New Macaw owner/guardian

[1Spongebob]

I just purchased a Harlequin Macaw 2 weeks ago. She is 14 years old. I was told that foot/nail deformaties can be common in hybrids. Is that true? She's super friendly & loves to be held. She plays fetch with a squeaky toy. But she won't stop licking me. She will try to do it for hours. Is there anyway to discourage her from shoving her tongue in my ear without having to cage her?

 

[Captsteve]

I just purchased a Harlequin Macaw 2 weeks ago. She is 14 years old. I was told that foot/nail deformaties can be common in hybrids. Is that true? She's super friendly & loves to be held. She plays fetch with a squeaky toy. But she won't stop licking me. She will try to do it for hours. Is there anyway to discourage her from shoving her tongue in my ear without having to cage her?

Yup, the cure for the dry willie is.....

Wait for it.....

GET USED TO IT!!

Somethings you just can't control and if you try to stop it at this early stage in your relationship it will most likely set you back light years in the bonding. Macaws take in most cases months to get to the point you are at right now. Don't do anything to slow her down and resent you. (besides, birds don't have spit anyway) she is just tasting you.

At least she isn't puking on you yet! That is a sign of REAL love!!!

 

[1Spongebob]

Too late. She gets car sick & puked on me on day 1. Thank you. So far I just put her in her cage for a half hour (still in same room) to give me a break. I'm home 24/7 so she & my Amazon have constant attention & out of cage time.

 

[Birdman666]

Is there anyway to discourage her from shoving her tongue in my ear without having to cage her?

Doesn't happen. Macaws explore the world with their tongues...

Honestly, you will get used to it. Fingers, arms, ears eyeballs, noses... it's a daily thing, often an hourly thing. They think they're grooming you. It's an I love you thing...

So is getting puked on...

It's gonna happen. It's a natural behavior, and you can't really train natural behaviors out of them.

There are a lot of big mac owners out there that can't handle their macaws. This means that the bird has accepted you, and is a loving, friendly mush mac... so consider yourself fortunate.

 

[Captsteve]

Birdman said exactly what I was trying to say!!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

..... I was told that foot/nail deformaties can be common in hybrids. Is that true? .....

Never heard of that one before.

Congrats on your new family member. She sure sound like an absolute sweetheart!

 

[Newbsi]

Better a dry willie than a ear piercing!

 

[Birdman666]

..... I was told that foot/nail deformaties can be common in hybrids. Is that true? .....

Never heard of that one before.

Nah. That one is a myth... perpetuated by people who don't want hybrids.

The most common deformity they get is a third eyeball growing out of the middle of their forehead... (Okay, I made that one up too!)

A hybrid is just another big mac with different colored feathers. They don't have any higher instances of anything than any other macaw.

Parrots do tend to injure their feet though.

 

[Birdman666]

Birdman said exactly what I was trying to say!!!

I was just backing you up... You had the right answer first.

 

[MikeyTN]

I just purchased a Harlequin Macaw 2 weeks ago. She is 14 years old. I was told that foot/nail deformaties can be common in hybrids. Is that true? She's super friendly & loves to be held. She plays fetch with a squeaky toy. But she won't stop licking me. She will try to do it for hours. Is there anyway to discourage her from shoving her tongue in my ear without having to cage her?

I have never heard of hybrids are more susceptible to deformaties. The deformaties comes from inbreeding, diseases, injury, bad gene, etc.

I don't find the tongue thing bothersome to cage her just because she licks. You can try to encourage her to do something else instead. Don't just lock her up because she licks, they could do a lot worse stuffs.

 

[1Spongebob]

I only put her in cage for 20 min at a time a few times a day. Her cage is HUGE & right next to me. It's not that I really mind the licking so much, but she will sit on my chest & lick my neck for 90 min straight. I had trouble with my Amazon because I put him in charge & he would start to get demanding. I don't want to make same mistake with a huge beak 2 inches from my eyes. She's pulling on my fingers now as I try to type this. So 60 - 90 min straight is not excessive?

 

[AJBirds]

Spongebob - I felt the same way about Pixie when I first got her, not because she was always licking, but because she demanded my constant, hands-on attention, which was exhausting!

I work from home, and when she was out, she used to want to be on me all the time (unclipped, so flew over whenever I put her down).

I need to be able to work - not spend all my time playing with my pet. Ultimately I decided that out of cage time would be a privilege, not a right, even though I'd initially wanted a mostly cage-free bird. Pixie is happy in her massive double cage (which takes up half my room) right next to me, has lots of toys, etc and can see/talk to me whenever she wants to. Infact, I spend a lot of time watching her and chatting, so she's gets attention all day. I take her out to do trick-training, flying, scritches, and general hanging out.

Pixie was so clingy at first that I was worried, but I put it down to her being so young (five-ish months now) and so new to us and the house. She's suddenly gotten a lot better - her "not on human but playing nicely on the stand" time has gradually increased.

So anyway, I don't think you can stop your macaw from licking you or doing other preening behaviours. But I think it's necessary for us humans to have a break from our demanding birds sometimes - kind of like moms needs breaks from their kids sometimes. I also don't want to make in-cage time seem like punishment; I've focused on making Pixie's cage a lovely home; but as a new bird-owner, the cage has given me time to work.

 

[thekarens]

No, it's not excessive. My mac spends more time with her tongue on me than not. She's almost always running it over me in one fashion or another. If she's not licking me she's got part of my body in her beak.

 

[Captsteve]

Welcome to the world of a demanding and very loving bird!! You are very lucky to have this good of a bond this quick. It is a baby, with time it will become more independent.

AJBirds gives some great ideas for you!

 

[Birdman666]

Just like large Toos, it pays dividends to structure your interaction with a macaw. Set up a routine, and stick to it.

This is when we get up.
This is when we get fed.
This is playtime with me.
This is the time you have to self entertain.
I have to work now.
This is more playtime with me.
This is dinner time.
This is quiet/cuddle time.
This is time for bed.

Once that routine is established, the bird will generally know it, and stick to it.

 

[AJBirds]

Birdman - absolutely!

With Pixie, I've learned that she's a manipulative little cutie who'll come onto her door-perch and act all adorable. Once she learns "No Pixie, I'm working," she'll be happier/quicker getting back to her cage toys. Most of the time (ok, always) it's the humans who teach the birds they can be pushed around.

 

[Birdman666]

birdman - absolutely!

With pixie, i've learned that she's a manipulative little cutie who'll come onto her door-perch and act all adorable. Once she learns "no pixie, i'm working," she'll be happier/quicker getting back to her cage toys. Most of the time (ok, always) it's the humans who teach the birds they can be pushed around.

and don't they just know who can, and who can't...