Steps to take with a rescue

[holly6386]

Hi, i'm sorry i know i said i would be more active, but the truth is, when i read posts i may be able to offer advice in, i always think the experts already have it covered. Plus i don't want to give bad advice, and what works for me may not be the best solution....
Anyways of course i need help...i am about an hour from taking a little road trip to pick up a rescue macaw-i figured no matter his attitude, i have my playful well raised mac and i just want this guy to live the way he deserves, whether he likes me or not.
i bought my Jade from a wonderful knowledgeable owner who just got too busy with life, so i take no credit with how great he is, but i do maintain a firm stance with lunges and dealing with his "what will you let me do" period. but the guy im going to pick up has spent 10 yrs of his life in a cage i would say was too small for an amazon. (nice size for a conure), and no toys. I had a nice talk with a breeder i got my chi from about 2 months back and we continued talking...long story short she traded a puppy for this 10 yr old macaw she knew nothing about (i assume because i talked so highly of my birds a few months before) and she bit off a lot more than she can chew. she is terrified of him and asked if i wanted him (for a price of course). i was horrified at his living conditions when she sent me a pic so i just want to give him a life he deserves and i don't really expect anything back.....
However, i would like to give a relationship a good try and i have no experience with a monster macaw, just a monster sun who turned out great.
so do the same tactics apply? do i give him space for a few days then start with talking and offering treats, or do we start right away with step up and showing him what he can and cant get away with?
i will order his cage the second i get home with him, i didnt want to make a purchase that big and have it fall through, so he will be in his prison here for about a week...so slow and steady or hands on with what i expect from the get go?
i don't think it makes too much difference but he is either a calico or jubilee hybrid, i haven't had a good look at him to be 100% sure.
and yes i will be quarantining until we get to a vet and he gets a clean bill of health.
thanks so much, sorry for the long post!

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

I have no macaw experience, just wanted to let you know I would go get him too! I'm a sucker for the badly mistreated critters! I wish you all the luck in the world with him. I've heard of several macs treated that way who come to be loving boded birds when they get to a place where they are loved and treated right, so I know it can happen.

 

[MikeyTN]

Depending on how bad they freak out I would wait a few days or more to work with them. But most of the birds I've taken in I start working with them the very same day. Everyone have their own ways to go about it so do it at your own pace on what you feel most comfortable with.

When I took in Lola the macaw, she lunges at me and bites hard. But I had her trained pretty good within the hour. But I've been training many birds for many years.

 

[holly6386]

well he is home, he laid into me pretty good while i was at her house getting him into a carrier, but i have been giving him brazil nuts and touching his beak and talking calmly to him with his mouth full.
letting him rest now, i will try to work with him tomorrow, he seems eager for attention and to learn. we will be his 5th and last home.
thank you both for your advice!

 

[thekarens]

Congrats on your new addition! I have no doubt that with love and patience he'll come around quickly.

 

[holly6386]

so i guess we wont have issues after all...
he came around so fast!
We named him monster because he hissed at me when i would call him ricki...odd right?
so we named him Monster, because as i was leaving her house she yelled "good luck, that bird is a monster!"
i believed her because of the bites i have through a few layers of clothing when i was trying to get him from his cage to a carrier.
Today i have been allowed to pet him (the puffed up eyes closed head skritches), grab his beak, KISS his beak, and he welcomed a spray bath. where did the monster go???
so happy i was able to get him into a home full of love..and brazil nuts!

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Sounds like he already knows he is in a much better place full of love and care. He's gonna be what birdman calls a "mush mac" LOL

 

[IRNMom]

How awesome! They sure can tell a loving bird person! So great for you and the bird!

 

[Birdman666]

so i guess we wont have issues after all...
he came around so fast!
We named him monster because he hissed at me when i would call him ricki...odd right?
so we named him Monster, because as i was leaving her house she yelled "good luck, that bird is a monster!"
i believed her because of the bites i have through a few layers of clothing when i was trying to get him from his cage to a carrier.
Today i have been allowed to pet him (the puffed up eyes closed head skritches), grab his beak, KISS his beak, and he welcomed a spray bath. where did the monster go???
so happy i was able to get him into a home full of love..and brazil nuts!

