our baby macaw self-soothing

[_LB]

Sometimes when Piper is feeling very cuddly and we aren't giving him sufficient head scritches he takes care of the problem himself!

Anyone else have a bird who's learned to give themselves a head scritch?

 

[carpediem1230]

Yes. My bird has learned to do that. Oh wait, that's him in the pics. Oh wait, that's my shoulder too. hmm.

 

[MangieSun]

My 7 month old bare eyed too does this. Also scratches his chin. Lol. Too cute!

 

[mtdoramike]

Ahhhhh, he is precious for sure. Yep in a way, Tiki my Senegal will get under any of her toys that has a bell and will get it swinging and then stick her neck under it to get it to rub her neck.

 

[_LB]

Yes. My bird has learned to do that. Oh wait, that's him in the pics. Oh wait, that's my shoulder too. hmm.

And husband Alex makes his first post! Welcome to the Forum, Alex.

 

[_LB]

Ahhhhh, he is precious for sure. Yep in a way, Tiki my Senegal will get under any of her toys that has a bell and will get it swinging and then stick her neck under it to get it to rub her neck.

Ha, so cute. As we speak Piper is rubbing his head on a banana leaf wreath toy and looking at us sweetly.

Would love if other people posted pics!

 

[RavensGryf]

Sweet. I've mainly seen Macaws and Cockatoos do that, but I've also seen/or seen video of smaller species doing it too.

 

[noblemacaw]

My RFM Valentino does "self sooth" by petting himself. Its so cute to see him do that. He will do it if he is with me cuddling or on his Java tree or in cage it does not make a difference. I do massage each foot everyday during momma time when we cuddle to make sure they stay flexible and remain in good shape. I figure if he has to stand on a perch all day I can massage his feet for a few mins.

Here is a picture of Valentino lying on his side on my chest mouthing his foot and petting himself. LOL. So cute.

I almost got myself a blue throat macaw though Valentino's breeder. Almost. I realized that to have to parrots that are handfuls would be too much for me and don't think I could handle it. I am the primary caregiver of the parrots and there is only so much "macaw" I can handle. LOL. I love BTM though. Wonderful parrots!!

 

[thekarens]

I call this "I'm pitiful, come pet me." I've seen a lot of macaws do it.

 

[riaria]

Our cockatoo does that, while saying "tickle"... "tickle"... more and more intently until you give in. Adorable!

 

[_LB]

Here is a picture of Valentino lying on his side on my chest mouthing his foot and petting himself. LOL. So cute.

Thank you for sharing! That is so unbelievably cute.

I almost got myself a blue throat macaw though Valentino's breeder. Almost. I realized that to have to parrots that are handfuls would be too much for me and don't think I could handle it. I am the primary caregiver of the parrots and there is only so much "macaw" I can handle. LOL. I love BTM though. Wonderful parrots!!

Just out of curiosity, is your noble macaw "less" of a handful than Valentino? We sometimes whimsically talk about getting a second bird, probably a macaw, but at this point, even one macaw is macaw enough for me.

 

[Kissed82]

My B&G does it all the time, more so now that he is a giant pin head!

 

[noblemacaw]

The noble macaw is a wonderful parrot companion. They are very difficult to find though. My first noble macaw Mihijo I got in 1995. The pair that had him only produced that one clutch. Julio was a rescue that we adopted. Although he has some of the wonderful Noble macaw traits I love his abusive past hinders him in some ways. I also think no other bird even a noble macaw can ever be like my Mihijo was. He was very well socialized, was the only bird for several years and I spend a LOT of time training him to do tricks, even tricks that were not natural to parrots. Mihijo loved people and anyone could handle him.

I had another mini macaw named Diego. He was co-parented Illiger's macaw. He was well bred and because he was co parented he had some wild traits to him that made him pure macaw. I loved Diego and really enjoyed him. In some ways I think he prepared me for my RFM Valentino who is the most challenging parrot I ever lived with.

If I didn't already have Julio and was looking into a second parrot I narrowed my choice to a Panama amazon. Due to the research, what owners and breeders say about this species and with what I would like in my flock this is the best parrot for me. I thought about a yellow collar macaw but in reality this would be a smaller Valentino and I wanted more of a balance in my flock.

In my opinion and experience to have a BTM AND a RFM would of drove me INSANE. I am the main caretaker and who the parrots always bond too. To have two parrots with the somewhat same traits and challenges would be too much for me. I came really really close to getting a BTM when Valentino was a baby. For me getting the BTM would of been too much to handle.

I noticed you are in MPLS. I am in Oakdale. Over the years I have noticed the bird community with quality breeders are mostly gone. I find myself out of touch with our bird community and ended up getting my Valentino from one of the best macaw breeders in Texas. I would love to know where Piper came from as I would not be surprised if he came from the same breeder.

 

[_LB]

noblemacaw - I plan to send you a PM, as soon as I can get my post count up to the big number of 20 (I can't send PMs until I get to that number, I've just learned).

 

[goalerjones]

Hahnzel does that when he snuggles. He curls up next to my neck and places his foot around his face and puts a toe in his beak while I rub his back or neck.