HELP! New Macaw owner question

[bad_meetz_evil]

Hello, I've adopted a gold and blue macaw today, and its been very friendly through out the day. When I introduced him to his new cage, he didnt like it inside so I thought I'd open the door and see how he would react. He climbed to the top of the cage and won't get down. Its been 3 hours now. I've tried everything to get him down but he doesn't want to. Id put my hand towards his chest several time before he tries and bite me to make me move away. He'd allow me to touch him and feed him while he's up there, but whenever I try to get him down he moves away, and if i force him he starts biting. I'm really worried, and its day 1 for me. any help please?

 

[BirdSquawk]

You could try taking one of his perches and pressing on the bottlom of his stomach so he has to step up on it, if that doesnt work you could put evry food you think he would love on the cage and ignore him, to see if he will go in on his own terms as not to wreck your relationship with him after one day. Good luck! Tell me if he goes in!

 

[JJones1719]

Hello, welcome to the board, It seems that you have no expierence in handling Macaws. As suggested, take a perch, press it towards the lower stomack and ask the Macaw to step up. or, make a fist, press your forearm towards his belly and ask them to step up.
I do not know if your B&G knows the step up command or not but worth a try.
You are going to have to handle this B&G and you will get bit several times so you are going to have to get use to it until the Macaw learns to trust you.
If this does not work, Gently take the perch and push the macaw into the cage or knock them to the floor, macaws hate being on the floor and will step up onto your arm or perch. Best of luck Joe

 

[friedsoup]

Yes as stated above you'll have to handle this bird if you let him bluff you now your in for a long haul of him seeing what he can get away with and it can lead to him being a bully. And that has lead to many a Macaw being rehomed.

 

[azdesertrhino]

If we allow MAC, our B&G, to get on top of his cage, it is a challenge to get him down.

Be firm but don't lose your temper. It's like dealing with a 2 year old child that is testing his/her limits.

A Macaw is always testing their limits.

Best of luck!

 

[WharfRat]

macaws hate being on the floor

I disagree with this, I've been around Mac's that have no issues at all with floors.

Knocking to the floor??? I disagree here as well, I think that would have bad repercussions down the road. My breeder friend would literally kick my *** for doing that. Get gloves and a towel to protect yourself if need be, but you can't let the bird be dominant over you.

 

[Mike]

Love your username.

Here's a different point of view. This is day one. Your new bird is insecure in its new home and uncertain about its new owner. Why push it? Let the bird have its way for a couple of days. Let it get comfortable with its new home and its new owner. Put food and water inside the cage and leave the cage door open. Let the bird enter and leave the cage for a couple of days. You don't want the bird feeling like the inside of the cage is a trap.

After a couple of days or a week, begin training your bird to step up. Maybe it knows how, maybe it doesn't. Assume it does not and train it accordingly. Do the training in a separate room where it cannot see its own cage.

As for transporting the bird from the top of its cage to the training location, I agree with BirdSquawk suggestion to put a dowel up against the birds lower chest. If that doesn't work, don't be afraid to towel the bird. Toweling is much less tramatic than being chased around a cage with a dowel.

To reduce the damage factor you might consider getting a right and a left golf glove--they are not normally sold in pairs. The gloves will be thin leather, very soft, and will fit tight against your skin. They're not kevlar, but they'll help a lot in reducing your fear of getting bit. Macaws love that fear and will repeat activities which result in a fearful response.

 

[plax]

I think Mike's recommendation is a good plan if you're able to be there with him for a few days. If he remains on top of the cage I'd think it shouldn't present much of a problem for anyone. Once he's been there for a while he likely won't feel as fearful that someone might hurt him, so you'll stand a better chance of getting him to step up. Or he may go back into the cage on his own.

The other options, of course, are:

1) push a wooden dowel perch against his lower chest (where his legs meet his body) and push into him a bit to throw him off balance. Often when they get pushed backwards and thrown off balance they will step (and grasp) forward onto the dowel perch. It doesn't always work out though.

2) Towel him and put him back in his cage.

 

[plax]

macaws hate being on the floor

I disagree with this, I've been around Mac's that have no issues at all with floors.

Me too... Three of mine (Jack, Maynard, and Zaf) will practically kill to get their floor time. And Zaf sneaks down to the floor all the time when he thinks I'm not looking. He knows how to be very stealthy about it too. Amazingly, he can walk across a hard floor without making a sound. I'm not exactly sure how he does it, but he does it. Zaf would live on the floor if I'd let him.

 

[mimibirdlover]

I've had four large macaws, all rescues. I agree with most of the above, definitely not the "knock him to the floor with a perch" idea. All you'll teach him is not to trust you. Macaws can be very challenging. When he bites, try (I know it is hard) NOT giving him any reaction at all. If you squeal, shout, etc. he might find that funny and continue. Is this your first large bird? Check out birdtricks.com for training techniques. There are also some great books out there. If you don't know what the bird's history is, you don't know what bad habits you will have to recondition. Eventually he will have to come down from the top of the cage to eat and drink. DON"T feed him on top of the cage (except for treats to try to convince him to step up)!

