Thinking of getting a Macaw

[JerseyWendy]

I do see where you all are coming from in not wanting your parrot and dog to interact with each other but it's a risk worth taking.

To me personally NO risk is worth taking with my beloved pets. I know what my macs' beaks are capable of. I never want my dogs to be bitten nor do I put my birds in danger knowing something "could" go wrong.

 

[WharfRat]

This is no way a "slight" to Akitas, but definitely thought it worth telling.

I've been around Akitas before, 3 to be exact. 2 were owned by a very good friend and 1 by his dad. His dad's dog was not the nicest especially if you showed fear. I never did and never had issues with him, but I did have to use a very stern voice with him every time I first came in the house.

You might not want to hear the next part but I tell it like it is.... One year he was down visiting his parents for Xmas and his family (wife and daughter) were back in Oregon. When I got there his mom and dad were both telling me "Thank God you're here" but wouldn't tell me anything else. I went to find my friend and I could see how very upset he was. This guy is the BIGGEST, most devoted lover of animals I've ever known. He's raised most everything there is out there.

It took me a bit but he finally told me, his daughter had gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. (she was around 5 I think) One of the Akitas was sleeping in the hallway, she reached down to pet him and the dog bit her on the head, engulfing it and cutting her very badly requiring stitches. The dog was put down. That dog and his kid had grown up together and never had issues.

 

[Doves1]

Oh don't get me wrong my dogs and birds don't "play together" or interact with each other. Most of the time they ignore each other completely. But the way my house is they do live in the living room together, in fact all my animals when free from their "houses" have the run of my entire house.

I also own many different kinds of animals, dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, snakes, horses, sheep. And so far I haven't had any issues.

 

[WharfRat]

And so far I haven't had any issues.

That's great and I hope you never do!

All I'm saying is it only takes once and it is usually over by the time you can react. Not trying to be a pessimist, just a realist.

Forgot to add and this goes to his love of animals. He has since got his Master's and works for the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife dept.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yup my Scarlet was a rescue from an abusive family but now that he's not scared any more he loves to cuddle and has bonded so well

Hmm. I just saw this. Wait.

I don't know if it's going to work yet or not but the breeder I got my Scarlet from gave me the suggestion of while your hand feeding let the baby see you prepare the food. Currently I'm feeding softened Tropican Parrot Pellets mixed with baby food of various kinds. He sees the hard Tropican pellets go in water to soften and then go into the blender and get mushed before it's fed to him. He's starting to look to the pellets and try to eat them now.

And this

Hey everyone!

So I haven't given an update in awhile and I figured it was about time.

For those of you who don't know, I rescued a 3 month old Scarlet Macaw, who I named Phoenix. He wasn't being taken care of properly and was starving when I got him. He's become my best friend and my baby.

AND

I paid $1500.00 for my 2 and half month old Scarlet Macaw. On top of that was the shipping cost of course which was another $500.00 so $200.00 all in total. I had him shipped from Toronto, Ontario to Regina, Saskatchewan.

It's not only on craiglist either, it's Kijiji and any classified ad site. When I was looking for a Macaw every ad I came across was some sort of scam. I bet I went through contacting 20 people before the SPCA got a hold of me with my rescue. I was getting so discouraged and angry! One person even used cancer as part of their scam.

LOL well so far I haven't found anything Phoenix is afraid of or doesn't like to be around. The broom handle was shaky at first but that's because he previous owners used to beat him with it. Now that I've shown it's not going to hurt him any more he doesn't care

I'll keep my eyes open for things he doesn't like though

So what is the REAL deal???

 

[antoinette]

Oh don't get me wrong my dogs and birds don't "play together" or interact with each other. Most of the time they ignore each other completely. But the way my house is they do live in the living room together, in fact all my animals when free from their "houses" have the run of my entire house.

I also own many different kinds of animals, dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, snakes, horses, sheep. And so far I haven't had any issues.

You mentioned :
my dogs and birds don't "play together" or interact with each other
Most of the time they ignore each other completely
they do live in the living room together
in fact all my animals when free from their "houses" have the run of my entire house

Each fact is contradicting the next one !!!!!!!!!

 

[wenz2712]

You have also said you got your Macaw as a rescue, but in another post you got it from a Breeder as a Baby??

 

[Doves1]

LOL oh my sorry for the confusion guys! Let me set the story straight!

When I was searching for a Macaw I had found a baby for sale (that when I posted about the $1500 and shipping from Toronto) but after that the baby I found turned out to be a scam, I thought I deleted those posts but obviously forgot (I'm a member on several different forums and must have missed this one).

