Need help So I came here..

[RubyRed]

I have four macaws. Two have problems I don't know what to do..

Ruby destroys her tail with no reason. She shreads it and peels it..

Buster bites his tail off about four inches down.. He looks like a blue cockatoo.. I don't know what to do.. Anyone have and advice?

I have four and the other two are fine and don't do anything like that.. But the two are healthy and spoiled individuals. Buster hates me and won't let me pick him up, but he has my father for all of that and Ruby is simply my own. She has plenty to chew on and play with and she won't.. Help help help:red:

 

[henpecked]

How long have you had the two? How long has this been going on ? When did it start? It's either behavioral (ie;stress) , diet/health/disease . We need alittle more history.

 

[RubyRed]

She has been doing this since we got her and I got her from a breeder.. who was mistreating her also.. in about august.. But she had no signs of doing this at the time. No disease or issues with diet. She has a pretty balanced diet and maybe a little too many almonds but hey, she gets spoiled.

As far as Buster. We've had him since he was ten months. Never had any problems with anger or shreading before. He is naturally a biter of nails and stuff and button of course but tails? No. Never. He has a balanced diet also.. But since we brought the other male into the house (phantom and ruby were a pair) I fear that his attitude has simply become unbearable. He bites and has become violent. He is territorial and I fear it is from Ruby and now I can't handle him at all. It gets very very bad when I handle my birds a lot in front of him. JP and Buster my dad now cares for. Ruby and Phantom are mine.. And if I pick up phantom.. Buster will loose his mind... Pacing and etc.. but not with Ruby. A few weeks ago I picked up Buster and we did our "step up" routine over and over and he let me handle him and play for about 15 min.. so I walked down the hall to ensure some movement.. About half way down the hall he lost it, bit a hole through my ear and crushed my cartlidge.. in my ear.. He now will not even allow me near his cage without biting me to the point of bone bruising.. and I am a skinny girl.. So it stays for a long time.. I have decided I need to wait and see if this gets any better.. Never in my LIFE. He used to be such a GREAT bird! I don't know what to do! He isn't the same at all!

 

[henpecked]

i guess this is the classic example of how your taking a risk when adding another bird to your flock. I'm having trouble following the time line with the different names. It doesn't sound like you've had any of the birds very long. A little insight, large parrots mate for life, they don't like to share their mate with anyone. The "shredding" is probably due to stress of the new birds in the home. The bonded pair are fine because they have each other. The single birds are stressed from you "playing " with the pair "in front" of them. Diet? "Balanced diet" worries me, what does that mean? I don't think diet is the issue in this case anyway. Have you considered not playing with the other birds in front of Buster? Have you thought about removing the other birds to a different area of the house? IMO your flock has grown too fast, I have no magic answer to fix it now. Part of companion parrot ownership is seeing the world though their eyes, they need to feel safe and secure. You knew Buster was stressing from you playing with the new birds, like me, he's worried about where your loyalty lies. Have any of the pluckers been to a Vet? Could one of the new birds introduced mites in to your home?