It only took me a few months...

[HappyHummingbird]

It only took me a few months (sigh), but I finally stepped out of lurkdom and joined the parrot forums. Whoo hoo!! I am Carolyn, the proud owner of a 4 month old blue and gold macaw. She is named Georgia and she is very sweet and gentle. She doesn't want to wean, (at all), but otherwise has been quite affectionate and kind.
Over the summer I lost my first baby, a nearly 2 year old Golden Conure (Queen of Bavaria). She had a bad heart and died suddenly. We believe she was a product of a terrible breeder that imbred his birds. I cried more when he died than at the loss of some family members. The pain was unimaginable.
I am excited to be a part of your fantastic community. I hope that I can get to know everyone here a bit more.

 

[Lindylou277]

Welcome!!!! I'm new to being owned by a B&G macaw. Love this forum. Sorry to hear of your loss but glad to hear of your new love. There is a significant amount of kinship and support here. See you around "the cage ".

 

[HappyHummingbird]

Thank you LindyLou!! I appreciate the welcome very much!!

 

[goalerjones]

Soon you will be sharing recipes, pictures and funny stories. I lost my Jenday at 6 years old and then joined here when I got my attitude macaw, er, I mean my Hahn's macaw.

 

[Turquoise]

Welcome to the forum & to the world of Macaws! Sorry to hear about your loss, I can certainly understand how hard it was for you.

I have 3 macaws, 2 Catalinas & 1 Green Wing, although I have not had the pleasure of meeting my GW yet. She will be flying home in a couple of months.

I look forward to hearing more about your new baby and we all love pics around here.

 

[Sherry]

Welcome to the group. The people here have been so nice and informative, you are gonna love it.

 

[HappyHummingbird]

Trying to post a picture of my angel baby Max...

 

[HappyHummingbird]

And here is my new baby, Georgia Blue. She is 4 months old.

 

[noblemacaw]

Welcome to the form. Your loss of your golden conure Max has brought tears to my eyes. I am so sorry for your loss. I also experienced the loss of my almost 18 year old Noble Macaw in October 2012. He also died of a heart attack and his death hit me very hard. Also in June 2011 my Illiger's macaw Diego died from a stoke. Needless to say I have experienced too much loss of my beloved companions.

I can share with you that the baby Blue and Gold Georgia will be very helpful with your grief. Valentino a baby RFM that came home in December has been instrumental with helping me deal with my own grief. I always believed my two boys were suppose to out live me but sadly that did not happen. Their loss has left a huge hole in my heart and I still miss them every day.

For many years I have had a soft spot for Golden conures. I have loved the species for a long time. Your loss of Max has affected me greatly because I can understand what you had went though with him. If you want to I would love to know about Max. I am sure he was a really special bird. I have considered a Golden Conure for a companion but there are no breeders in my state. If you ever want to share about Max I would love to hear about him.

Another way that helped me deal with Mihijo and Diego's passing was I wrote short stories of our adventures and shared them on my blogs. I also talked about the memories of the birds with my friends who also have been involved in their lives. Sharing together our memories of them was bitter sweet but was very wonderful as well.

If you ever want to share about Max I would love to know more about him.

Congratulations on your baby Blue and Gold Georgia. She looks absolutely perfect. Such a beautiful parrot.

 

[antoinette]

Welcome
Sorry for your loss, always hard losing a family member
Max is gorgeous
Enjoy the forum

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

Georgia blue and Max are adorable.

 

[JerseyWendy]

It only took me a few months (sigh), but I finally stepped out of lurkdom and joined the parrot forums. Whoo hoo!! I am Carolyn, the proud owner of a 4 month old blue and gold macaw. She is named Georgia and she is very sweet and gentle. She doesn't want to wean, (at all), but otherwise has been quite affectionate and kind.
Over the summer I lost my first baby, a nearly 2 year old Golden Conure (Queen of Bavaria). She had a bad heart and died suddenly. We believe she was a product of a terrible breeder that imbred his birds. I cried more when he died than at the loss of some family members. The pain was unimaginable.
I am excited to be a part of your fantastic community. I hope that I can get to know everyone here a bit more.

Welcome Carolyn.

I teared up pretty badly hearing about your gorgeous QoB. SO very sorry this happened to you.