 

[JJones1719]

Okay, lighten up people, were talking about a person who never handled a Macaw before and the macaw is on the top of the cage, the owner does not have a clue as to how to get the macaw back in the cage.
If you all do your homework here, Macaws do not like the floor and would rather be high up or on the shoulder perch, anywhere but the floor. Remember macaws are prey amimals and this is in their DNA to not be on the ground.
Most macaws will do anything to get off of the floor. I am not saying hurt the macaw in anyway. Macaws do fly and will safely land on the ground, from here it is a heck of a lot easier to handle a macaw rather then ontop of the cage.
This owner wrote this blog while not knowing what to do and her macaw does not understand how to get back into their cage or does not want to get in the cage.
This owner has a lot to learn about macaws and should not have brought this bird into the home without knowing how to handle them.
Most macaws bluff, this is why I stated to make a fist and (ask) the macaw to step up, if the macaw knows this command, then guess what, the macaw will step up as asked. if not, the owner has to get the macaw back in the cage to protect it and their home.
Okay now that I have added my 2 cents.
The advise I would give this owner is, have the breeder, previous owner or near by rescue help work with the new owner and teach them the proper way of handling a macaw not to hurt themselves nor the macaw.
The new owner needs to learn body language or the macaw to prevent a bite but no matter what happens here, avoiding a bite is not going to happen.
If the owner is scared of a bite, then the owner needs to find a person who can handle this macaw and rehome them at once.
Showing fear to a macaw is not good for the bonding with the macaw nor will the macaw ever feel as if they can trust this owner. I know the truth hurts more then the bite but I'm sorry, i hate to see when people jump into a purchse of owning a macaw and does not have a clue as to what they are doing. best of luck to this owner. Joe

 

[triordan]

turn the light off, make the room dark

 

[WharfRat]

Macaws do not like the floor and would rather be high up or on the shoulder perch, anywhere but the floor. Remember macaws are prey amimals and this is in their DNA to not be on the ground.
Most macaws will do anything to get off of the floor.

As already stated by at least 2 of us, our Mac's actually love being on the floor. "Knocking" the bird off the cage is just not right (especially if it can fly) get a step stool/ladder or whatever and use towels and/or gloves. The bird is gonna remember you doing this and will NOT improve it's behavior/attitude with the owner. I do agree that if he can't handle the bird something else needs to be done, I will NOT however endorse physically knocking the bird off the cage, period. I equate that with knocking a child on his/her butt for bad behavior. (YES, I am a parent)

 

[plax]

Macaws do not like the floor and would rather be high up or on the shoulder perch, anywhere but the floor. Remember macaws are prey amimals and this is in their DNA to not be on the ground.
Most macaws will do anything to get off of the floor.

As already stated by at least 2 of us, our Mac's actually love being on the floor. "Knocking" the bird off the cage is just not right (especially if it can fly) get a step stool/ladder or whatever and use towels and/or gloves. The bird is gonna remember you doing this and will NOT improve it's behavior/attitude with the owner. I do agree that if he can't handle the bird something else needs to be done, I will NOT however endorse physically knocking the bird off the cage, period. I equate that with knocking a child on his/her butt for bad behavior. (YES, I am a parent)

I agree with you, WharfRat. Aggression toward the bird is NOT the answer and would be abusive (in my view). There are other options.

As for Macaws spending time on the ground naturally, they actually forage on the ground a fair amount. An example can be seen within the many videos available showing flocks of Hyacinth Macaws on the ground foraging for, cracking open, and eating palm nuts in their indigenous regions of South America.

 

[JJones1719]

Okay so 2 Macaws like the ground out of the many Macaws we all own here on this message board. Lets go with this for a moment. I see you standing on a ladder in battle with a Macaw that 1 does not know you, 2 does not trust you,3 trying to get a towel over it's head, 4 using a glove that the Macaw can easy bite through, 5 you falling off the ladder from the pain you are in because now your hand needs stitches, the towel falling off the macaw, the macaws flies into an object in the room harming the bird now you have the person and bird that needs Medical.

This message board is to give feed back to those who do not know what to do and we talk from our own expierences.

My Macaw hates the floor, My Macaw is a one person bird and hates my roommate, if my macaw were to find himself on the floor, my macaw will step up very easy on my roommates hand just to get off of the floor.

In the wild, you are never going to find a macaw on the ground unless they are dead or a palm nut of food fell to the forest grounds and even then, I would doubt you would see them on the ground.

your Macaw has learned that there is no threat to them on the ground or perhaps you play with them on the ground and this is the reason they like it. If you took a poll here on the number of Macaws that perfer the ground over a perch, cage, playstand, the ground is going to be the last of these choices.

