Hi guys and girls,
I'm not just new to this forum but also new to bird owning. My name is Katie, I'm a single mother of three children, 1 blue and gold macaw, a chihuahua, and 3 saltwater reef tanks. My boyfriend and I decided to purchase a macaw 2 months ago after doing much reading and research. Although I wanted a baby Macaw he wanted to give an unwanted macaw a second chance so we bought Marley. Three days after bringing Marley home my boyfriend passed away and I've been taking care of him. I joined this forum to hopefully get advice on bonding, training, caring, socializing, and interacting with Marley
A little background on about Marley. Marley is a male (so I've been told) 6 yr old blue and gold macaw. I am his 3rd owner and hope to be last owner. When we bought him he was being caged in the basement of his last owners home. She told me he had never been around kids or other people much and she had stopped giving him attention. She had him for three yrs and couldn't tell us much about his home before hers. He had never been to the vet and was on an almost all nuts and seeds diet. His vocabulary is very colorful which leads me to believe he had been called some undesirable names and told to knock it off many times. He was bonded to her husband more then her but did admit that her husband liked to pick at on him through the cage and out of the cage.
So now that I've covered what little I do know about his last 6 yrs I'd like to cover what I've noticed and experienced with him in the past 2 months with him. Bringing Marley home was very exciting for my kids and my boyfriend and I. We set his cage up in the living room where he could be apart of what we were doing until he became comfortable with us to be out of his cage. We talked to him through his cage the first night home. It seemed right away he bonded with my oldest daughter and that night she slept next to his cage and he slept at the bottom. The first three days he would ask to come out by screaming "out, Marley out" so of course we would let him out and interact. The only person he wanted to be around was my oldest. As stated before three days after bringing him home my boyfriend passed away so we had to move. So he yet again got a new home with a different environment. His cage is still set up in the living room but he spends very little time in it.
He does not like very many people and chases my baby around the house. He bites anyone that gets close to him. He has set up shop in a closet and if anyone gets close he will attack. It seems he wants attention but he's not sure what to when we give it to him. I have slowly be changing his diet to more pellets (which he's adjusting well), fresh fruits and veggies daily and nuts as a reward. I've noticed he isn't saying as many profound words and hardly every thrashes around his cage screaming "Marley knock it off" he now allows us to stick are arms in his cage to get him out or put him back. He listens to simple command such as step up/step down but that's about it. I believe he knows that his bite hurts because he will say ouch after biting but laughs as well. He will allow me and my two older kids to pet him on his terms but no one else can get close to him. My oldest daughter and I are the only two that can hold him but there again he only steps up on his terms. I was able to get him to shower the other day as well. We have made some progress but I'm not sure I'm interacting with him properly or how to curve his naughty behavior. Any advice is much appreciated. Sorry for the book and there's still so much unsaid haha.
I'm not just new to this forum but also new to bird owning. My name is Katie, I'm a single mother of three children, 1 blue and gold macaw, a chihuahua, and 3 saltwater reef tanks. My boyfriend and I decided to purchase a macaw 2 months ago after doing much reading and research. Although I wanted a baby Macaw he wanted to give an unwanted macaw a second chance so we bought Marley. Three days after bringing Marley home my boyfriend passed away and I've been taking care of him. I joined this forum to hopefully get advice on bonding, training, caring, socializing, and interacting with Marley
A little background on about Marley. Marley is a male (so I've been told) 6 yr old blue and gold macaw. I am his 3rd owner and hope to be last owner. When we bought him he was being caged in the basement of his last owners home. She told me he had never been around kids or other people much and she had stopped giving him attention. She had him for three yrs and couldn't tell us much about his home before hers. He had never been to the vet and was on an almost all nuts and seeds diet. His vocabulary is very colorful which leads me to believe he had been called some undesirable names and told to knock it off many times. He was bonded to her husband more then her but did admit that her husband liked to pick at on him through the cage and out of the cage.
So now that I've covered what little I do know about his last 6 yrs I'd like to cover what I've noticed and experienced with him in the past 2 months with him. Bringing Marley home was very exciting for my kids and my boyfriend and I. We set his cage up in the living room where he could be apart of what we were doing until he became comfortable with us to be out of his cage. We talked to him through his cage the first night home. It seemed right away he bonded with my oldest daughter and that night she slept next to his cage and he slept at the bottom. The first three days he would ask to come out by screaming "out, Marley out" so of course we would let him out and interact. The only person he wanted to be around was my oldest. As stated before three days after bringing him home my boyfriend passed away so we had to move. So he yet again got a new home with a different environment. His cage is still set up in the living room but he spends very little time in it.
He does not like very many people and chases my baby around the house. He bites anyone that gets close to him. He has set up shop in a closet and if anyone gets close he will attack. It seems he wants attention but he's not sure what to when we give it to him. I have slowly be changing his diet to more pellets (which he's adjusting well), fresh fruits and veggies daily and nuts as a reward. I've noticed he isn't saying as many profound words and hardly every thrashes around his cage screaming "Marley knock it off" he now allows us to stick are arms in his cage to get him out or put him back. He listens to simple command such as step up/step down but that's about it. I believe he knows that his bite hurts because he will say ouch after biting but laughs as well. He will allow me and my two older kids to pet him on his terms but no one else can get close to him. My oldest daughter and I are the only two that can hold him but there again he only steps up on his terms. I was able to get him to shower the other day as well. We have made some progress but I'm not sure I'm interacting with him properly or how to curve his naughty behavior. Any advice is much appreciated. Sorry for the book and there's still so much unsaid haha.
