Male or Female B&G?

[jugglingluke]

Hey everyone, im new here, some of you might remember my girlfriend, Brodie.
So basically im getting a Blue and Gold very soon, but stuck between a male or a female.
I have heard so many different sides, a lot of people saying males are better as they go through their hormonal years, and females are very moody. But then i have heard the exact opposite, that the males get really aggressive.
Also, With Brodie's Scarlet, she likes girls more then boys, although she doesn't really like anyone besides Brodie. But she will tolerate girls more if she has too. Is there a difference with males and females for blue and golds like this? do they prefer one sex more then the other?
I just want to have the best bond possible, so trying to figure out what would be best for me.
Thanks.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi Luke, and welcome to the forum. How is Brodie???

Any macaw, male OR female will go through hormonal stages once they mature. Some get it worse than others. My Niko (male) is only going on 5, so he hasn't reached that phase just yet. From what I've gathered, males "can" become quite aggressive when they hit sexual maturity, but not 24/7. I'm not quite sure how long the "urge" will last, but they will resort to their natural, sweet self again, especially if you have a well trained, and well behaved bird. With females you have to watch out for possible egg laying, which "can" cause problems for the bird.

 

[Brodie]

Hi Wendy! I'm good is the egg laying just a macaw thing? Or should I watch out with this for Scarlet too?

 

[JerseyWendy]

BRODIE!!!! Hi there pretty lady!!!

No, it's not just a macaw thing, ANY mature hen can decide she wants to lay eggs, and yes, Ekkis do it, too.

 

[Brodie]

Well we had a lady tell us the other day that she had a friend who's macaw actually laid an egg right in her lap.. oh god lol..

 

[JerseyWendy]

Holy smoke! Talk about a broodie girl, hey?

The thing is, if they start laying, they "usually" lay a clutch, I think it's 2-3 for the big macs. Not all in one day though. And if you remove the eggs, she may continue laying because she wants to "brood".

You know my Hunter, the Yellow Nape Amazon, right Brodie? She is 15, and a few years ago she laid a clutch (3) eggs in one of her food dishes. :54: She laid one every other day. I left her alone with the eggs, and removed them after 4 weeks. She sat on them, too. After I removed them she got a new cage, new food dishes, and hasn't done it since. She IS in the mood right now, but I try and distract her, as I don't want a repeat of that. Luckily Amazons "only" get broody once a year (even though SOME lay two clutches, spring and fall).

Macaws "can" lay year round. :32:

 

[Brodie]

Do they forget they need to have sex to have a baby in that egg or something? Lol..
But you can sort of stop this behaviour by not giving them things like nesting materials, too much protein etc right?

 

[JerseyWendy]

You can TRY to discourage them, yes, but it doesn't always work.

 

[Brodie]

I'll keep an eye on it with scarlet then.
But as for the blue and gold, do you think a female would be best?

 

[DannyA93]

I would go male to avoid the problem all together

 

[Kiwibird]

I personally prefer male birds. I think it's easier to reach a 'peace pact' with an aggressive male than a moody female

 

[Birdman666]

I honestly don't think male/female matters a hoot. Mine are both females, but I've fostered many, many males as well.

With macaws it's all about socialization and boundary setting, and handling them a lot. Do that, and you'll be fine. Don't do that and you can expect behavior problems. (Male or Female.)

ALL PARROTS not just all macaws go through hormonal periods. Some birds it's more pronounced than others. Personally, I think the difficult macaw years are the 7-12 year old age group. [Macaw Puberty]