Military Macaw

[Idaho34842]

I am in need of some serious help with my Military Macaw!!!<P>I received a call about adopting a Macaw and even though I have wanted to own a parrot my entire life, I have absolutely zero experience and zero understanding of what is needed to raise one. She needed to be rescued so I jumped on the opportunity and went to get her the same day.<P>Anywho, a little about her; she was 10 years old (I was told) when I got her. She was housed in a tiny, dark room with other birds, small dogs (in and out all day) a pot belly pig and in a cage with a Cockatoo which I was told plucked most of her feather out.<P>She came with a very nice parrot cage which is now in my 3 large window living room where she can see all of us plus outside.<P>I know I've been calling her "a her", but when I got her, her name was Eddie and I was told she was a he. Within a few months, she laid 2 eggs so I immediately changed her name to Betty since she was used to being called Eddie, I thought it would be a good name change since she would probably not notice the "B" <P>Since then I have provided her chew toys which she loves destroying plus I build her wooden toys made out of pine because they are so much less expensive to build!<P>Ok, not for the help I need with/for her; she is my bird and my bird only, which means she has taken to me and only me. There are 4 of us in the house, my wife, daughter, son and me. She will usually only step up on my arm, but if my daughter puts on a winter coat will step up on her and even let my daughter pet and kiss her on the head. Other than my daughter, (and even her most times depending on Betty's mood) she will not go to anyone and when someone walks by her cage (or wherever she is at the time because she roams the house whenever she wants as I keep her cage open at all times (because I felt she was miserable being kept in her cage and only let out when I am home (which wasn't much because I work for myself as a general contractor so who knows when i will get home daily) and she will bite anything and everything to show she is not happy or nervous about being touched. Now I've had her for almost a year and a half and nothing has changed and seems to just be getting worse. Her feathers have mostly grown back except for her belly, which is very smooth and I see no signs of growing back. She is non-vocal even though I've tried teaching her even the simplest words like hello or hi. The only word that is comprehensible is "help" and that has always worried me as how bad her home life was before I picked her up.<P>Ok, while I realize that these birds need much more attention than I can give her I hope there will be many questions so I can decide whether to keep her and continue to try and help her or let her go to someone who has a lot of experience with this type of bird and her actions. <P>Thank you in advance for all of your help. ~Tom

 

[happy410]

Sorry, I don't have any advice. A more experienced member will hopefully have some advice soon. I can only think of her previous home being the only word she speaks is "help", that just breaks my heart.

 

[Ahmed.Milo]

I don't have much experience with macaw.. I only had hhim for a week now. But I know she is in a better house than where she was with toy and I think she needs time to trust humans again. (It is only a personal opinion, again I don't have much experiance with macaws)

 

[SailBoat]

Please take the time to visit the MAC Forum as part of the Parrot Forum. The first Threads listed are high-lighted in light blue, you will find it very helpful to read them in reverse order. To maximize the effectiveness of reading these Threads, I would recommend that you place a chair next to your MAC and read them aloud several times for multiple days. The same can be done by each member of your family who want to interact with your MAC.

The goal of this is to set into your mind and your other family members what is important when making /welcoming a MAC closer into your Family. It is important to remember that it is never the fault of the MAC and always the fault of the Humans!. Reading aloud sets a connection with your MAC, in addition to most all Parrots Love to be read too.

As you compete this process, start searching the MAC forum, looking for Threads or Posts by BirdMan666. His experience and knowledge of MAC will be a great help to your MAC becoming excepted deeper into your family.

Before you is the Wonderful World of MACs. It really is up to you and your family members to open that door and enjoy!

 

[Kiwibird]

Good advice from Sailboat, especially about the whole family reading Mark's threads (Birdman666). To me, this sounds like the root of these issues is Betty is not properly socialized, which is a very common issue in rescue birds. Parrots are highly intelligent and have complex social structures in nature with other parrots. Just like humans who have been abused, traumatized, abandoned, trust violated etc.. these amazing creatures can suffer very similar issues with trust and relationships as a result. While most parrots will have a "favorite person", they are still flock animals and social beings, so can (with time, patience and dedication) be taught to tolerate and even like other members of the family. This can be a very difficult and years long process with a rescue, but in almost all cases, is completely possible to turn the bird around and have them start trusting and having positive interactions with a wide array of humans. To me, Betty sounds like she has great potential to be a family companion bird. You have stumbled upon a great resource and community here on this forum with plenty of experience to help, and no doubt if you get everyone on board in your family, you can help Betty start trusting and enjoying interactions with everyone in the home.

