Steps to take with a rescue

[Birdman666]

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

Isn't it funny how that works?! The last people couldn't wait to get rid of him, and considered him a monster.

And a week or two later, you can't live without him...

I'm telling you, with a "mush mac" he's just getting started! There's more to come!

 

[Ltygress]

Isn't it always like that? Those people clearly have no idea how to "speak macaw".

My Hy was owned by a doctor who had her for 30 years. Twelve years ago, the doctor stopped caring for them. He hired someone to do it. But THOSE people were deathly afraid she would bite them! As a result her beak and nails overgrew and never got trimmed, which just worsened the effect. And she was locked up in a room alone, in a huge house, with nothing but a giant cage. Her loud squawks echoed horribly!

When I went to pick her up, the hired caretakers told me I would have to get her out of the cage myself - at my own risk. She hadn't been held in 12 years! Within minutes she was in my arms, cuddled up, and calm as a sleepy baby. These ladies were so shocked, I gained a moment of celebrity status with phone cameras clicking from all directions. They just couldn't believe it!

 

[thekarens]

Come on, let's be honest, we all know that they are vicious!

 

[miloslave]

Wow, what beautiful birds! I love how they cuddle up to you in the photos!

 

[Birdman666]

Isn't it always like that? Those people clearly have no idea how to "speak macaw".

My Hy was owned by a doctor who had her for 30 years. Twelve years ago, the doctor stopped caring for them. He hired someone to do it. But THOSE people were deathly afraid she would bite them! As a result her beak and nails overgrew and never got trimmed, which just worsened the effect. And she was locked up in a room alone, in a huge house, with nothing but a giant cage. Her loud squawks echoed horribly!

When I went to pick her up, the hired caretakers told me I would have to get her out of the cage myself - at my own risk. She hadn't been held in 12 years! Within minutes she was in my arms, cuddled up, and calm as a sleepy baby. These ladies were so shocked, I gained a moment of celebrity status with phone cameras clicking from all directions. They just couldn't believe it!

I do not get that at all. "Status bird." That's like wanting children, and then hiring a nanny to take care of them, because you can't actually be bothered. THEN sending them off to boarding school.

YEP! With Maggie, it had been eight years... she was nervous at first. Didn't quite know what was happening. It took her about four days to get in the swing of things, after that she wanted to be picked up and played with all the time. It came back quickly... they really do bounce right back if you work with them.

 

[Birdman666]

Come on, let's be honest, we all know that they are vicious!

Let's see, there's MUSH, MUSHIER, AND MUSHIEST!

Zoe falls under Mushiest...

 

[Birdman666]

Wow, what beautiful birds! I love how they cuddle up to you in the photos!

Photos don't actually do this stuff justice... it's even better than it looks (most of the time.) Of course, there is a certain amount of aggravation that comes with it, but it's soooooo worth it!!!

But then, I have "the macaw gene."

Those that don't think I'm crazy. (And they might actually have a point every now and then.)

 

[Birdman666]

Isn't it always like that? Those people clearly have no idea how to "speak macaw".

My Hy was owned by a doctor who had her for 30 years. Twelve years ago, the doctor stopped caring for them. He hired someone to do it. But THOSE people were deathly afraid she would bite them! As a result her beak and nails overgrew and never got trimmed, which just worsened the effect. And she was locked up in a room alone, in a huge house, with nothing but a giant cage. Her loud squawks echoed horribly!

When I went to pick her up, the hired caretakers told me I would have to get her out of the cage myself - at my own risk. She hadn't been held in 12 years! Within minutes she was in my arms, cuddled up, and calm as a sleepy baby. These ladies were so shocked, I gained a moment of celebrity status with phone cameras clicking from all directions. They just couldn't believe it!

One of my friends in California was a hyacinth breeder. My daughter was handling those birds at the age of 7... cuz it's ever so risky getting a tongue shoved into your eyeball!

Most macaws have two speeds. Cuddle mode and Play mode.

 

[Ltygress]

Haha! Tongue shoved into your eyeball... lmao!

My mom's blue and gold is MUCH worse than this Hy. The entire family has been bitten twice by that B&G. But my Hy hasn't bitten anyone.

 

[Birdman666]

There was only one Hy I ever played with that was anything approaching aggressive was one who lost his mate... all he knew was humans came and got her and she didn't come back. (She was very sick, and needed life saving surgery, and did not survive.) He became very, very angry after he lost his mate. I couldn't believe it was the same bird I'd been playing with for five years... and I think that speaks volumes about the love they have for each other.

ALL the other birds were 110% mush macs.

And, lets face it, when you're "socializing babies" (i.e. playing with a room full of happy not-all-there yet) Hys... it just doesn't get any better than that!

 

[Birdman666]

Haha! Tongue shoved into your eyeball... lmao!

DON'T THEY ALL DO THAT?! Eyeballs, ears, noses...

My Greenwing has been known to fling my sunglasses off my head to access my eyeballs with her tongue, then uses my nose as a "handle" to turn my head, so she can get the other one... She gets rather insistent on preening me.

Biting?! It just doesn't happen, and isn't tolerated around here.

Yeah. BTM's, Hys, Red Fronts, and Greenwings pretty much all fall under the "mushiest" category!!! Mine are both total lap birds. Given a choice between a tree and a lap, they'll choose lap every time...

