New Macaw Mom Needs Advice

[StephenAndKyleigh]

For the record I am completely jealous that someone is meeting Mark before I am.

Happy belated birthday good sir. My flock owes a lot to you and your knowledge...but they hate thing 2 fingers on beak thing ahah.

 

[JerseyWendy]

....

Happy belated birthday good sir. My flock owes a lot to you and your knowledge...but they hate thing 2 fingers on beak thing ahah.

Stephen, you haven't missed Mark's birthday. It's TODAY! http://www.parrotforums.com/off-topic/59106-happy-birthday-mark-birdman666.html#post540658

 

[Birdman666]

Rainbow is home, and he's an absolute doll!

You can always tell when a bird has been well loved. This one is well trained, and has obviously been well loved. I even beak wrestled with him nose to beak right out of the crate... he's very well trained, and has found a good new forever home.

 

[Anansi]

Nuh-uh. That was far too minimalist a post, Mark. We'll need you to be a bit more vocal than that, buddy.

And pics.

LOTS of pics.

 

[Birdman666]

Okay, so as usual I was way too busy playing with birds to take pictures...

Got a real treat driving up, as about a dozen deer ran by my car... NICE PLACE! Love it. If there are any pictures Kim took them... but I doubt it because she was way too busy being absolutely totally in love with Rainbow to take pictures.

Yeah, and Maggie was flirting with rainbow BIG TIME.

Second, Maggie has thrown off my perspective of "large macaw." I always thought B&G's were big birds. But Rainbow seemed so tiny to me... cuz I'm so used to Maggie, and she's kinda on the XXL side of the macaw scale. Today only reinforced the XXL. She just seemed huge...

Rainbow is a VERY pampered, and well trained parrot. He/she is as docile as they come. NO TRAINING REQUIRED. Just a total lover bird... We opened the crate, and he RAN up my arm, despite two other unfamiliar macaws already being on my person... He/she is as docile as these guys ever get. Shoulder bird. Bite pressure trained. Doesn't spook easily. Allowed me to touch him/her all over from, I don't know two minutes after meeting me, or less... Was pretty much giving frenchies to everyone who asked him/her for one, RIGHT OUT OF THE CRATE... Head upside down for extended head scratches, I don't know fifteen or twenty minutes after meeting me, and this was after a three and a half hour car ride in a crate, so, yeah, what a great bird!!! The only thing this bird needs is a good nail trim...

You can just tell... this bird was handled all the time, was loved, and soaks that love up, and gives it back to you. Readily went to everyone in the room. Allowed head scratchies from everyone in the room. Beak wrestled with me NOSE TO BEAK and that was with Sweepea on one shoulder, and Maggie on the other, so two unfamiliar macaws, plus my face in close proximity, and it was ALL GOOD... LET'S PLAY A GAME!

And you can just tell, this is going to be such a good fit for both bird and humans!

 

[Rainbow2016]

Many many thanks to Birdman/mark hat spent the afternoon with us. I met Maggie who is not fond of me And Sweetpea! After some Macaw 101 Rainbow arrived and is a big sweetheart!! She quickly showed us how loving she is and by the end of the night she was swinging by her beak in her perch and walking all over the bed grooming the dogs!! She spent the night on her perch without so much as a peep and readily came down for a scratch on the head and a ride to breakfast. She is quickly going to be an adored member of the Johnson funny farm!! Thank you so much Mark! Next time we will come visit you!!

 

[MosaicMadness]

That sounds like such an awesome start to a long and happy life together! Congrats

 

[JerseyWendy]

"She is quickly going to be an adored member of the Johnson funny farm!!" ROFLMAO!

What an absolute AWESOME update!!!

Can we beg for some pictures??? Pretty pretty please with Rainbow on top? :21:

 

[Psittaciformes]

Sounds like you guys had a blast!

 

[Birdman666]

Many many thanks to Birdman/mark hat spent the afternoon with us. I met Maggie who is not fond of me And Sweetpea! After some Macaw 101 Rainbow arrived and is a big sweetheart!! She quickly showed us how loving she is and by the end of the night she was swinging by her beak in her perch and walking all over the bed grooming the dogs!! She spent the night on her perch without so much as a peep and readily came down for a scratch on the head and a ride to breakfast. She is quickly going to be an adored member of the Johnson funny farm!! Thank you so much Mark! Next time we will come visit you!!

Yeah, it's very odd. Maggie did the whole macaw intimidation thing with Kim.

By the end of the night, Kim was able to just use one hand and put a stop to it. So, I guess in some respects it was a useful learning experience.

And you could just tell Rainbow was going to be a perfect fit, and an easy adjustment.

You're welcome anytime.

 

[Anansi]

What a wonderful update! Sounds like everything went ideally well, and that this bird has been trained and socialized to the point of being a real dream.

I'm sure Mark has already gone over this with you, but there is the chance that Rainbow might begin testing her boundaries a bit once she gets more comfortable in her new surroundings.

Don't be dismayed if this happens. But make sure to be consistent. She obviously has a solid foundation, training-wise, so it will only be a matter of integrating that training into your family's lifestyle and maintaining her level of socialization.

In all likelihood she's enjoyed a healthy level of interaction and mental stimulation up to this point, so carrying on in that tradition, along with remaining consistent with her set boundaries, should result in a relationship that continues to grow and thrive with time.

 

[Birdman666]

My flock owes a lot to you and your knowledge...but they hate thing 2 fingers on beak thing ahah.

You don't do it because they LIKE IT. You do it to prevent them from biting you.

Don't like it? Well, stop biting and I won't have to do that anymore. It's up to you bird...