When a Macaw is out of control, trying to handle a macaw is far more safer for both person and Macaw if handled from the ground then ontop of a cage.

But what do I know, I just so happen to have raised Macaws from the time their are hatched, trained, broke behavior habits, give time to local rescues and handled macaws that most people would not go near. just saying

 

[MrsWharfrat]

Hello, I've adopted a gold and blue macaw today, and its been very friendly through out the day. When I introduced him to his new cage, he didnt like it inside so I thought I'd open the door and see how he would react. He climbed to the top of the cage and won't get down. Its been 3 hours now. I've tried everything to get him down but he doesn't want to. Id put my hand towards his chest several time before he tries and bite me to make me move away. He'd allow me to touch him and feed him while he's up there, but whenever I try to get him down he moves away, and if i force him he starts biting. I'm really worried, and its day 1 for me. any help please?

Hello, and welcome. May I recommend just a bit more patience? Miri, one of my GW Macaws has a tendency to get bitey with me as well. I coax her at times with putting food and fresh water in her cage, works every time. With Rae, my other GW macaw, all I have to do is put food or treats inside her cage and she climbs right in.

Try a sheet, or wrap a towel around your one hand, bring around to the front of the birds chest from behind. If the Macaw bites, you have a bit of protection.

I know that the fear of those large powerful beaks can be a tad bit intimidating, but trust me showing fear is not a good thing. Be patient, doing so has such huge rewards!

 

[WharfRat]

I'm going to try to be polite as possible here not wanting this to get too out of hand (out of respect for the forum).

You say that your bird "hates" your room mate but then go on to say

trained, broke behavior habits

, so why can't you break it's habit of hating your roomie?

Other than people that are breeders or run rescues on here, I doubt many have interacted with the amount of birds I have. My former neighbor is a breeder AND runs a rescue, she has over 200 birds total, all are Zon's, Mac's or Too's, nothing else. She has more Avian certs and degrees than I can count. I have helped her with her birds more times than I can count and got injured more times than I care to think of. She would rip my head off and reclaim her birds if she heard of me using these tactics. As for them being "safer" handling from the floor, again I disagree from my experience (let's just say a Scarlet shredded my arms bad enough to warrant a mop and a bucket to clean all the blood off the floor).

I'm gonna stick with what I said, forcing or "knocking" the bird off the cage is NOT a proper solution IMO, there are other/better ways to accomplish this (which you DID mention and I agree with wholeheartedly)

Respectfully

WR

 

[MrsWharfrat]

Okay, lighten up people, were talking about a person who never handled a Macaw before and the macaw is on the top of the cage, the owner does not have a clue as to how to get the macaw back in the cage.
If you all do your homework here, Macaws do not like the floor and would rather be high up or on the shoulder perch, anywhere but the floor. Remember macaws are prey amimals and this is in their DNA to not be on the ground.
Most macaws will do anything to get off of the floor.

I beg to differ, my GW Macaw will climb down her cage and walk across the kitchen floor EVERYTIME she sees me heading to the back to do laundry EVERY weekend...
Case in point: See attached photos (don't see in any way how Rae 'hates being on the floor)!

And as to knocking a bird down from the top of their cage... you would think with your history or experience with large birds that you would know better than to even think to do such a thing. Let alone recommending this to someone else that has little to no experience with large birds. Hitting, pushing, tapping, knocking, however you want to describe it... This is a negative way to handle any animal. Such aggression would be viewed badly by any animal, and I should think you could come up with much better suggestions. :11: 'Just saying'

 

[plax]

In the wild, you are never going to find a macaw on the ground unless they are dead or a palm nut of food fell to the forest grounds and even then, I would doubt you would see them on the ground.

I respectfully disagree with you. The main place that Hyacinth Macaws congregate to feed is in fact on the ground. Please have a look at the following videos showing wild Hyacinths feeding in Brazil:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLh6u587I8E"]NATURE "The Real Macaw" | Nutcracker | PBS - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9vkkjNj83s"]Hyacinth Macaws feeding in Brazil - YouTube[/ame]

And it's not just 2 of our Macaws who love floor time... I alone have 3 (out of my 4) who crave being on the floor. And each of these 3 is a different species of Macaw. Two of them are wild caught birds (ie, my B&G and my Military) whom I've owned for over 30 years. These two have always adored going down to the floor and hanging out there. You might say they arrived enjoying spending lots of time on the ground right from the jungles of South America.

 

[MrsWharfrat]

I, as well, respectfully disagree... other videos of Macaws on the ground Love these!

[ame="http://youtu.be/xjzX1puYq-4"]Parrot & Dog playing with a stick - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://youtu.be/tdyLiiPQygk"]Travis and all our Parrots - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://youtu.be/KQI1AR5qgEg"]Macaw & Grandson - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://youtu.be/MdXmjpbGW-Q"]Macaw - can't wait to shower - YouTube[/ame]