My amazon was outright vicious when we took him in. He had every reason to be. He especially hated me and went out of his way to attack and bite me. Still, I was the one who chose to bring him home, he had no choice in the matter and decided no matter what, this would be his forever home. It was a years long process for me to gain his trust, to work through his anger issues, but I am glad I stuck with him. I'm glad I didn't rehome him. He's a gem of a bird now. It's hard to believe the difference! All he wants is to be included in everything we do and is such a happy bird. He is no longer caged, he comes out on day trips and runs errands with me and I'm starting to get him more accepting and socialized with strangers as well. There are SO many stories just like Kiwi's too. Birds can do a total 180 behaviorally if everyone dedicated themselves to working through it with them. Just know you aren't alone in your struggles with Betty and now that you have found a wonderful resource to help work with her, I believe you can help her turn around and become a wonderful feathered family member

In addition to doing a little reading (out loud to her too, as it's an ideal way to start building trust), I am curious if Betty has seen an avian vet since she's been with you? If not, that would be a very good place to start. If she's laying eggs, part of her issues could be hormonal and an avian vet can help address those issues. Also, what is her diet like? Parrots are very diet sensitive and some foods, even though healthy and safe to feed, can exacerbate aggressive behavior in certain individuals. Too much sugary fruit, too much protein, too much fat etc... Again, something a avian vet would be best to consult with about. Hope this gets you started and don't hesitate to ask any further questions you may have. We're all here to help!

 

[CherylCali]

Even if it's small amounts of training and full on attention daily that you give her, you can still (I think) make that time of the highest quality. There's a lot of hope there for Betty. It's a wonderful blessing that you were able to rescue her from what sounds like a heartbreaking situation for her. I cant imagine how hopeless and trapped she felt.

CherylCali

 

[SilleIN]

When I got my B&G macaw he was very aggressive towards everyone. He would lunge at anyone coming close to the cage. Little by little I would earn his trust. To start with I was the only one who would handle him. Once the trust between me and him was established, I would start to socialize him to other people.

I treat him like a person with PTSD (which is basically what both your bird and mine has). I am his anchor and I am the one to show him it's safe.

This is some of the things I have done;

I have given any person Sugar meets some sunflower seeds without shell and asked them to give him the seeds one by one. This has introduced strangers to Sugar as being nice to be around. For a long time I would not push for anything else, than for people to give him treats. Once Sugar consistently looked to strangers for food, I would go on to the next stage.

I have trained the "step up" command, so he knows that means I want him to move to the object in front of him. To start with it was between the parrot stand and my arm and back again. Once that was consistent I would then place him on my right lower arm. I would hold another persons left wrist with my left hand (this to show Sugar it was safe, but also to ensure the arm was still). I would then move Sugar to the persons left lower arm and ask him to step up. If a person were to go and ask Sugar to step up, he wouldn't do it, but when I place him there, he trusts me enough to step up on a stranger.

If a stranger is to touch Sugar, I will have to have Sugar on my right lower arm and I place my left hand under his beak. I will then move Sugar towards the other persons hand (which does not move) until the hand touches Sugars chest. Sugar will usually react by giving a small screech, but as my hand is between his beak and the foreign hand, he will not bite. After a short while I can remove my left hand and the other persons hand is now allowed to pet him.

After Sugar has done this a few times with a certain person (about 5-10 times) he will accept to be touched by that person.

This is what I do to help Sugar overcome his fear of people. He gets better and better. I do not know if this will help your macaw, but it has worked for me.

I would not rehome your macaw, as she has bonded with you and it will hurt her a lot to be removed from the place she now is comfortable with.
I would only rehome a macaw if either the bird has not bonded with any member of the family or there was no way possible to keep the bird.

I am very willing to help you as best I can (as I am sure other members here will). I can make videos of the above mentioned exercises to help you understand them.

As mentioned above if you treat your bird as one with PTSD it might be easier for you to understand your bird and act accordingly.

I wish you good luck on your hopefully long future together