Ltygress
New member
- Jan 6, 2015
- 49
- 0
- Parrots
- Blue and Gold Macaw named Stewie, Blue and Gold Macaw named Bazinga, Male Eclectus named Nicholas, Unknown Severe Macaw named Zander
Our fourth parrot is actually here now, safe, healthy, and settling in. Unfortunately I only have phone internet access and I guess this forum doesn't allow direct photo uploads, so no pics right now. Photobucket and Flickr take forever!
Anyway, this guy is definitely going to be a challenge. Each of my parrots has a story, but this may be the one that will take longest. Definitely not the worst, just the longest.
Lola was the original. A Hahn's Macaw that was owned by druggies. As she stayed locked in her cage, they smoked, abused, and drank right there in the house with her. She was fed a cockatiel seed mix, and developed a crop infection. She was also a screamer. But just five years old, she was rescued, treated, and loved. However, Lola was later stolen from me by a family member.
Bazinga was next. She's a female blue and gold macaw. She's the type where her history is completely unknown prior to last year. Her owners at the time padlocked her in the cage, moved out of the house they were renting, and left her behind. The hot 100-degree Georgia summer, no electricity, no refills of food or water, and a cage literally locked up. The landlord found her several weeks later. Landlord gave the bird to her daughter, who didn't know how to care for her, then she came to us. She's a serial plucker now, but no mutilation, which we're okay with. The vet cleared her of any illness or disease, and she's estimated to be about 15.
Then came Baby Blue. Her story isn't nearly as bad. A Hyacinth Macaw owned by a doctor. She used to be held all the time when he first bought her and two others back in the 80's. But about 10 years ago, things changed and the birds became ignored. The other two died for different reasons. Baby Blue became completely ignored. The doctor hired caretakers to look after her. They fed her and gave her water, but were FAR too scared to evervtouch her. Since she was cared for properly in the past, she reverted back to her old self quickly. She is still nervous of being picked up some days, but she gets through without biting anyone! She's totally healthy, despite being much older.
Then came Cali, the worst case. She's actually a Moluccan cockatoo about 20-years-old, and the only one with a leg band. We got her the week before Christmas because the owner couldn't deal with her self-mutilating. That is now healing very nicely, and we're fo using on the other issues. Twelve years ago she was stabbed by the owner's daughter. They couldn't afford a skin graft on her head, and the result has left her 100% blind in one eye, about 75% blind in the other one from skin and feathers blocking it, one ear damaged, and no head feathers aside from her crest. Even after surviving that, she was attacked by a dog a few years later and is missing one of her back claws. Then her owner put her in some situation that caused her to start mutilating. She stopped messing with the wound pretty much immediately after we got her, and hasn't touched the wound since. Once the mutilation wound completely heals, she'll undergo surgery to fix the blocked eye, and then we'll look into the other eye and head feathers.
And now, Sidney/Monkey. His name was changed when we got him. He's a fully feathered, and totally healthy Scarlet Macaw. He's about 12 years old, and was kept outside year-round. The owner did put in heat lamps, but not close enough to do any good. And during very cold nights, he ran a kerosene heater. Fumes and all. During warmer weather he would take the macaw and his three pet amazons outside and set them on a perch. And that was it. From the bird's responses, there was probably never any other interaction. The guy was hoping the amazons would befriend the macaw, but they never did. He really was by himself most times. Thus the owner gave up the macaw, and kept the amazons.
He's going to be the longest challenge because I've essentially got to train a 12-year-old macaw from square two (square one being step-up). He's lived 12 years without learning to trust pretty much anything.
So there's my now-complete family. Sidney was the last arrival yesterday morning. I'll try to post updates on his status as he continues to settle in.
Anyway, this guy is definitely going to be a challenge. Each of my parrots has a story, but this may be the one that will take longest. Definitely not the worst, just the longest.
Lola was the original. A Hahn's Macaw that was owned by druggies. As she stayed locked in her cage, they smoked, abused, and drank right there in the house with her. She was fed a cockatiel seed mix, and developed a crop infection. She was also a screamer. But just five years old, she was rescued, treated, and loved. However, Lola was later stolen from me by a family member.
Bazinga was next. She's a female blue and gold macaw. She's the type where her history is completely unknown prior to last year. Her owners at the time padlocked her in the cage, moved out of the house they were renting, and left her behind. The hot 100-degree Georgia summer, no electricity, no refills of food or water, and a cage literally locked up. The landlord found her several weeks later. Landlord gave the bird to her daughter, who didn't know how to care for her, then she came to us. She's a serial plucker now, but no mutilation, which we're okay with. The vet cleared her of any illness or disease, and she's estimated to be about 15.
Then came Baby Blue. Her story isn't nearly as bad. A Hyacinth Macaw owned by a doctor. She used to be held all the time when he first bought her and two others back in the 80's. But about 10 years ago, things changed and the birds became ignored. The other two died for different reasons. Baby Blue became completely ignored. The doctor hired caretakers to look after her. They fed her and gave her water, but were FAR too scared to evervtouch her. Since she was cared for properly in the past, she reverted back to her old self quickly. She is still nervous of being picked up some days, but she gets through without biting anyone! She's totally healthy, despite being much older.
Then came Cali, the worst case. She's actually a Moluccan cockatoo about 20-years-old, and the only one with a leg band. We got her the week before Christmas because the owner couldn't deal with her self-mutilating. That is now healing very nicely, and we're fo using on the other issues. Twelve years ago she was stabbed by the owner's daughter. They couldn't afford a skin graft on her head, and the result has left her 100% blind in one eye, about 75% blind in the other one from skin and feathers blocking it, one ear damaged, and no head feathers aside from her crest. Even after surviving that, she was attacked by a dog a few years later and is missing one of her back claws. Then her owner put her in some situation that caused her to start mutilating. She stopped messing with the wound pretty much immediately after we got her, and hasn't touched the wound since. Once the mutilation wound completely heals, she'll undergo surgery to fix the blocked eye, and then we'll look into the other eye and head feathers.
And now, Sidney/Monkey. His name was changed when we got him. He's a fully feathered, and totally healthy Scarlet Macaw. He's about 12 years old, and was kept outside year-round. The owner did put in heat lamps, but not close enough to do any good. And during very cold nights, he ran a kerosene heater. Fumes and all. During warmer weather he would take the macaw and his three pet amazons outside and set them on a perch. And that was it. From the bird's responses, there was probably never any other interaction. The guy was hoping the amazons would befriend the macaw, but they never did. He really was by himself most times. Thus the owner gave up the macaw, and kept the amazons.
He's going to be the longest challenge because I've essentially got to train a 12-year-old macaw from square two (square one being step-up). He's lived 12 years without learning to trust pretty much anything.
So there's my now-complete family. Sidney was the last arrival yesterday morning. I'll try to post updates on his status as he continues to settle in.
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