Trucker comes to live with us

[EclecticSoul]

Today a big beautiful 14 year old military macaw came to live with us. Now for the story behind this incredible bird.
Trucker has lived all 14 of his years in my hubby's grandparents home. They hand fed him when he was just a featherless little baby. His first few years, when my hubby was a young boy and lived with them, they cared greatly for him and he got lots of attention. But when my hubby moved back with his dad Trucker got pushed into a back room and forgotten. He has been fed an all seed diet, mainly consisting of sunflower and safflower seeds for his 14 years. As my hubby's grandparents aged, they started smoking in the house and around the bird. They started cleaning his cage and their house in general less and less. Truckers environment went from a relatively healthy one to a dirty, dusty, neglected one. He has lived in a small cage with minimal toys and attention for the last 10 years or so of his life.
This bird has an incredible bond with my hubby, after all my hubby is the one that used to play with him and helped with hand feeding. No matter how much times passes between visits Trucker always remembers my hubby and gets immediately excited when he sees him.
Every time we visit I feel so bad for Trucker, we always make sure to file his nails and bring him a new toy each time. We are now financially stable and have our own home so we knew we could finally get Trucker out of that situation and bring him home with us. We loaded him and his cage up into the car and brought him home tonight. He rode all the way home on my hubby's shoulder snuggling with him. I gave him some tasty almonds tonight and he LOVES them! Tomorrow its time to start getting him to try some new healthy food! I offered a much higher quality seed mix tonight and he took right to it. I figure even if I can only get him eating better seeds in the beginning at least its a step in the right direction. He is in need of a larger cage, any recommendations? Thanks for reading! Offer any advice you see fit please. I'm sure we'll have lots more questions as we adjust to him being home with us.

 

[EclecticSoul]

Heres a couple pics of the ride home. Excuse my hubbys silly face in the one picture, he's a goofball. His feathers are in pretty yucky shape, but we'll get him in tip top condition in no time.

 

[ShellyBorg]

He looks so pleased there on his shoulder! You did a great thing here. He is still a young guy and has the best years ahead of him!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

aw, such a sad story and so very common.

I'm so happy he's in a good home now, is there a vet visit planned soon? With that diet he may be malnourished, or have other issues.

 

[EclecticSoul]

Thank you Shelly, and yes Copperarabian I am going to call tomorrow to schedule a vet visit.

 

[GladeWing]

Good on ya for bringing him home! Especially since he seems to be so bonded to your hubby!

His feathers may seem "dramatically uckie" right now, but I promise after a few splish-splash baths they'll look much better! I had fostered a really "rough" Amazon who had the smooshy/split plumage like Trucker, and after a week or so with me he began bathing in his water-cup and started the process of "fixing" his ungroomed feathers. Heck, even Khepri, my Macaw, looks awesome since I've had her. She hadn't been bathed once in the time the last home had her (4 or 6 months?) and she's had 2 or 3 baths since she's been here and WOW. I wish I took a picture of her the day she arrived because she looks dramatically different.

Birds like Trucker often times look like a million bucks when they're placed in a home like yours (one that actually gives them attention!)

 

[MikeyTN]

That's wonderful you guys was able to take Trucker in. Like Khepri mentioned, some bathing does wonders!!!! Maybe your hubby can take Trucker in the shower with him to give him a good bath? Any large size cage for macaws would do.

 

[EclecticSoul]

He is going to start taking Trucker in the shower with him. How often should Trucker have a shower? Also all the cages I have come across that are large enough have tiny little bars that I'm sure Trucker could bend and possibly break if he wanted too. Made him a vet appointment for a couple weeks from now, hard to find a good date since my hubby works crazy hours and as of right now hes the only one able to handle Trucker. But he will have good care for the next two weeks so I'm hopeful the tests all come back good! I ordered him some pellets, nutriberries, milk thistle/dandelion detox, and some sprout mix from MSBS last night. Until they get in is there anything I can start giving him now to help his body detox? I am currently bed ridden until at least Thursday because of a back strain, but I am having my hubby go to the store tonight to pick up some stuff. Good chop recipe for a bird like Trucker? I have tried mango, a fresh cherub(tomato), a banana chip, and almonds.(Until hubby goes shopping tonight that's really all we have in the house that the bird can eat) He has tasted everything but isn't actually wanting to eat any of it.

 

[MikeyTN]

He can take shower daily! It would be good for him to take one daily. Here's couple old posts you can look through about diet.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/23367-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/24213-bird-safe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/34185-slop-chop-mix-ala-wendy-s-kitchen.html

 

[MikeyTN]

Cages like the one in the site I'm listing here. ---->Macaw Cages - Macaw Cages for Sale - FREE SHIPPING! LOW PRICES!

You don't have to buy it through them but I'm using it to show you. The ones with a macaws in it. Of course the bigger the better. If you want to go all out you can buy a stainless steel cage. Try to have a width at least 32"+ (I prefer 36" due to length of their tail) and length of 48"+ and height around 72" and you should be good.

 

[EclecticSoul]

Thanks Mikey, yes he def needs a wider cage! His poor tail feathers rub in the one he is in now. However we decided we are going to wait until Trucker goes to the vet before we spend the money on a cage, just in case. I mean we are staying positive that all will be fine, but just erring on the side of caution for now. Still looking for a good one to buy when the time comes though. Is a cage with a 5mm bar size too thin for a macaw?

 

[ShellyBorg]

A&E Cage Co. Giant Dome Top Bird Cage | Wayfair

That ia a normal size for macs.

 

[EclecticSoul]

Got a bunch of stuff to make chop for Trucker tomorrow! Also bought a pie pumpkin! Gonna stuff it with goodies and hope for some good results! He also had a bath tonight! His first bath in years. His feathers already look a lot better from just one bath. Not a huge fan of the bath though, he just wanted to climb up my hubbys arm and get out of the tub. Hopefully he will get more used to it after a few times.

 

[Birdman666]

Regular bathing and a good diet will fix those feathers right up....

He is now where he belongs. Back with his person.

If a macaw isn't goofy there's something seriously wrong with him!

 

[EclecticSoul]

He is definitely goofy! He was so frisky after his bath last night. He was wrapped in a towel and he was digging at it, beaking it, and making all kinds of silly noses. Then he started head bobbing around the bedroom floor. Very very silly. Once he finally dried off he went back in his
cage and just went crazy on his toys. We were laughing so hard at him.

 

[Birdman666]

got a bunch of stuff to make chop for trucker tomorrow! Also bought a pie pumpkin! Gonna stuff it with goodies and hope for some good results! He also had a bath tonight! His first bath in years. His feathers already look a lot better from just one bath. Not a huge fan of the bath though, he just wanted to climb up my hubbys arm and get out of the tub. Hopefully he will get more used to it after a few times.

mine like showers better.

 

[EclecticSoul]

We have a removable shower head, so my hubby put him in the bottom of the tub then turned the shower head on brought it down and started slowly making it rain over him. Stressed him out pretty good.

 

[Birdman666]

He'll get used to it. Macaws generally do...

 

[EclecticSoul]

I appreciate all the tips and advice I have gotten so far. Here are a couple more pics of Trucker from this morning. I have some new perches on order for him too, but for now I stuck some of the ones I bought for my ekkie in there since Trucker only had the two dowel ones.

 

[ShellyBorg]

Can you go out and cut some branches? That double dowel looks like it could cause some foot pain with the dip. I cut all my natural perches for years now. I will even leave safe bark on so they can "clean" them off. Just make sure you cut from safe wood and where there is no spray, save lots of money that way.