Then I got Phoenix, the Macaw I have now which was a rescue through the SPCA.

As for the living arrangements and having dogs and birds living together antoinette, yes my birds are in the living room as well as my dogs (really the dogs have the run of the house) but when Phoenix is out of his cage they have nothing to do with one another, when I first brought Phoenix home Kumori (my big dog) was curious and went to "check this new thing" out and Phoenix put the run on him, that was that nothing else has happened.

Hope that helps clear things up! Sorry for the confusion!

 

[mtdoramike]

Yeah, I imagine the macaw put the run on the dogs quick, fast and in a hurry hahahahahaha.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I'm going to be the first one to say that NO, it doesn't clear up a thing. I can point to posts you posted the SAME day with different stories. .....unless, of course you have now deleted or edited them.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Just a couple of more of your quotes, Doves1.....that you may have "forgotten" to edit.

I have a 4 month old Scarlet Macaw and a 3 year old Akita cross. When I first got the Macaw he and my dog had their "getting to know each other" phase but after the bird put the dog into his place it was all good

I've also just inherited a stray cat, she looks to be around 2 years old. Again they have gone through the "getting to know each other" phase, the bird put the run on the cat and the cat went Holy S--T this bird bites back and that was that.

Yes my bird has an attitude!!

Better yet, here is an entire THREAD:
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/23031-baby-update.html

Some of your quotes from the above thread...mind you, there is never ONE mention of your baby EVER having been abused.

Hey Everyone!

So just figured I would post to show you my quickly growing 11 week old Scarlet Macaw baby.

Phoenix is learning so fast and growing so quick it's amazing! He already knows step up, step down, gentle. He's never tried to bite as of yet and is learning to be gentle with both beak and claws. He's trying to fly already but not much luck yet

On Tuesday we're going to go get DNA tested so I'll know for sure then if it's a girl or boy, I'm so excited!

Thanks Everyone! I will keep you posted on the DNA results.

Yes he is very sweet and lovable, he's not nippy at all as of yet and we will keep working daily on that so he doesn't get to be nippy. It helps that I've been bitten by birds before and I'm still not scared so he always takes my finger into his mouth and if he gets rough he gets punished (I never hurt him though)

 

[tab_xo]

I am sorry, i do not want to cause any trouble but i am also very confused...
In september there were pictures of Phoenix at 10 weeks old, and then you receiving advice from the breeders..

and 2 months later, you posted in the 'how much did you pay' and you said:
I paid $1500.00 for my 2 and half month old Scarlet Macaw. On top of that was the shipping cost of course which was another $500.00 so $200.00 all in total. I had him shipped from Toronto, Ontario to Regina, Saskatchewan.

Which states you paid for this baby bird from a breeder..
So you had the bird which was a so called scam for a few months? and now you have a rescue? :S

 

[MaraWentz]

Okay this is not the thread to attack her on. I was looking in to see what others had to say about the animal interactions- as I am with the minority of letting all my pets interact, and instead I'm running into a bashing. Really guys?

 

[HappyHummingbird]

MaraWentz,
I believe JerseyWendy and Tab XO are not attacking. They are merely asking questions because the "facts" do not add up. Nothing wrong with questioning the poster. I'd be interested in what the facts are myself.

 

[Doves1]

Ok guys, yes I did post on here like I had a baby bird from the breeder, I'm sorry I forgot to delete those posts when I found it was a scam. No I didn't have the bird when I posted those, the pictures were from the so called "breeder".

The parrot I did end up getting was abused and I got from the SPCA, that's the one I have now. I will go through and erase the posts not pertaining to Phoenix

 

[JerseyWendy]

Okay this is not the thread to attack her on. I was looking in to see what others had to say about the animal interactions- as I am with the minority of letting all my pets interact, and instead I'm running into a bashing. Really guys?

Mara,
There were NO attacks made and nobody BASHED anyone. When the OP inquired about how Macs are with other animals, and I saw several members boasting about playing Russian Roulette with their birds lives, including you, I felt obligated to speak up. One of our responsibility is to keep them safe and out of potential harm.

As for questioning Doves1, I was merely pointing out the many conflicting posts, in which others picked up on too.

 

[MaraWentz]

If you want to speak up about the letting pets interact since you disagree that's fine and you have very right to- we all have different opinions and have spoken them. But just because you disagree with some one doesn't mean you dig through their history f posts to try to make them look like a fraud or to point out they are a fraud (Sorry Doves- I haven't looked into any of your posts to find the truth, so I cant take sides). SOme one lying abut owning a bird or not being scammed, what ever has nothing to do with letting our pets interact.