again in about two weeks. So he does not fly very often and when he does, well you know, downward he goes.

Sinbad (the newbie) is going to the vet the day we pick her up for nail trimming, feather trimming and bloods! So we are going to take care of that asap! After we visit with her tomorrow, if we decide to take her, we will pick her up the following Tuesday. She is caged bound so I don't see her out of her cage a whole lot at first. I don't know how long it will take her to come around. The owner says she loves her cage and doesn't like coming out. I'm hoping that will change but I know that she will be hesitant to come out at first and we need to build up some trust with her.

Copperarabian - We plan on keeping them separate. They will be in a large room together (our dinning room to be exact) My guess is they will still be 10 to 15 feet from each other. We are taking her to the vet the day we pick her up to have her checked. I will be sure to keep them a good distance apart before I know the results. This bird has never had bloods done. The owner didn't know there was such a thing. But if she took good care of her, all should be ok, I'm hoping!

Thank you guys so much! You both provided very good advice and I will be sure to implement your suggestions to make this as smooth a transition as possible!

 

[Blancaej]

Copperarabian - Did you have Rosie first? Kenji I take it was your second parrot.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Yeah, Rosie is my first

Kenji is'nt cage bound, he'll walk around on the floor and step up from it. in his cage he won't step up though, and never has in his 20 years. At the moment I am just respecting him and showing him that be can trust me by not invading his cage in ways that freak him out.

Once they trust us, Kenji and your possible macaw, we can then try asking them to step up. If we push them when they do not know us a bad bite might occur. I'm lucky that Kinji will walk on the floor when he see's something he wants, maybe your macaw will climb down too.

 

[WharfRat]

I'm not so sure I agree with the "flock leader" part, its gonna be up to them who is the "leader". Also by showing preference to one over the other can lead to problems as well (been there, done that and it had negative results). Also, I never intermingle my different species at the same time either, just didn't work out and was dangerous for the smaller ones. Due to my admitted favoritism to one bird over the other I was getting negative behavior from the one that felt slighted. I am still overcoming this but for the most part have succeeded by NOT showing favoritism. Having a PO'ed GW Macaw is not the funnest thing to deal with.

This is just my personal experience and am not saying they won't get along, but be VERY vigilant with the 2 out together.

 

[Blancaej]

WharfRat - I definitely see your point. I actually was not planning on having them out together if I can help it. Quincy's safety is my first priority! The GW is just so much bigger and I don't want any issues there.

All in all, it sounds like just being fair will work the best. In either case, I guess I just have to feel things out and test the waters to see what will work best. I think the important thing is to give both of them the attention they need and make sure they are happy birdies! Thanks again for your input!

Kenji - I was thinking the same thing. I want to build the GW trust first and fore most. No pressure! I will take her lead and hopefully once the trust is there she will step up for me. She doesn't like leaving her cage and I'm not going to force her. She only gets out for her owner on a stick, so it's been like this all her life. I will do what works for her and hopefully we can slowly move forward making some positive changes.

It sounds like we may have similar challenges! It's nice to go through these things with someone who has been there and understands!

I will keep everyone posted on how my visit goes tomorrow. Thanks again!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I really hope you adopt her, I'm excited to hear what happens