Meet Coco and Taco

[Afdel]

Hey guys im thankfull for being here. I just been handed over 2 beautiful birds (coco and taco) by my family for personal reasons and now i have to tacecare of them fulltime. Coco is an umbrella cockatoo and taco is a gold and yellow macaw and ive learned alot on this forum and i decided to join since i have many more questions to ask. And obviously learn more from this forum.
I joined mainly because i have a question..and that is about taco. Shes around 2 years old and makes this constant grunt. Usually while eating or while being perched or while cuddling with m8e and i wanted to know if i should be concerned?tried attaching a video but an error appears if anyome can guide me id be thankful

 

[noodles123]

Hey- welcome!
Have you had birds before?

I would definitely get a super nice (and probably expensive) air purifier (true hepa filter, non-ionizing/ozone producing etc) as Macaws and cockatoos shouldn't really be housed in the same air-space (due to the fact that macaws are super sensitive to the dust produced by cockatoos). Have they always lived together?

I am not sure about the grunting (not a macaw expert), but parrots can become sexually stimulated by petting/stroking/cuddles (especially cockatoos, but all parrots). That is why generally it is advised to pet on the head and neck only and don't do any stroking etc. Both birds are still young (your umbrella probably won't hit puberty until she is 4-6) and blue and golds usually between 3-4... but even so, hormones can start to kick in before that and you don't want to start a precedent that can't be upheld later. Birds change a lot at puberty and so you want to work on teaching independence and appropriate behaviors sooner rather than later.

If you have a youtube account, you can upload a video there and then post the link here and it will show up automatically as long as you set it to something other than private.

 

[Afdel]

Heyyy!!
Ive never had any birds before and its just been these 2 and yes theyve always been living together and they are more like a "cant with and cant without" pair and either wont sleep without being with each other.they dont share the same cage.they have seperate cages and ive been thinking of getting an ar purifier but ive kept a temporary "artic cooler" in their sleeping room. I cant keep them apart because they start screaming if they dont see each other.

 

[noodles123]

This thread contains a bunch of information that is helpful to new bird owners--- I didn't want to re-post the 2 massive novels that I posted in the middle of page 2, so just follow the link. The whole thread is worth reading, but as a new owner, I would type the two massive novels to you too as well (so instead, I am just pasting the link to page 2-- you will see 2 large posts if you scroll down a bit). They talk about household dangers, daily care etc. Lots of caring for parrots isn't common knowledge, so I hope that helps. The part about their respiratory systems/chemicals/Teflon etc = very important. Whenever someone is new to birds, I post those long blurbs.

http://www.parrotforums.com/questio...t-getting-eclectus-african-grey-parrot-2.html

much of what is there applies to parrots in general.

 

[noodles123]

Oh- and here are some general links about birds and Teflon/PTFE/PFOA/PFCs


https://www.ewg.org/research/canaries-kitchen

https://www.ewg.org/research/canarie...on-kills-birds

http://www.animalplanet.com/pets/oth...on-bird-guide/


NOTE: the following information on purifiers will not protect your bird from teflon/ptfe/pfoa/pfcs. You still cannot use those in your home. Anyway---

In terms of an air purifier, you will need a really nice one that is designed for large rooms and traps the smallest particles. I have an AlenAir -
Alen BreatheSmart HEPA Air Purifier for Allergies, Chemicals and Cooking Odors - HEPA-FreshPlus / White (don't skimp on the filter)----This one does have an ionize/ozone setting BUT it can be turned off, which makes it safe. You never want one where the ozone/ion/sanitize setting cannot be turned off. U2 dust is CRAZY. Bathing can reduce it some, but especially with a macaw, you will want to keep it tightly under control.

Rabbitair is another brand to consider. The Alenair unit would have been out of my price range, but they have payment plan options and that made it very doable for me---I am paying something like 35-50 dollars per month even though the unit cost around 700 including the filter. As far as I can tell, no interest is tacked on either (FYI).

As someone who owns a single Umbrella Cockatoo, I have found that air purifiers are 500% essential. Not all macaws develop hypersensitivity, but for your health (and both of your birds) I would get a filter----large cockatoos are SUPER dusty. It is crazy! When I first got mine, I was using a smaller filter and it didn't put a dent in the level of dust (despite regular bathing , vacuuming, dusting etc).
Here is a link on macaw allergies to feather-dust----

https://www.petmd.com/bird/conditions/respiratory/c_bd_Macaw_Respiratory_Hypersensitivity

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you, Taco, and Coco! Cockatoos and macaws have fascinating personalities, interesting to see them bonded.

Excellent advice and links above, look forward to you sharing more of their antics. We're always here should you have additional questions!

 

[Laurasea]

Welcome to the forum! Look forward to hearing stories about your new birds!

 

[Amsterdam]

Beautifull birds i wish you the best they need more care then any other type of house birds!