Need some advice ; new macaw mom part 2

[reinaaa]

Hey everyone!
So its been a few weeks since I adopted my 30 year old Blue and Gold Macaw, Sunny. The first week or two things seemed fine, but lately Sunny has become extremely distructive, and can get extremely agitated. I have a guinea pig as well, Charlie and he has his own little guinea pig cage. Sunny has become obsessed with Charlie's cage, and whenever we let him out he seems fixated on going into the cage whether charlie is in there or not which is a pretty scary thing since one bite from sunny and charlie is history. It got to a point where I am now moving charlie's cage into my room every morning to avoid him bothering charlie. Not to mention, whenever Sunny gets to charlie's cage he becomes extremely aggrivated and chews aggressively on the plastic material, if I come anywhere near him, he will lunge at me or become even more angry. My mom and Sunny have a better bond, he even lets her pet him now, but even if my mom tells sunny to go back to his cage, or no he does not listen and it seems like we will never be able to control him. I know it is going to take a lot more than a month to earn this little guy's trust and work with him so he can be apart of the family not a disruption but I need some advice on what to do about his aggression

 

[Selestine]

You can station train him so that he stays on an approved perch rather than wandering when he is let out. You could also train him to step up onto a stick so that you aren't getting bit when he is feeling ornery and you need to get him off of your guinea pig's cage.

My personal feeling is that whenever he goes to the guinea pig cage he should be taken away from it and made to know that it isn't acceptable (onto the stick and back into the cage, naughty boy!). You might have better luck preventing him from getting there in the first place. Stop him before he makes it there and put him back where he is supposed to be.

The place where he is supposed to be needs to feel more rewarding than going to Charlie's cage. Whether because going to Charlie's cage means a time out, or because Sunny's designated spot is made to be more interesting than Charlie's cage. Praise him and give him treats when he IS where he is supposed to be. Not just when you put him there, but periodically as he stays there.

You could also try to make the guinea pig cage less appealing to him. Maybe hang some cloth that blocks his view of it?

 

[Birdman666]

I'm thinking that this may be a territorial intrustrusion issue, he doesn't like having the guinea pig in "his" territory, and he is intent on going after it.

Either that or the opposite is true, he sees the guinea pig as a toy, is curious about it, and wants to play with it....

Either way it doesn't bode well for the guinea pig. I would keep them separated.

 

[reinaaa]

When i adopted Sunny, his previous owner gave me a stick that she had always used to get him to step up and do things that she wanted. When I use this stick for Sunny to step up, he attacks it. Whatever time of day or wherever he is if he sees the stick he become very aggressive toward it and refuses to step up at all, only attacks it. Im going to have my boyfriend make me another one, but T shaped and hopefully he wont be as aggressive toward it (My boyfriend thinks his previous owner may have abused him with the stick she gave my mom and I). But im going to try and spice up sunny's cage so hopefully he will like being around it. Thank you!

 

[reinaaa]

I'm thinking that this may be a territorial intrustrusion issue, he doesn't like having the guinea pig in "his" territory, and he is intent on going after it.

Either that or the opposite is true, he sees the guinea pig as a toy, is curious about it, and wants to play with it....

Either way it doesn't bode well for the guinea pig. I would keep them separated.

When i find Sunny on my guinea pig's cage I take him out immediately to avoid getting bit by Sunny. Even after i take Charlie away, Sunny will stay on charlie's cage and even finds his way into the cage and rubs his beak on the hay, and chews on the plastic tub itself. It seems like he just likes the cage itself and not necessarily charlie. I want to believe he is just curious about Charlie, but the second or third time he made his way into Charlie's cage I actually saw Sunny opening his beak to bite charlie (or what it looked like) and then i distracted him and took charlie out. So I agree completely, they need to be kept apart.

 

[Selestine]

Poor Sunny Hopefully a new stick that doesn't look like the old one will help. Maybe you could wrap it in colorful vetwrap to help it look more different?

And just.. I guess.. try to give him positive associations with the stick. Even if he won't step up on it right away, you could show him the stick -- then give a treat. Bring the stick closer -- give a treat, etc, etc. Then, hopefully, eventually he will associate it with good things instead.

 

[Birdman666]

My red lored amazon was beaten with a stick, and the sight of them used to send her into an uncontrolled rage. I used a thick towel wrapped around my arm. Didn't hurt if she bit me, and she wasn't afraid of it. AND it showed I wasn't afraid of her. So, that would be my suggestion.

Why people hit these creatures with perches is beyond me. They won't obey when you do stuff like that, it just makes them fearful and aggressive! All trust goes out the window if you hurt them!