My jubilee macaw is home!

[Greenclaws]

Did you get Raja from Delorce's Bird Barn in South Carolina???

Yes, I did! How'd you know?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, I did! How'd you know?

When you mentioned South Carolina and Georgia, I had a pretty good hunch. We have a fellow member who's gotten a bird from her (them), and I truly hope she chimes in here now.

 

[Greenclaws]

She's nervous, but the more you handle them, the sooner they adjust, in my opinion. Once she figures out that she's in a good place where she's safe and loved, the adjust.

The longer you wait to give her that, the harder it is. I like to have them hit the ground running. Macs are confident birds. Adjusting to new things, and having it work out just fine, only boosts their confidence.

Patterning for a new place I think should begin right away. This is your new home. These are your new people. This is your new routine...

THAT, showing them the ropes, helps them adjust faster than leaving them to sit and try to figure it out on their own.

Now is the time to start teaching...

Thanks so much Birdman! This is what I needed the most assurance on. Like I said, I took this morning and afternoon off from work so I spent lots of time with her but waited on trying to get her out until I heard from someone. However I did stand with her cage door and talk to her lots and got her used to taking food from my hand with my palm outstretched. As far as taking small treats, she isn't testing biting my hand anymore. She hasn't gotten down from her top perch yet and the food and water bowls are by her bottom perch, so I've been feeding her pellets one at a time from my palm. We also had a successful handfeeding and she ate 120 cc's this morning. I came down to greet her and she was slowly bobbing her head at me!! I accidently splattered half her face with food because she was bobbing her head so fast, lol! She wipes it off on her cage though and is good as new.

On another note, there was one point where I held a really tasty treat out by the door and she tried to climb to me. But she got scared when her tail bumped the perch so she gave up and got back on it.

So, what you're saying is, when I get home this evening I should just take the plunge and bring her out of her cage and make her spent at least an hour out with us and on her stand?

I also picked up a big cage for her today. Just gotta sanitize it and buy all the hardware. Can anyone suggest a good easy to find bird-safe spray paint that gives you that speckled look? The cage has rust on one door, can't decide if I want to try and match the color or just redo the whole thing in an off-white.

 

[labell]

It was NOT a great experience! Too much miscommunication between the actual breeder who is elderly and the people she has hand feeding her babies! Lots of back and forth. Thankfully I was VERY experienced in hand feeding and parrots in general and knew that the advise I was being given was way wrong! A person with less experience or no experience handfeeding could be in real trouble listening to the advise that was given by these folks. Some of what was said to me was so old school and unhealthy for a baby that I cringed! When you talk to the breeder she is very loud, cuts you off, speaks with that southern drawl and "darling's" you a lot. I ended up getting louder than her, spoke my piece and that was the end of it, the whole situation on their end was just a nightmare and they were in the wrong but getting her to admit it at first was like pulling teeth! She did end up apologizing but I am telling you if I had been a newbie their advise could have gotten a baby killed!

 

[labell]

Please give us details to how you are hand feeding, normally I wouldn't ask but I know the advise given by these folks and it is not good.
What kind/brand of food, temp you are feeding? Do you have a scale to weigh the baby daily? Are you using a digital thermometer to check temp of food or the "wrist test"? Have you ever hand-fed?
When the baby gets that formula on them it is good hygiene to get it off, wash it off right away after eating while it is still soft once that stuff dries it's like cement!

 

[Kiwibird]

I also picked up a big cage for her today. Just gotta sanitize it and buy all the hardware. Can anyone suggest a good easy to find bird-safe spray paint that gives you that speckled look? The cage has rust on one door, can't decide if I want to try and match the color or just redo the whole thing in an off-white.

How bad is the rust? This topic (repainting cages) has been debated more times than you can count, and the general consensus is there is no safe paint someone can use at home. Even professional local companies who do powder coats are of questionable safety. Depending on the location and amount of rust, you could remove it as best possible with steel wool or similar and it would be less of a threat than paint...