Georgia is a stunning young lady, she'll have you wrapped around her wings in no time. Just give her all the time she needs in the weaning progress, she'll get there - eventually

 

[plax]

I'm so sad to learn of the loss of your beloved Max :'( The thought of losing one or more of my wonderful parrot companions are among my greatest worries . Each of my birds is so very special to me. I know you will always treasure the time you and Max had together, and I'm sure he adored you as well. Life seems so terribly unfair at times...

Congratulations on adopting your beautiful and adorable baby B&G, Georgia! . There's no question that she and you will make plenty of cherished memories together!

Welcome to PF!

 

[JJones1719]

Welcome to the Forum. I am so very sorry to hear about your loss but glad to see that you have a new love in your life (Georgia).
Macaws wean at their own pace and some wean sooner then others. Macaws are so much fun and get into everything and make us laugh at some of the things may say or do. Sometimes without teaching them that word or action.
Both my boys keep me very busy and it takes my mind off of other things that maybe going on in my life.
Georgia is just a beautiful baby and I'm sure you will be the love of her life as well.
I love watching Baby Macaws grow up so please post many pictures as she matures. Thank you for your post and best of luck to you. Joe

 

[HappyHummingbird]

I think my heart just fluttered after reading all your kind responses. It's so darn hard to talk to non bird owners about the love between a human and a bird.

Max Story:
Max, the queen of bavaria, was amazing. I bought him at a pet store. First mistake. I visited him every day for almost 6 months. You read that right. He was 4 months old I believe when I first met him and I fell in love and so did he. My two children loved him too. This bird was the sweetest creature I had ever met. He was so delicate and so gentle. There are only 5000 of these endangered birds left in the wild and they are very expensive.... $3500 was his price tag. I didn't have the money to purchase him right away and had to save up and I needed to really think about adding him to my life. I don't rush into pets quickly. My husband deploys all the time and I was lonely so I knew that Max would be a super pet to own. This bird was for me! Well anyhow, I finally brought him home and that's when the problems started to develop.... very minor at first and not enough to warrant any alarm bells in my head. He experienced a split beak, wheezing, catching pneumonia... And something I hadn't noticed prior was that he had a 5th toe... an extra toe on one foot. The vet later told me that was a sign of imbreeding. Apparently breeders just imbreed these beautiful birds and give little thought to their health or well being. He struggled for about a year with the flaking, chipped, broken beak, as well as with pnemonia. We spent well over $2000 on vet bills in 6 months time. One day he died. He died on my husband's lap in front of my two young kids. It was a violent death, too. One minute he was fine and the next he was screaming and spitting up and 20 minutes later, on the way to the emergency clinic, he was dead. My husband had grabbed the kids and put them in the car and he held Max while he drove to the clinic. I was not home at the time and I was never able to say goodbye. We had him autopsied and the autopsy revealed and enlarged heart, so more than likely he had something wrong with his heart. I had him cremated and put his remains in a wooden box next to where his old cage was located. It still makes my heart hurt to talk about him. I wish that I could have done something. I wish I had known that he was ill but he had shown no signs of illness or weakness. This bird touched me so much. Sweet Max. Anyhow, that's my story. Sorry I am not good at being concise. I could talk about Max forever.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Now I'm just crying. HUGS to you! People who don't have parrots, just will never understand how VERY special the bond can be, how much love and joy they bring to us, how devoted and attached they are, and how much happiness those feathered kids can bring us.

I know in my heart that Max, on the other side over the Rainbow Bridge, is looking down on you, flying free, with no pain or ailment. You will NEVER forget him.

I noticed you wrote your husband deploys a lot. Is he in the service? My husband is retired army, and my son just finished Basic and is currently waiting for OCS to start for him at Fort Benning. TOUGH times!

Again, HUGS to you, and please feel free to talk about Max as much as you want. We will all listen and be there for you - that's a promise.

Sweet Georgia is so lucky to have found such a loving, wonderful, caring family for her.

 

[HappyHummingbird]

Thank you JerseyWendy,
My husband is active duty air force and so it's been rough/lonely for a long time. My husband was raised army. It's nice to "meet" other military families on here!! !!
Anyhow, I had resisted buying a pet for so long because I didn't want to have to potty train a dog or get a litter box for a cat. The idea of a bird really hadn't entered into my mind. It was really one of those things that just happened. Like a corny movie where two people meet... yeah, that was Max and I. LOL. That bird would sing just for me and acted like I was pretty much the end all be all. When my husband got back from his most recent deployment, he and Max began to bond. It took them a little longer but bond they did! My husband didn't cry when my kids were born nor when we got married. He doesn't have tear ducts, or so I thought. However, when Max died, I found him bawling in the shower. How can a tiny bird affect two adults so profoundly? I can't say I have the same attachment or bond with Georgia and I have this weird fear that I will never love her like I loved Max. She is much more of a challenge, too, being hand fed and so large. I hope that the love between us comes continuously over time.

