So it been a few weeks now, I thought I would give an update
Rico has definitely been putting up boundaries. And he is most definitely hoping to mate. So I'm accepting much less regurgitation. I'm noticing a little over bonding to me, as well. I am going to attempt to stop that in it tracks. I don't want to be the big bad mom, and make him do things all the time he doesn't want. Like if I ask him to step up and he doesn't want to, but if it's important to me, then I will press the issue or get him to step up on the stick.
During the day while I am at work, kids are at school, and gareth is in and out of the house (as he works on the farm, so he is here often during the day) Rico is silent. Gareth will share his lunch in silence with Rico. Lol
Rico eat meals with us, and he gets one or two home cooked meals a day. He prefers oatmeal stuff over mash, but he does enjoy the pulp out of my juicer if it's got the right stuff.
Still trying to figure out his favourite food for training.
I am going to start training him. I've been reading and playing with it a bit. He yells at me if I touch his wings, other then to hug him, lol.
He loves me. He shows it constantly. He wants to share every meal of his with me after.
He sleeps in the master Bath room, quite literally at my feet. Even some nights when I wake up to pee and he wakes up, he regurgitates.
He loves attention. He will scream when he's in the rom and we are all talking but not paying attention to him. We just ignore it. It got really bad, then got good. The other night it was bad again. He is used to phrases being said after he yells or screams "hey, cut that out! Bad boy, stop doing that," lol, he says it for us. We just ignore. I honestly notice a decrease.
We are very much learning each other, creating boundaries. I don't want to be the big bad mom, but I don't want him pushing me around. I'm not scared of him, but I am scared of hurting his feelings. I don't want him to fear me, or be hand shy because hands make him do things he doesn't want (like step up all the time when he happy looking out the window)
But even that seems to be going well.
I was worried about his beak, but after the bird meeting this month and having 4 other macs there I can see his beak is a tad long, but he is now chewing wood, like a real bird. So I think that will solve itself.
He NEEDS more toys, says this mom, so every weekend I either make or buy something. He may have 15 toys but I'm bored of them. I want to put new ones up.
Lol.
He's a spoiled boy. Dinners are semi planned with him in mind. Or I make him similar by taking ingredients out,before I add the bad studs (onions, garlic, salt)
For being a bird, he's very clean. I clean around his cage every other day. His cage I'm using wood chips. They are heaven. Seem to hide what mess there is. Chewing wood just adds to it. Poop clumps in it.
On the floor around his cage I have two towels. He poops on them, and most of the mess ends up on them. I roll them up and shake them outside for my chickens. Then once a week I throw them in the wash. No giant wads of newspaper taking over our garbage. Yay!
He gets a shower once a week, but comes to watch me shower all week. So he gets steamed through out the week, and soaked once a week, on the weekends.
He loves my kids, and like to come out on the porch and yell for my oldest, who is always over at her boyfriends, across the lawn (he rents our trailer) last night instead of trying to yell Meeshas name, he was yelling "call her!"
My boyfriend is constantly laughing at me and my birdie. He thinks it's funny, I know when he wants something, when he wants to go somewhere, it's like we have a connection, like mother and child. It couldn't be more like having a two year old.
I understand his baby talk and body language. I can't hold a conversation without him interrupting, when I play on my ipad in front of him, he want to play with it too, licking the screen and making it do things. Having tea in the kitchen, he will crawl off his cage and come sit on the table in front of me, wanting cuddles.
My big concern is not allowing over bonding to just me. So I'm reading and learning. Trying and applying. I want him to be a family bird. A social bird. I enjoy taking him out with me. He's a blast.
I couldn't have made a Better decision, making that jump and getting a macaw.
And for those wondering, yes, I've been bitten, hard. But it wasn't so bad. I thought it would feel like a hammer on my finger. It was more like a cupboard closing on it, and my armpit. It hurt, like heck, but nothing I couldn't take. So if need be, I know I can take the bite, but I don't want hi to feel like he needs to bite to get his opinion, wants or need across. My heart break was stronger then the pain I felt after that bite.
All the reading I did really paid off. Having him feels like a dream come true!
I'm going to let him sleep in today, he seems happy listening to the pouring rain in the bathroom, head tucked away.
What a sweet feathered angel.
Whoever said that birds are cuddly have never been hugged, kissed or wanted by a bird.
oh well. He won't get chances to eat it, as he won't be left unsupervised out, like he was at his last home, where he ate all there custom made cedar moulding. Lol.