STOP ME IF YOU'VE HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE!!!

The big thing with bringing in a new mac is to set the boundaries, and I believe in handling them as much as they will allow to start that bonding thing going... Looks like you do too.

The second thing is to make sure your existing big mac doesn't get jealous or feel he's being displaced, and incorporate the new bird into the flock setting.

When they haven't been getting the care or attention they need, and suddenly get it in spades... they turn around in short order. As you have already come to discover. That doesn't mean there won't be bumps in the road, or testing. That's normal. It's gonna happen. BUT these birds, as you know, aren't monsters at all. They're lap birds at heart... Maggie hadn't been handled in 8 years either when I got her... that is more a reflection on the humans than the bird. Probably means he's starved for attention! And you'll be giving him what he's been missing all these years... so, that speaks volumes for how quickly they bond. (Then the problem will be socializing them so they don't overbond.)

They turn into monsters when people who probably shouldn't have them, do. Love isn't the only thing they soak up like a sponge. Mistreat them and they do tend to get mad, and remember it... and it tends to be directed at the person who did it.

 

[Birdman666]

Depending on how bad they freak out I would wait a few days or more to work with them. But most of the birds I've taken in I start working with them the very same day. Everyone have their own ways to go about it so do it at your own pace on what you feel most comfortable with.

When I took in Lola the macaw, she lunges at me and bites hard. But I had her trained pretty good within the hour. But I've been training many birds for many years.

I'm with you. Sooner is better than later... if they accept you.

 

[holly6386]

Thank you! he has been amazing and wanted more attention than i could have expected today. It ended with him sitting in my lap and doing a tumble onto his back so i had to sit and hold him like a baby. Yes i took a picture of it and sent it to the lady i got him from! he also had a few hugs he squeezed into. A mush mac for sure!
Jade my milligold is more of a rough boy, he prefers beak wrestling and tug of war to a cuddle, but i can still sneak in some kisses and skritches before he demands more play.
So this is a completely different side of the macaw world for me.

i made sure to put him on a play stand in between attention to make sure he doesnt expect me 100% of the time. i do have other feather babies that need my love and a house that wont clean itself (if anyone figures that one out please fill me in!).

He hasnt met any of the other birds yet, but they have been talking to him. while i can't do a true quarantine, he is upstairs in his own room until he gets to the vet. The got me an appointment for tomorrow so i am hoping his blood and poo come back normal around the same time his new cage gets here. When (fingers crossed) it does i am going to put his cage a few feet from jades so they can meet on their own time. He look great, seems pretty resistant because despite his living conditions he just has a few patches of barbered wing feathers.
Hoping jade will adjust ok, like i said they have been calling back and forth and he still got plenty of love from me today. ive never been one to play favorites and i would feel horrible going crazy over a new bird in front of my fids, so hopefully all will be well.

i am assuming after the honeymoon we will have some attitudes to work on, but for now i am just loving how well he is taking to his new home.

i was hoping giving him the name monster would make for an adorably ironic name some day, and have a cute story for those who question it...but looks like we are already at that point.

 

[Birdman666]

You are describing Maggie's behavior to a T!!!

This bird was starved for attention and lap time. And I really seriously doubt this bird will turn on you any time soon, if she is finally getting the attention she needed.

Sounds to me like she just needed to be handled, not stuffed into some tiny cage!

Both of mine are lap birds. Both like to roughhouse...

Some monster, eh?! CUDDLE MONSTER!!! This is likely to become your most bonded bird, in short order, you know... !!! All the signs are there.

I still think there's a macaw gene. And the birds themselves know who has it, and who doesn't. If you do, even the crazed aggressive birds will sit on your lap, and lay their head on your shoulder and tell you their problems...

If you don't... well... watching you jump can be highly entertaining to a macaw. In fact, they can keep it up all day!