 

[JerseyWendy]

How can a tiny bird affect two adults so profoundly? I can't say I have the same attachment or bond with Georgia and I have this weird fear that I will never love her like I loved Max. She is much more of a challenge, too, being hand fed and so large. I hope that the love between us comes continuously over time.

It's called the power of love. Love comes in all different shapes and sizes, and even fully feathered.

I am confident that you and Georgia will form an incredibly strong bond, and with each passing day you will grow closer and more confident with each other. Yes, Macs can be quite "trying" at times, but that only adds to the magic of being loved by such a big bird.

 

[plax]

HappyHummingbird: I'm so touched by Max's story . It is truly heart-wrenching. The part about his death made me weep. My Military Macaw, Maynard, had a stroke in 2011 and his experience was identical to that of Max (bloodcurdling screams of pain and vomiting, etc.)... though seriously impaired afterwards, in time Maynard was thankfully able to re-wire himself to a significant degree. He was so lucky in that respect because for quite some time after the incident he wasn't able to stand on perches or hold food and was horribly shaky at everything he tried. I genuinely realize how fragile the life of a cherished bird can be .

And I, as well, strongly suspect that you and Georgia will develop a strong bond. Just give it time

 

[noblemacaw]

I am crying for your Max. He was such a special parrot. Your story made me cry because it was so heartbreaking. I really feel your pain with the loss of your Max. I experienced the same things your husband did with Max when Diego had his stroke. We were cuddling together watching TV. When it was time to potty and get something to eat and drink Diego was trained to fly to his cage. I would hold him in my hands and ask him "are you ready?" He would say "Okay" and I would throw him up in the air and he would fly to his cage giggling. That day I noticed he had problem getting lift so I followed him back to his cage. He just stood there on top of his cage not climbing back inside for his break. I stared at him and had him step up on my hand. I put him in his cage he crawled onto his boing. I turned to walk away when He just collapsed. He was hanging from his boing by one talon so I quickly took him out of his cage and his whole left side was limp.

My sister was visiting me that day so she rushed us to the vet. Dr. Blair used heroic measure to try to safe Diego. Diego ended up getting three shots of atropine and two shots of epinephrine. When she walked into the exam room to tell me Diego didn't make it I screamed No so loudly I am sure the whole clinic heard me. She held me while I cried for half hour. After she brought me Diego's body I held him for almost two hours. That was extremely hard. That whole experience. But I am glad that Diego and I had those hours of cuddle time before he had his stroke.

I understand what you mean by the fear of not being able to love Georgia as strongly or as closely as you loved your Max. I feel the same way about Valentino my RFM. He is helping me heal from Diego and Mihijo's loss as they died only a year and a half apart. Mihijo was almost 18 years old and he and I have been though so many adventures together I have written many stories about us so there is so much history between us. Their loss is still so fresh and raw to me but I do admit Valentino is helping me heal.

Can I love Valentino as much as I did all three of my boys? Those parrots were suppose to be it. Just the three of us. Joaquin, Mihijo and Diego. Two mini macaws and an Eclectus. But in October of 2012 for the first time in over 20 years I had no one. No parrots were in my home and my home was not the same. It was too quiet, and there was no parrots to take care of. Those two months until Valentino came home were very very hard on me.

Take it one day at a time. Take care of Georgia and wean her at her pace. I started hand feeding Valentino three hand feedings a day even though he was weaned. But when they get to their new home they always regress and I felt he was not maintaining weight good enough so I took him to three hand feedings a day. Now we are down to the feeding before bed and he is starting to refuse that one as well. Valentino is not only maintaining his weight but he gained 35 grams. I learned it takes up to three years for a RFM to get to their full weight. Wow huh?

Enjoy Georgia at your own level. She will eventually help you learn that you can love her as much as Max maybe even more. It might not seem like it now but it will happen. I learn every day to love Valentino a little bit more so I know it can be done. Will I ever love him as much as my boys? I really think I can. There are days where I feel I cannot but in the end I have this beautiful baby RFM who is starting to bond and love me in return.

Bless you and your family.