Please help my mom

[sdimatties]

My mother has owned a macaw, Dudley, for about 15 years now. He is about 29-30 years old. Before she owned him, he was abused and neglected. She has barely been able to hold him or pet him, but she has cared for him and loved him since the beginning. He has been a great member of the family, up until now. Almost a year ago, my mom went to go on vacation for a week to visit my grandparents. She ended up having a massive heart attack the day after her arrival. I was taking care of Dudley, but left to go be by her side. My boyfriend then started to take care of him. (We had lived with her for almost a year, so they both knew each other well.) She came back home about 6 weeks later, he was a little off, but we both figured he was acting up because he was mad she was gone for so long. We eventually had to move her and Dudley into my grandparent's house. His cage is in the living room and he is able to view the kitchen, dining room and the sun room. He has now started not letting her in his viewing area. If she is, he screams, tears up the newspaper in the bottom of his cage and throws food at my grandparent's dog (only to get her in trouble). She has still not fully recovered from her heart attack and cannot handle his behavior anymore. She has said that she is ready to get rid of him, but I fear that he will just get put down by a future owner since he is not very friendly. I live in an apartment and I have a baby on the way, I don't know if I am ready to take on taking care of him, but I would rather take him than have him put down.

Does anyone have any advice for my mother and I? Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Birdman666]

Kinda sounds like a lack of attention thing. The bird is angry for the perceived lack of attention, and acting up to get attention. If I can't get the good kind, I'll get the bad kind, because ANY is better than NONE.

How often was he caged and alone before vs. now? Outside the cage time is a critical factor in macaw behaviors. Sounds like he needs to be out and handled.

Screaming Big Macs and new born babies are generally a bad mix. Jealous big macs and babies are an even WORSE mix.

 

[Kiwibird]

How much attention was he getting before vs. getting now from your mom specifically (since it sounds like he liked her best)? He may have never been cuddly or even handleable, but deep down, he may have been very bonded to your mom and is now upset if she has not been giving him as much attention or concerned because he can sense she is weak and he doesn't have any other way to express his concerns and fears. There was a also more that triggered this than a extended period of time away from Dudley- he got moved into an entirely new home with a dog and more people too. It's all probably very overwhelming for him. What does need to happen is someone needs to step up and either start working with this bird to build his trust OR surrender him.

I think moving him in with you would be acceptable to save his life from euthanasia, but you probably shouldn't plan on it being a long-term arrangement unless he magically decided he loves you and the baby and settles right in (which lets be realistic, is doubtful). There are parrot rescues who take birds and do extensive screening to adopt them out to homes capable of caring for them. There's also sanctuaries, where the bird will remain st the facility with other birds for the remainder of their lives. Believe it or not, there are in fact people out there who look for 'problem' birds to work with who have the experience, ability and enjoy doing so. There is also always a chance of a bird just falling in love at first sight with someone who comes into a rescue, and who knows, maybe Dudley's "chosen one" is out there somewhere looking to adopt a macaw IF you did ever decide to rehome him, I do strongly encourage surrendering him to a shelter or sanctuary rather than trying to do it privately. They have a lot of experience screening out potentially bad arrangements that wouldn't work out for him.

 

[Birdman666]

There are rescues that will take the bird if it comes to that. Don't put him down if he's perfectly healthy! Bad behaviors can be fixed 99% of the time.

 

[GW.Joe]

Hello and Welcome to the forum!!

Sorry to have to "meet" you under these circumstances, But thank you for helping the bird and your grandmother!!

We should at least check to see what kind of help is in your general area, What town or city are you near?

 

[horsesculpter]

We adopted a macaw that had already lost three homes in her then short life. She hated us and behaved somewhat like Dudley. I think her heart was broken. Over the course of about a year she came to love us and although she will never be a cuddle bug she is our beloved child now. This is three and a half years latter. I think Dudley is suffering similar trauma. These are extremely intelligent and sensitive creatures. If your mother cannot wait out this out somehow then Dudley needs a new home with great understanding of the trauma he has endured. It took much time, love and understanding to reach where we are with our bird, but so worth it. My heart goes out to Dudley. Where are you?

 

[sdimatties]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I know that they previously lived with my grandparents where he isn't able to get out much because he does tease their dog or he tries to get anything near his cage and destroy it. When she was living near me, she only closed his cage when she left for work or if she wasn't home. He was able to stay on his cage, but a few days a week he was able to get down onto the floor where he would stand next to the coffee table and watch tv.

He is a very smart animal. He knows when there is a dog in the house because he starts yelling 'come here' 'come here, baby' and the dog comes and gets whatever Dudley drops and they get yelled at, then he laughs at them. He knows my mom has trouble hearing so when her cell phone rings, he says 'hello' until she answers. He knows her almost like a companion, which makes me think he is doing this because he knows she is weak right now and maybe she's not taking care of him like she did before, but I know she would if he would just let her get near him.

She is currently in NJ, but will be coming down to FL to help me take care of my 8 yo son and our newborn for a few weeks. She is hoping that she'll get back and feel better and maybe he will treat her differently. I know Dudley gets very jealous of my son (my mother always hugs him and says 'oh, my baby boy'-- the same thing she says to Dudley) and I don't know how he would handle the baby, but I know that him being here would be better than anywhere. I will do everything I can to get him back to the happy bird he was.

I will talk to her about all of this and see what she wants to do. Any additional advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[GW.Joe]

Please keep us informed, There are a few of us in PA, NY, NJ and DE

Maybe I forgot but who is going to watch the bird while she is in FLA?

All The Best Vibes sent your way !!

Joe

 

[sdimatties]

Thanks. My grandparents will be taking care of him while she is gone. My grandmother has been doing the majority of caring for him since he started acting like he has.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I think he needs to be let out . Im sure that's a huge part of the problem . Maybe they could take the dog outside to give this guy some out of cage time.