Kentuckienne
Supporting Vendor
- Oct 9, 2016
- 2,747
- 1,648
- Parrots
- Roommates include Gus, Blue and gold macaw rescue and Coco, secondhand amazon
I am putting a Gus question in a separate thread here. Gus is a 14 year old B&G macaw with a hunchback. He has been with us for about a month now, so we are learning more about him and he's becoming more comfortable with us. Mating behavior is starting to become an issue, so I researched it here and formulated a plan. Looking for feedback.
1. Gus is DNA sexed according to his vet records, and he's a boy.
2. Gus lets me pet and scratch him, does not bite me, but is definitely more bonded to husband which is good.
3. Husband gets up early, 6 or 6:30 every day, wakes up Gus, delivers food and water.
4. Gus spends most of day amusing himself in cage, with toys, we are both in and out of the house a lot so he gets lots of attention, and I try to get in one good hang-out session in the early afternoon where he sits with me and lets me scratch his head.
5. Husband sits up watching TV in the evening until 10 or so, with Gus nearby or on shoulder. That's too long a day, I tell him. Gus ought to get half the day in the dark, I tell him. We need to cover his cage, I tell him. I'm not the boss of anyone, apparently.
6. Gus was very quiet in the beginning but starting last week he must feel more comfortable, because he unleashed some macaw weapons-grade screams. MAN.
7. Gus eats mostly pellets, we try to get him to eat fresh foods but he doesn't like veggies, does like sweet fruits like mango and orange.
8. Gus now pukes all the time. He swats the orange thing around madly and then regurgites into his mouth. He regurgitates for husband all the time. He doesn't actually deposit the material on anything yet, but I read that this can cause irritation of the esophagus so I would like to moderate the behavior.
9. Husband grooms lots of feathers Gus can't reach because of his deformities. For example, when we got him he had long sheaths on the base of the tail feathers as well as on the top of his head. He just can't reach around that far. Husband also likes to pet him all the way down his back and under the wings. Don't do that, I say. Encourages mating behavior, I say. I'm not the boss of anybody.
10. Gus has been interested in dark places since the beginning, but it's going into overdrive. Last night he was flopping on his side in hubby's lap which was cute, then he kept trying to poke his head under his shirt, which was adorable, then he was trying to pull his lounge pants into a fluffy nest which was adorable but alarming and actually bit him hard enough to draw a little blood. As you can imagine, this makes the pants-pulling a bit more alarming.
11. This morning Gus actually lunged at me ... He was between us, examine a dark place, and I moved. Not acceptable, must NIP. IT. IN. THE. BUD.
Based on what I've found through searching, it sounds as if Gus is feeling very amorous. We would like to stop the throwing up for health reasons, and stop the mating stuff since it can never lead to anything good, but keep his sweet cuddly nature sweet and cuddly. Gus can't preen his own tail feathers, so it is hard not to touch him there. What to do?
A. Impose a 12-hour day, for a start. How to do it ... Make a cage cover, don't take it off first thing in the morning, maybe wait until 8 am, then put him back to bed at 8 and put the cover on. Is that a good plan, or should we cut back the daylight gradually?
B. Stop giving him so many cashews and nuts, pieces of bread and pizza, potato and corn chips. I'm not the one doing it, don't look at me like that. He goes insane for chips, it's like parrot crack. Would it help if I gave him a chip instead of husband, or should he go cold turkey?
C. Don't touch him on the lower back or under the wings. Maybe once a week, check for feather sheaths on the tail and lower back. Confine all petting to head and neck and shoulders for now. This is a bit of a dilemma because he's not able to preen himself.
D. I read that paper shredding is stimulating of nesting behavior, but that's all Gus likes to do for play. His beak is not strong - he has trouble chewing the wood toys, he even has trouble ripping off the pieces of paper, but he loves it. Do we have to take the paper away? I ordered some chains, bells, whiffle balls, and cut some leather strips to make him some different toys, and I got some tongue depressors that might be easier to chew.
E. Is there any way to stop the regurgitation? If he's on husband, he can put him back on the stand or cage, but Gus does this when he's all alone. It might be he did this for the eight years he was neglected in a cage, we have no idea what's a new thing for him and what's a bad habit. I don't see any way to redirect his attention from it when we're not in the room, but I worry about his health.
F. He just has the full spectrum fluorescent lighting by his cage. The windows are low-E glass that doesn't transmit UV. Does he need a special light? What kind, for how long? Or would it make things worse?