Edit: There is a company out there that claims to make bird safe paint. Just how safe that paint is, I can't speak for that. I would personally be leery of painting anything my bird frequently had has mouth on though:

http://www.ecospaints.net/bird-cage-paint.html

 

[Birdman666]

I also picked up a big cage for her today. Just gotta sanitize it and buy all the hardware. Can anyone suggest a good easy to find bird-safe spray paint that gives you that speckled look? The cage has rust on one door, can't decide if I want to try and match the color or just redo the whole thing in an off-white.

How bad is the rust? This topic (repainting cages) has been debated more times than you can count, and the general consensus is there is no safe paint someone can use at home. Even professional local companies who do powder coats are of questionable safety. Depending on the location and amount of rust, you could remove it as best possible with steel wool or similar and it would be less of a threat than paint...

Edit: There is a company out there that claims to make bird safe paint. Just how safe that paint is, I can't speak for that. I would personally be leery of painting anything my bird frequently had has mouth on though:

All Products :: Pet Paints :: ECOS Bird Cage Paint -

Generally I consider it unsafe. Cages are powder coated, not painted. There is a reason for that.

And metal is toxic. Rust can lead to zinc poisoning.

 

[Kiwibird]

Generally I consider it unsafe. Cages are powder coated, not painted. There is a reason for that.

And metal is toxic. Rust can lead to zinc poisoning.

A tiny spot of minor rust (again depending on location and size) could be sanded down and covered in vet wrap to protect the bird from coming into contact with it. A major area of rust probably makes the cage unusable.

 

[Greenclaws]

Will answer questions ASAP, just saw then. I wanted to ask though: after handfeeding Raja tonight she kept making a quiet raspy "wraahhh.." Sound over and over. It sounds almost happy? Is it her being happy and content or is something wrong?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Shes baby begging wants your attention

 

[Greenclaws]

It was NOT a great experience! Too much miscommunication between the actual breeder who is elderly and the people she has hand feeding her babies! Lots of back and forth. Thankfully I was VERY experienced in hand feeding and parrots in general and knew that the advise I was being given was way wrong! A person with less experience or no experience handfeeding could be in real trouble listening to the advise that was given by these folks. Some of what was said to me was so old school and unhealthy for a baby that I cringed! When you talk to the breeder she is very loud, cuts you off, speaks with that southern drawl and "darling's" you a lot. I ended up getting louder than her, spoke my piece and that was the end of it, the whole situation on their end was just a nightmare and they were in the wrong but getting her to admit it at first was like pulling teeth! She did end up apologizing but I am telling you if I had been a newbie their advise could have gotten a baby killed!

I'm glad you chimed in. I spoke to one breeder who sounded like he had a heavy southern drawl, sold all his babies at 8 weeks old, and never answered any requests for pictures. Speaking to Delorce, I also got that impression of her cutting me off all the time and just being slightly standoffish. I started to wonder if for some reason she just didn't like me. I didn't really deal much with her outside of two phone calls. During the first one I told her some people online said that hybrid macaws were more prone to genetic disorders and if she knew anything about that or what the disorders could be. She snapped at me and said "Honey, you need to get off that Internet if you know what's good for you." Her reasoning was that a lot of people chime in on topics that they have no direct experience in. Which I understand, but I still think of the Internet as a great source of information. After that call she suggested I call Sandy since Sandy raised her for the most part and would know about her personality.

Sandy was much easier to communicate with than Delorce so I'm glad she was the main person I dealt with. However she didn't tell me until we met and she brought Raja to my house that Raja was a completely different bird when she came to her. She said she was so scared, just terrified of everything. Apparently Delorce couldn't believe how she'd become so loving. I don't know if it was because she didn't get enough socialization before going to Sandy, or if Sandy just got her shortly after she was pulled from her parents.

After the interaction with those three bird people and then meeting the mean snappy older southern lady who sold me her bird cage, I was seriously wondering if there was something about me that bird people in particular didn't like or if it was just a bird person thing. Maybe just strange coincidence, since most everyone I interact with is nothing like that. So thank you for sharing, I feel better. I'm sorry you had to go through that to get your baby. How is he/she doing now? How old was it when you bought it?