 

[Birdman666]

My mom's blue and gold is MUCH worse than this Hy. The entire family has been bitten twice by that B&G. But my Hy hasn't bitten anyone.

Of all the birds listed in your profile, I would have expected the Scarlet to be the beaky/pinchy one.

 

[Ltygress]

Of all the birds listed in your profile, I would have expected the Scarlet to be the beaky/pinchy one.

WELL, to be completely honest... the Scarlet isn't here yet. We pick him up about 10:30am tomorrow morning. But my mom's B&G isn't even listed up there. She has one named Poppy.

 

[Ltygress]

Oh, and that IS him in my avatar pic, but it was taken by the guy who has him right now.

 

[holly6386]

wow, i LOVE the photo! So much love in his face!
I am new to the cuddles so i am sucking it up!

I only get to stare at a hy at our exotic shop. So jealous you guys get to cuddle them!

But we HAVE to start funding this "macaw gene" theory! Monster HATES my husband!
all he has ever done was walk in and say hi or talk to him for a bit, and give him a treat when he walked by. He was indifferent before, but now he will sway on the cage bars and lunge through the bars and hiss at my husband. Honestly i think its hilarious but we are going to start working on associating my husband with good things. It may be my fault, my husband works 2nd shift so when he gets home it is the birds bed time, i just started doing this because after a late dinner we watch a show or movie and go to bed, figured it was better to put them in their cages to get a last call drink and snack before lights went out. So he may be thinking my husband means cage, since my husband has been working since we brought him home. So this weekend he is out while hubby is home and john is giving him mango when he gets near. Plus he is going regurgitating for me (i know, so soon! i must be a catch! ) so i'm thinking that may play into it too. I always feel so bad telling him i dont want his food and putting him down. Its like a polite turn down in high school all over again...

Well anyways we got the all clear from the vet today so jade and monster got to meet over "dinner". so far so good.

 

[Birdman666]

That sounds like a socialization issue to me. "Favorite person" issue. This bird wasn't handled at all for years, and now has someone...

GET AWAY FROM HER - SHE'S MINE!

It's going to take some time, but there is a disfavored person training post on here somewhere. I just posted it recently with someone looking to try and rehab a severe macaw with one person issues...

 

[holly6386]

That sounds like a socialization issue to me. "Favorite person" issue. This bird wasn't handled at all for years, and now has someone...

GET AWAY FROM HER - SHE'S MINE!

It's going to take some time, but there is a disfavored person training post on here somewhere. I just posted it recently with someone looking to try and rehab a severe macaw with one person issues...

Thanks so much for that insight! i will definitely look up that post and use it. My husband isn't a bird person so his feelings aren't too hurt, but we would like to all live in peace with each other. He also likes to give me a nasty bite when john is too close. Not too bad, leaves a bruise and just a bit of blood, so he isn't using all of his pressure, but it is something we need to correct.

He is just so sweet and cuddly though otherwise, i am obsessed with this bird! He has already gained a good amount of weight at he is getting his wings up higher! Poor guy isn't clipped but can't fly. Probably for the best right now, but i'm curious if he even knows hows. I guess we will see in the future.

 

[Birdman666]

Biting you, for the other person getting close is a classic macaw one person/jealousy sign...

Here is the post on the severe:

http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/50366-bird-hates-me.html

 

[holly6386]

Thanks for making that so easy for me! i doubt i would have found that.

Well we are definitely going to have to work on it, I just got a cute wrist bite because my daughter came up and sat next to me while we were cuddling. I really appriciate the fact he doesnt remove chunks, but man this guy has no idea about acceptable bite pressure!
i was prepared for a few hiccups along the way, and believe me he is way better than i thought he would be at this point. So now that we know each other and have an idea of what we need to work on, lets do this!
Would it be crazy to hope we have enough progress under our belt to safety go out and be social this summer! (i also understand he may never be ready for all that, but since he is already more than i expected i can dream right?)

 

[Birdman666]

Well we are definitely going to have to work on it, I just got a cute wrist bite because my daughter came up and sat next to me while we were cuddling. I really appriciate the fact he doesnt remove chunks, but man this guy has no idea about acceptable bite pressure!

i was prepared for a few hiccups along the way, and believe me he is way better than i thought he would be at this point. So now that we know each other and have an idea of what we need to work on, lets do this!
Would it be crazy to hope we have enough progress under our belt to safety go out and be social this summer! (i also understand he may never be ready for all that, but since he is already more than i expected i can dream right?)

It's completely do-able. I've taken macaws that have injured people, and had them socialized in 6-8 weeks. The birds injured people accidentally because they weren't trained or socialized properly, and then didn't know how to react to a situation.

And honestly, it's fairly common where they suddenly have a person again, after being neglected for years. They "crush hard" on the person who gives them love again... you just have to teach him what is and isn't acceptable.

Raising a macaw is all about boundary setting.

1. Work on bite pressure.

2. Work on socialization.

3. As long as he is NOT socialized, you need to warn people to give you the "heads up" and announce their presence before entering the room if the bird's out and you're working with him. (Cuz it's gonna happen! You can almost set your watch by it! 3-2-1- OUCH!) Then CONTROL THE BEAK BEFORE THEY ENTER the room. It will save on pain... and it will also let the bird know you're not gonna put up with that from him every time someone wants to talk to you. At this stage, it's as much a train the humans thing as it is a train the bird thing.