I don't know what else explains this sort of thing...

 

[holly6386]

You are describing Maggie's behavior to a T!!!

This bird was starved for attention and lap time. And I really seriously doubt this bird will turn on you any time soon, if she is finally getting the attention she needed.

Sounds to me like she just needed to be handled, not stuffed into some tiny cage!

Both of mine are lap birds. Both like to roughhouse...

Some monster, eh?! CUDDLE MONSTER!!! This is likely to become your most bonded bird, in short order, you know... !!! All the signs are there.

I still think there's a macaw gene. And the birds themselves know who has it, and who doesn't. If you do, even the crazed aggressive birds will sit on your lap, and lay their head on your shoulder and tell you their problems...

If you don't... well... watching you jump can be highly entertaining to a macaw. In fact, they can keep it up all day!

I don't know what else explains this sort of thing...

I would't mind one bit! jade picked my husband, after i bought him from a woman who would only sell to another female because he hated men...hah!! We have a great relationship, but nothing like what he and my husband have!

So i am really excited to see how great of a team we will be! It breaks my heart to see how bad he just wanted loved...i must admit i teared up a bit when he was in his baby pose....how horrible of people to take something so basic away from him.
i went to let him out of his cage this morning and he couldn"t have been more ready to start the day. Yesterday he sat in his cage and let me pet him for a while, then one he was out i had to put a hand in front and behind to get him to step up. This morning he ran over to me and put his foot up, i couldnt ask him quick enough!

I would hope i have the macaw gene! I believe i was 6 when i started asking for a macaw every christmas, birthday, tooth fairy visit! i probably sounded like a broken record to my poor parents! So whats a kid to do when the aren't getting the only thing the want in life?
read books, draw pictures, and watch documentaries! oh i was a dork! and it only got worse once the internet came around!
But it really is amazing how many people you learn have a deep fear of birds!
i think nearly everyone that comes over comments on how they would cry if one of them found their way over to them! Like really? not everyone wants a huge bird crawling all over them??? ...weird!

 

[Birdman666]

So i am really excited to see how great of a team we will be! It breaks my heart to see how bad he just wanted loved...i must admit i teared up a bit when he was in his baby pose....how horrible of people to take something so basic away from him.
i went to let him out of his cage this morning and he couldn"t have been more ready to start the day. Yesterday he sat in his cage and let me pet him for a while, then one he was out i had to put a hand in front and behind to get him to step up. This morning he ran over to me and put his foot up, i couldnt ask him quick enough!

Well, the good news is that you are about to be on the receiving end of this bird's "making up for lost time." Which, for all the talk about "birds with baggage" generally causes them to become exceptionally bonded, and exceptionally friendly...

That moment was just the first of many "thank you's" to come...

 

[holly6386]

Re: Steps to take with a rescue NOW WITH PICS!





I would have never thought, i was always so skepticle of a rescue bird because i have always heard the worst, but wow the love he has to give is amazing.

So his vet check was good, still waiting for the tests of course but overall he is a little underweight and he has a bit of atrophy in is wings. From what the vet said with the living conditions and inability to spread hie wings out he lost quite a bit of muscle.
I did notice how it was odd when he would stretch his wings out the would only go out to the side and even then the would just hang stretched out. When jade does "wings" his go straight up and out!
well we are going to work on it, so hopefully in time he will be perfectly healthy.

Well as a thank you for all of our help and support, here is the Monster!
and please excuse the decor, he is temporarily being housed in the kids playroom!

 

[thekarens]

Such a pretty boy. Congrats!

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

He is beautiful! Glad his vet visit went well.

Congratulations on your new "mush mac"

 

[denaz101]

What a beautiful bird!!

 

[Turk]

Monster is gorgeous! You did a very good thing, much respect!

 

[holly6386]

Thank you all so much! i was really hoping my last bird would be a camelot or harlequin...but sometimes life has something different in mind. He did turn into quite a handsome boy after his bath! i wouldn't trade him for anything. we have gotten so close in such a short amount of time