Sorry for the long post, but I don't know what's important and what's trivial. I think husband is concerned enough last night after almost losing a valued body part to the nesting cause that he might be amenable to suggestions. It's not my parrot, why should I care, but it seems like now is the time to correct emerging behaviors before they become problematic. I wonder - maybe this is what got him exiled before, in his first home...I sure wish I knew more about his early life. Thanks in advance for any advice to help this poor baby (Gus, not me) (well, maybe a little bit me) settle down and fly right.
1. Gus is DNA sexed according to his vet records, and he's a boy.
2. Gus lets me pet and scratch him, does not bite me, but is definitely more bonded to husband which is good.
3. Husband gets up early, 6 or 6:30 every day, wakes up Gus, delivers food and water.
4. Gus spends most of day amusing himself in cage, with toys, we are both in and out of the house a lot so he gets lots of attention, and I try to get in one good hang-out session in the early afternoon where he sits with me and lets me scratch his head.
5. Husband sits up watching TV in the evening until 10 or so, with Gus nearby or on shoulder. That's too long a day, I tell him. Gus ought to get half the day in the dark, I tell him. We need to cover his cage, I tell him. I'm not the boss of anyone, apparently.
6. Gus was very quiet in the beginning but starting last week he must feel more comfortable, because he unleashed some macaw weapons-grade screams. MAN.
7. Gus eats mostly pellets, we try to get him to eat fresh foods but he doesn't like veggies, does like sweet fruits like mango and orange.
8. Gus now pukes all the time. He swats the orange thing around madly and then regurgites into his mouth. He regurgitates for husband all the time. He doesn't actually deposit the material on anything yet, but I read that this can cause irritation of the esophagus so I would like to moderate the behavior.
9. Husband grooms lots of feathers Gus can't reach because of his deformities. For example, when we got him he had long sheaths on the base of the tail feathers as well as on the top of his head. He just can't reach around that far. Husband also likes to pet him all the way down his back and under the wings. Don't do that, I say. Encourages mating behavior, I say. I'm not the boss of anybody.
10. Gus has been interested in dark places since the beginning, but it's going into overdrive. Last night he was flopping on his side in hubby's lap which was cute, then he kept trying to poke his head under his shirt, which was adorable, then he was trying to pull his lounge pants into a fluffy nest which was adorable but alarming and actually bit him hard enough to draw a little blood. As you can imagine, this makes the pants-pulling a bit more alarming.
11. This morning Gus actually lunged at me ... He was between us, examine a dark place, and I moved. Not acceptable, must NIP. IT. IN. THE. BUD.
Based on what I've found through searching, it sounds as if Gus is feeling very amorous. We would like to stop the throwing up for health reasons, and stop the mating stuff since it can never lead to anything good, but keep his sweet cuddly nature sweet and cuddly. Gus can't preen his own tail feathers, so it is hard not to touch him there. What to do?
A. Impose a 12-hour day, for a start. How to do it ... Make a cage cover, don't take it off first thing in the morning, maybe wait until 8 am, then put him back to bed at 8 and put the cover on. Is that a good plan, or should we cut back the daylight gradually?
B. Stop giving him so many cashews and nuts, pieces of bread and pizza, potato and corn chips. I'm not the one doing it, don't look at me like that. He goes insane for chips, it's like parrot crack. Would it help if I gave him a chip instead of husband, or should he go cold turkey?
C. Don't touch him on the lower back or under the wings. Maybe once a week, check for feather sheaths on the tail and lower back. Confine all petting to head and neck and shoulders for now. This is a bit of a dilemma because he's not able to preen himself.
D. I read that paper shredding is stimulating of nesting behavior, but that's all Gus likes to do for play. His beak is not strong - he has trouble chewing the wood toys, he even has trouble ripping off the pieces of paper, but he loves it. Do we have to take the paper away? I ordered some chains, bells, whiffle balls, and cut some leather strips to make him some different toys, and I got some tongue depressors that might be easier to chew.
E. Is there any way to stop the regurgitation? If he's on husband, he can put him back on the stand or cage, but Gus does this when he's all alone. It might be he did this for the eight years he was neglected in a cage, we have no idea what's a new thing for him and what's a bad habit. I don't see any way to redirect his attention from it when we're not in the room, but I worry about his health.
F. He just has the full spectrum fluorescent lighting by his cage. The windows are low-E glass that doesn't transmit UV. Does he need a special light? What kind, for how long? Or would it make things worse?
Sorry for the long post, but I don't know what's important and what's trivial. I think husband is concerned enough last night after almost losing a valued body part to the nesting cause that he might be amenable to suggestions. It's not my parrot, why should I care, but it seems like now is the time to correct emerging behaviors before they become problematic. I wonder - maybe this is what got him exiled before, in his first home...I sure wish I knew more about his early life. Thanks in advance for any advice to help this poor baby (Gus, not me) (well, maybe a little bit me) settle down and fly right.
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