Our Re-home Rocky.. and a behavior question

[TheKomoman]

About 7 weeks ago we became the new parents of a 15 year old B&G. Rocky had been an older woman's bird who died about 4 years ago and had been in the care of one of the woman's sons. It was hard for him to give up Rocky as he speaks in the mom's voice and was the last tie to her, but his wife was scared of Rocky and they weren't really bird people and finally made the decision to find him a new home. My Timneh AG that I'd had for 21 years died about 3 years ago and we weren't looking for a bird but when you hear about one that needs a home....

So far it has been great. Rocky is a pretty easy going fellow, mind you he IS still a macaw, and we couldn't have asked for an easier adjustment period. He started eating right away and seemed at home very quickly. He would get on the previous owner's arm and immediately climb to his shoulder, but it was more of a forced thing rather than something he wanted to do. He's extremely interactive with us now and lets my wife & I scratch his head and back and even under his wings, but we don't have him stepping up yet. He'll take treats from our hands no problem, will let us touch his feet and bill through the cage, etc. We're taking the very slow and steady approach, working with him on targeting and rewarding good behaviors and I'm sure stepping up will come with time. He has also had to sort of re-learn how to play. I think the previous owners didn't give him many toys as he would "just destroy them right away." How you could have a bird like this for 4 years and not understand that they NEED to do that I'm not sure, but we have been introducing some smaller wooden toys that he's now destroying pretty well and his absolute favorite thing is to play with a nut threaded onto a bolt!

Now for the behavior question. For the last few days while he seems otherwise very much himself he hasn't been coming out of his cage for attention and play. We have a perch mounted to his door so that he has a place "outside" the cage to interact with us. He'll come down to it for a treat and I even did some targeting with him last night, but he had a bit of a short attention span and went back in before I ran out treat pieces. What I'm wondering/concerned about is that he had this large, very long toy hanging by his top perch that was pretty clearly a sexual surrogate(we may call him "he" but I have my doubts based on behavior..). It had gotten pretty ratty and was very much in the way of him getting on and off his top perch and we think was largely responsible for making his tail the mess that it is so we removed it. I have put a smaller wood toy in its place that is easier for him to maneuver past but what I'm wondering is if he's not missing that other toy. He IS going through a molt, or is nearing the end of it anyway. 2 weeks ago he was eating everything in sight but that has calmed down to what we were accustomed to as "normal" eating.

So I ask those with more macaw behavior experience than us... is occasional moodiness common enough to explain the last couple of days or is it perhaps a bit of frustration showing? He is still eating just fine, will still interact with us, playing with his nuts & bolts, foraging wheel, chewing on his wooden toys, but he's just not coming out to interact like he had been. You could usually just walk into the room and bang, he'd come out onto that door perch for attention. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Enough rambling... onto the important stuff.. pictures!

 

[GinaF]

Macs have their good days and bad days just like any other animal. It could just be that.

However, I've come to find out that some birds don't deal well with changes. This includes adding and subtracting things in the cage. Try replacing the toy that's missing and see if that makes a difference. If he snaps back to his old self, that's what it is. Then to remove it, place the toy in a different location and put something else in it's spot. Little by little keep moving the 'favorite' toy towards the door and eventually outside the cage.

In the meantime, keep going with target training and see how far you can get him to go without pushing him. Remember to reward him with a jackpot when he has a breakthrough!

How is he on having a bath and when's the last time? Birds don't like to get dusty. Dusty birds = itchy skin. If you're not able to get him out, take a pan of tepid water and place it in the bottom of the cage. I use a small cat litter pan at times where I can't handle a bird to put them in a shower.

 

[TheKomoman]

I hadn't considered a bath, but then that's why I asked! That's a great idea with the pan in the cage, we'll give that one a shot. Lord knows there's been a lot of dust with the molting, though Mac dust doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as what I was used to with my Grey. Thanks Gina!

 

[GinaF]

if he's going through a molt, he's going to appreciate a bath 2-3 times a week. You may have to splash some water around to get him interested but I can promise you he'll feel much better.

Take a good look at the new feathers coming in. They're wrapped in a hard, thick keratin sheath. When you break that sheath off, you have a soft feather. Now imagine that not only poking through your sensitive skin, but constantly stabbing you every time someone touches you. It hurts and it can make a bird really irritable. The bath will help soothe and soften those sheaths and help them break off easier. I put a 1/3 teaspoon of aloe (gotten from the health food store) into the water. That really helps soothe their itchy skin.

After he's dry, see if he'll let you preen his head and neck. Work in small 3-5 minute sessions. Not only will it help him, but it's a bonding experience for both of you. Talk softly the whole time and offer treats while you're doing it. Be gentle at first, breaking off just the tips. As time goes on, he'll let you go deeper.

If you need help preening and identifying which ones are ready to come off and which aren't, let me know.

 

[TheKomoman]

We've done a little preening with him, but he gets a bit grouchy with it so we're taking it slow. He's not nearly the pincushion he was 2 weeks ago though.

My wife put the toy back in this morning after she told me he was acting pretty much the same and she said he was VERY excited to see it and has spent a big part of the day up on the perch with his wing wrapped around it. I think it's a situation of asked & answered but we'll see how he reacts later on. We also just got him a foraging cage and she couldn't even get it hung in the cage before he already had a walnut destroyed so I think he's doing ok now!

 

[TheKomoman]

2 days back with his love toy and he's back to his old self. Lesson learned...

We were told he's 15, and the family from whom we got him had him from a weaned baby so I have no reason to doubt it, and while the behavior isn't bothersome we're curious what to expect. Assumption is his sexual behaviors will mellow with age?

 

[MikeyTN]

Omg do they have their days when they're just plain crazy....lol

From my observation as they go through their first major hormone is when they're most problematic but calms down for the next one but that doesn't mean they're calm calm, just a bit calmer.....Don't attempt ti remove any toys or change anything during settling period. Once he's well adjusted then you can add and remove toys as you please. If he would step up for you, you can bring him into the shower with you. My macs love that!