Rescued B&G macaw questions

[ozzybird608]

Hello,
Recently my boyfriend and I have adopted a 5 year old B&G Macaw. He was picked on by the previous owners son and has a large distrust in men however seems to do ok with most women that come around him. He has bonded with me and sometimes lashes out at my boyfriend and bites him. Do you guys have any suggestions on how to have him build trust with our bird?
Also, he screams ALOTTTT everytime we walk out of the room you can count down less than five seconds before he starts. We ignore him and get out of his sight until after he has quieted down for a while but after almost a month of doing this he doesnt seem to get the hint. Any idea as to why he feels the need to scream so much or how to stop it?

Also, when i am holding him he will lick me alot is this normal behavior?

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Sulphiria]

Sounds kind of like our situation. We brought home a B&G a week ago, and hes bonded with my boyfriend VERY well. He can already pick him up and cuddle with him. So jealous am I! But this also means you have a great relationship with him and he respects you and will listen to you. When he does bite, *you* tell him no so that he knows it's something you do not agree with. Make sure you correct him. Have your boyfriend be the one to give him treats, and when he does let your boyfriend touch him or interact with him, make sure you give him lots of praise for it.
Our doesnt usually get loud at all. Does he have plenty of toys to keep him busy? trying rolling up some newspapers for him to chew on to distract him when you do leave. Make sure to praise him when he is quiet and reward him by spending a few minutes with him. These guys are smart and it shouldnt take long for him to figure out he gets attention when hes being quiet.
And I think the licking is normal... ours tastes *everything*

 

[ozzybird608]

Thanks! He has lots of toys and i switch them out every week or two with new ones so he always has something new and interesting to play with and rotate the old toys back in. I've been ignoring him when he screams and a few minutes after he calms down going in and taking him out of the cage. I just dont know what else to do but my poor dogs it hurts their ears and they howl when he does it in pain :-( i feel so bad for my pups. I hope that the habit breaks because it is unbearable at times.

Thanks for your help!

 

[JJones1719]

You have to start with rewarding the macaw for being quiet. Ignore the screams or give time outs with covering their cage with a blanket for no more then 5 min at a time. Licking is a form of kisses for all Parrots.
Macaws do tend to be a one person bird so please keep this in mind.
The best way to form bonds is to include your Macaw with everything you do, this means, eating, showering, going for car trips to pet stores for supplies. play time. spending time with the macaw is very important and and helps to form the bond quicker. best of luck Joe

 

[Sulphiria]

So today I got brave and when he lunged at me, I let him have my hand.. he tasted and tasted then turned around and wanted me to pick him up! That didnt take long.

 

[Mike]

Great. I've noticed that when one of my daughters jerks her hand back the sudden movement startles Mardy. If you were doing that it might explain why the bird wasn't taking to you as quickly as your boyfriend. Remember that a Macaw does a lot more with it's beak than just bite. Most of the time the poor thing is just trying to hold on to something for balance. When you remove your hand you're removing the bird's support brace. Of course, biting is different, and it is hard to tell which they are intending. I can tell you with Mardy that she's mostly bluffs and pinches. Her bites are not like my daughters' Hahns or Sun Conure. Those bird's bites hurt. I heard it said that a small bird's bite is like a pair of scissors (cutting), where a large bird's bite is more like a pair of pliers (crushing).

 

[ozzybird608]

Thanks for the help! Ozzy deffinatly has bonded with me and i take him around the house with me to do things such as cook, clean, garden, or whatever else. We have a nice back yard so we let him have free reign of the railings outside (we have a big porch). His previous owners didnt let him out of the cage almost ever so i think he really enjoys this. He had full flight wings however his previous owners said he has never flown. We are interested in teaching him how to fly as ive heard its so much better for them. Has anyone had any experience with this?

sulphiria: I had to do the same thing with ozzy and now he lets me pick him up alot i do however sometimes have to get him out of his cage with a dowel in order for him to come out of the cage but then he steps right up for me.

I have noticed that since i have bonded with him he has started to be nicer to my boyfriend as well i hope that he can somewhat bond with him as well as he is my boyfriends bird. But im just glad to see such vast improvments in the few months that we have had him.
Now if only i can get the screaming to subside! haha