 

[Greenclaws]

Please give us details to how you are hand feeding, normally I wouldn't ask but I know the advise given by these folks and it is not good.
What kind/brand of food, temp you are feeding? Do you have a scale to weigh the baby daily? Are you using a digital thermometer to check temp of food or the "wrist test"? Have you ever hand-fed?
When the baby gets that formula on them it is good hygiene to get it off, wash it off right away after eating while it is still soft once that stuff dries it's like cement!

No problem, hopefully you can give me pointers or let me know if I'm doing anything wrong:

I'm feeding Zupreem Embrace Plus formula. It's what she was eating with Sandy. I also got her a small bag of Zupreem pellets because I'm considering switching. The bird store owner/breeder I bought it from said he didn't think there was any difference between Zupreem and Harrison's, or not enough to justify the price difference. I know with a lot of pet food, freshness can be more important than brand. What would you all suggest?

Here's how I feed her:
I'm feeding once in the morning and again the evening when I get home (around 6.)
I use an electric kettle that I only ever put water in. I use filtered water from the fridge, heat it until I can just see bubbles started to rise up. (Three or four more seconds and its a rolling boil, its very fast.)
I use a half cup of the hot water and pour it over a quarter cup of the formula (which I portioned off and is frozen in portions and I keep one in the fridge.)
I use a fork and wisk it for thirty seconds until its even and the consistently of melted cheese.
I use a digital thermometer to test the upper middle and bottom of the bowl for even and accurate temperature. She told me to aim for 108-110 degrees.
Then I suck up the formula with a 60cc plastic syringe and squirt the first part of it on my wrist just to make sure. Im paranoid so i usually check a few timea from sifferent areas in the bowl. I've found that 110 feels slightly too warm on my skin which concerns me so I stir until its 108 and by the time she eats it, it might be 107.
I feed her on the left side of her beak with my right hand and put the syringe over her tongue and point to the back right of her throat (my left.)
I don't hold her head because they didn't say it was necesarry. I just slowly squeeze the food in and when she starts bobbing ready hard and shakes her head, I stop and let her pause for a second until she asks for more. She usually eats about 15-20 mLs each time. She eats about 100-150 cc's per meal.
I feed her on the back on a padded chair that makes a nice stable perch. I drape a towel over it in case she poops. When she's done eating and starts making her raspy baby noises, she'll start wiping her beak and face on the perch/towel afterwards to clean up. (We are getting cleaner with each meal)
Cleanup: is disassemble the syringe and wash everything with soup and hot water and leave it detached to dry. I use a new freahly washed bowl every time I prepare the food.

I'm sure I'm missing something. Their advice to me was basically "microwave some water, mix it 2:1 with the formula, wisk, make sure its 108-110 degrees, then just squeeze it in her mouth".

On a side note: her poops are mostly clear liquid with little splatters of green and white mixed in. However the green and white solids are too small compared to the clear liquid for them to form any substantial mound. Is that just how the poop looks when they're still handfeeding?

I fed her her pellets through the morning and afternoon one at a time from my palm, I also held her water up to her to let her drink, since she hasn't made it down to the lower perch where the bowl holders are. However by evening time (I was at a reception dinner for a scholarship foundation this evening so didn't make it home by my usual time ) , my boyfriend said she came down to eat her pellets on her own and came out of the cage on her own! By the time I got home at 8:30pm, her food bowl was almost empty.

I bought fresh fruits and veggies for her just now. She didn't like the wet texture of the lettuce or green bean I tried giving her today. Hopefully some fruits will get her experimenting more with food! They said she was trying them at her old home but sounds like she primarily ate pellets.

 

[Greenclaws]

Generally I consider it unsafe. Cages are powder coated, not painted. There is a reason for that.

And metal is toxic. Rust can lead to zinc poisoning.

A tiny spot of minor rust (again depending on location and size) could be sanded down and covered in vet wrap to protect the bird from coming into contact with it. A major area of rust probably makes the cage unusable.

