Intimidated by macaws

[munstersmom]

Have you gone to an Omars Birds yet? They will have baby macaws that are usually very mellow and sweet. I too am intimidated by macaws but I always have to pet the babies at Omars when I am in there. The Brea store had the most beautiful blue throat that was sweet as can be but he has gone home since.

If you are near San Diego there are some older macaws in Bird Crazy that are friendly and will step up to anyone and like to be pet.

 

[MissMarie]

I'm about an hour from San Diego and 1.5 from Los Angeles. So, stuck in the middle. It says Omar's is in studio city so a bit from me

About a week ago I started learning the different breeds of macaws, so bear with me as I attempt to learn them haha. (I kept almost calling a shamrock a leprauchan....) sorry :/

 

[munstersmom]

Are you in Orange County then? There is an Omars in Lake Forest, Brea and Santa Monica.

 

[MissMarie]

I'm in Riverside county in the murrieta/Temecula area

 

[munstersmom]

Oh I am near you then. I am in Lake Elsinore. I wish there were more bird stores around here. Well there is Magnolia Bird Farm in Riverside but the macaws in there are usually older and I am always too scared to pet them.

I will drive to the Omars in Lake Forest just to play with their babies and pick up my brown head some treats and toys (but always an excuse to play with the babies!) I was at Omars a couple days ago and they have a hyacinth macaw in there right now. My husband is not a big bird guy but he is warming up to them even though my brown head hates him. He has never picked up a bird before (except my little guy when he is being nice) and out of all the bird in Omars he picked up the hyacinth! The biggest bird with the biggest beak. I thought it was funny. The hyacinth is a big sweatheart though.

 

[MissMarie]

Oh I grew up in Elsinore! Lake forest is like an hour away, which normally isn't bad but with my gas mileage... That's like a $40 trip minimum

 

[Remy]

I find macaws intimidating too. About 3 weeks ago, I got a phonecall from somebody who needed to find a home for a yellow-collared macaw, which are a small breed. If this is the typical macaw temperament, I could totally have a big one! They seem to be more predictable when they are thinking about biting, as opposed to the caique I had (RIP <3), who was much harder to predict.

I'm glad you're doing your research.

 

[JerseyWendy]

That's kinda why I want one, I want something that is playful, intelligent, and a good friend. That's what made me think of it. I'm trying to figure out a general idea of how much I need to have saved for the bird, and so I was wondering if this is the right kind of cage: Giant Corner Cage - The Bird Cage Depot
It seems big enough? And is it the right spacing??

Oh yes, that's a mighty fine cage right there!! Big enough and perfect bar spacing.

 

[Alwese]

It is a shame that there is really no place to go where you can do a one on one interaction with a macaw; not the zoo, not the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, not Busch Gardens, not any pet shop I know of. That is why I take two of mine out in public and let the children hold Kayko on their arm for cell phone pictures. Everybody want to PET a macaw and even the most timid one is reluctant to be petted by strangers. I am just about maxed out with my meg limit for posting pictures, but I would like to make a post showing pics of each species for everyones' benefit. Click the thumbnail to enlarge the picture.

 

[Karigan]

I'd love a harlequin, a hybrid of the green wing and blue and gold. They're beautiful, and they are a combo of personalities, generally speaking; a gentle goofball.

http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/images/macaw-harlequin.gif

 

[MissMarie]

Harlequins are amazingly beautiful!
I want to make sure I know everything I can before I make the decision to move forward haha. Want to make sure I can afford it, give it enough time, etc.

I've heard of using covered dog runs as flight cages - yay or nay?

Edited to ask:
On all the checklists it has a sleeping cage and a normal cage. Do you need seperate ones or??

 

[MacawGuy]

r y talking ab out the 10x10 cages they use outside

 

[khaiqha]

I used to be scared of macaws, and then I got my alexandrine. I learned that just because the beak is big doesn't mean the bird will be any different. However, I still don't handle macaws I'm unfamiliar with. One day I hope to own a greenwing, just going to need a job upgrade to afford one.

And on an off topic note, I've noticed that many people are confusing the word breed with species. Birds are different species, where as breeds are man made variations of one species. It's a small matter, but I think referring to parrots as different breeds does them a disservice for two reasons.

1) It can make people unaware that different species have different requirements, especially in regards to nutrition.

2) It makes it sound like parrots are domesticated, which they are so far from being. In fact, I would say parrots are going the opposite route of domestication. The birds that don't like human contact are the ones being bred. Instead of temperament, breeders are just looking for new color mutations. Our closest attempt at a domesticated parrot is the English budgie, which has half the lifespan typically of a regular budgie.