The rest of the cage has all of the powder coating in tact, there's just one of the solid doors (not bars but one sheet) that keeps the food bowls in that is starting to rust. It's not bad and its on the outside where the bird can't reach it. It's mostly just the powder coating peeling off and some rust below.

I'm not going to repaint the cage. I called the manufacturer and they are going to send me a replacement door and I also bought replacement bowls and their assemblies since the lady I bought it from lost all that. (And pretended to be surprised when it was all missing when I was looking everything over)

All of the bars and everything within the birds reach show no rust at all.

I'm just going to scrub and sterilize it and sand off the small rust on the outside of the food bowl door and use it as-is until the replacement door and bowls arrives. Does that sound ok?

Also, any creative ways of securing stainless steel bowls to cage bars? I think I'll just buy heavy stainless steel wires/thin rods and then bend them around the bowl lips and twist them together around the cage bars. (Twists facing away on the outside where the bird can't reach.)

 

[Greenclaws]

I wish I could post more pictures and videos but I exceeded my limit as far as total size of all my attachments. Is there any way around that? Just host on an external site and use HTML to imbed picture links? She is so cute I want to share more with you guys! It's the only way I can thank you all for all of your help!!

 

[Mattroma]

I wish I could post more pictures and videos but I exceeded my limit as far as total size of all my attachments. Is there any way around that? Just host on an external site and use HTML to imbed picture links? She is so cute I want to share more with you guys! It's the only way I can thank you all for all of your help!!

I believe users use photobucket. They link the pictures into their post.

 

[Greenclaws]

Here's a video of her after her dinner last night!

[ame=http://youtu.be/8JZ8b0BWDEM?list=UUK-V7zL8_wJEz-DCaTqye7w]Four month old Jubilee macaw - YouTube[/ame]

Ive been trying to get her to say "mama". sorry, i know i sound like a broken record in the video! lol. We had a full on conversation where i'd say "mama" and she's go "maahhh" or "wraahhh" or "wrah-wrahh" and a few came out that sounded like "maaamaaa". We went back and forth for a good thirty seconds before i got my phone out to record, and of course, she stopped.

Will post more pictures and videos tonight! We had a good little play session on the floor this morning and i got some cute videos

 

[Kiwibird]

I assumed you wouldn't buy a cage so rusted out it would be unusable. Powder coat cages are wrought iron underneath, so any chip will rust. Minor ones can be death with easily enough with "DIY" fixes. I think sanding it would be fine as a temporary measure. Glad you found the replacement door though!

As for dishes (assuming you mean for temporary use until the permanent ones arrive?) just go to petsmart or petco and buy a pair of screw-on dishes. They're pretty cheap and could even be moved to other spots in the cage to put foot toys or treats in once the permanent dishes arrive:

All Living Things® Tutti Fruitti Bird Crock | Feeders | PetSmart

 

[Kiwibird]

Awww... that video is too cute. What she's REALLY saying is "I'm a bit too young to say mama yet. I will take more scritches under the wing please and give you grunts of joy".

 

[labell]

Sounds good! The temp you are going for is much better many breeders feed at 110 because they are feeding more than one baby and they don't want it to cool off but 110 is too hot.

 

[Greenclaws]

Awww... that video is too cute. What she's REALLY saying is "I'm a bit too young to say mama yet. I will take more scritches under the wing please and give you grunts of joy".

Hahaha! Yeah hearing those little baby grunts reminds me of how young she is. The rest of the time she's chewing and shaking her toys and acting spunky! Once she gets her food though, total baby!

Its funny, my roommates heard her making those grunts and were like "she sounds sad! somethings wrong!" Granted, they did start out sounding much more small and pathetic and then progressed to that raspy grunting after two minutes.

Im trying to get her to say mama because her handfeeder swore that she could say it! They didnt believe their ears but when she was being kept in a rubbermaid container, her handfeeder left the room and she crawled out of the rubbermaid and followed her saying "mama, mama!" Her husband didnt believe her until he heard it for himself. The lady said she also says "I love you". I know they're all different but what's a normal age for a macaw to start talking regularly?