Using gloves for training?

[Jroyal14]

Hello all!!
So a few days ago I adopted a 3 year old BG macaw. He is scared but still somewhat curious. He hasn’t shown any signs of aggression yet. Even when I’m fairly close to him he doesn't seem to mind but I haven’t touched him yet. I’m the past, I just try my best to build a relationship with the bird that doesn’t involve trying to touch them and then usually at some point they just want to come be near me.. but this is my first macaw.. and admittedly, his beak is more intimidating that I thought. Which kind of makes mrs question, am I really taking it slow for the bird’s sake? Or am I scared of being bitten?
So my question is, would wearing a glove help or hurt my relationship thus far? My idea is that if he bites the glove, and it doesn’t hurt then he learns that biting doesn’t make me go away and I have a little bit more confidence. I’ve read somewhere that BG’s like to bluff but right
Now he’s calling mine lol..
Also separate question, when working with a new bird does your confidence ever waiver?

 

[SailBoat]

Commonly, individuals do not bring BG Mac's home with little or no interaction first. Most individuals have the BG walking all over them prior to even coming anywhere near the cash register. What happened??

Your Fear of The Beak will be picked by your Mac. And your wearing /thinking of wearing gloves state you had near zero interactions with this Parrot before buying it.

There is great information as part of the Mac Forum within ParrtForums and you should set about spending days reading the vast number of Threads that target your questions.

But, you need to face the reality that you have a large Parrot and you are not mentally ready! It comes down to you making the choice of interaction bare handed or taking the Parrot back!

 

[wrench13]

'Boats, so right. OP, gloves are not the answer. If you think you need gloves, a) you are not ready for a large parrot and b) he will never learn to like coming to you, parrots hate gloves.

 

[texsize]

My first bird was a wild caught Orange Wing Amazon in 1985.
I knew nothing but what the pet shop told me.
I tried with bare hands and got tired of getting chewed up.
Switched to a glove and eventually succeeded for the wrong reasons.

When I eventually lost the glove I just about had to start all over again.
Someone once tried to pick up my Yellow nape with the glove for the Orange Wing..
Bingo the Yellow Nape not use to having a glove shoved in his face bit the heck out of the guy and the glove helped very little.
I don’t have a Mac but short of welding gloves I don’t know what could protect you.

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

If you need to gain confidence in yourself, get yourself a pair of soft, deer skin and form fitting glove as you don't want anything loose he can grab onto. You will still feel the bites, but your skin should still stay intact.

I have to ask why you would bring home a bird that you were not comfortable handling yet? Did you not spend time with it to get to know it a little?

 

[Laurasea]

I don't like how we are all jumping on this person.
They have the bird let's help make it work.

Plenty if first time parrot owners of small parrots are equally afraid of bites. Especially green cheek bites. Heck I even remember some one with a budgie afraid of bites! The budgie had drawn blood.

I do agree no gloves. Do hands off target training sessions. Use a hand held perch to move the bird until you become more confident. Lots if praise, feed treats, if nit by hand use a treat only dish to out treats in .

 

[Shez]

Hello all!!
So a few days ago I adopted a 3 year old BG macaw. He is scared but still somewhat curious. He hasn’t shown any signs of aggression yet. Even when I’m fairly close to him he doesn't seem to mind but I haven’t touched him yet. I’m the past, I just try my best to build a relationship with the bird that doesn’t involve trying to touch them and then usually at some point they just want to come be near me.. but this is my first macaw.. and admittedly, his beak is more intimidating that I thought. Which kind of makes mrs question, am I really taking it slow for the bird’s sake? Or am I scared of being bitten?
So my question is, would wearing a glove help or hurt my relationship thus far? My idea is that if he bites the glove, and it doesn’t hurt then he learns that biting doesn’t make me go away and I have a little bit more confidence. I’ve read somewhere that BG’s like to bluff but right
Now he’s calling mine lol..
Also separate question, when working with a new bird does your confidence ever waiver?

How did this relationship turn out?
Did you ever become comfortable enough to interact?
Did you learn some body language to help you understand this bird?

I sincerely hope you got some help and support from somewhere and this bird didn’t end up going to another new home.

 

[ShyanneYang]

Hey there. Though it's been a long time since you started this thread, I still congratulate you on adopting your BG macaw! How are you guys doing?

 

[Cindylynn]

I know this is old, but thought someone may eventually revisit with the same question. But you don't give a macaw that you don't have a relationship with your fingers. Macaws get arms first. Closed fists only until you have a little trust built up between each other. They can still put a hurting on your arm... but they can't remove it.

 

[SailBoat]

And, as a Post Note: One of the reasons that many of us strongly recommend that one allows the Parrot to choose you, as that it greatly reduces this kind of issue, especially for mid to larger Parrots.

In addition, all of the Rescues that I have worked with over the years have required that the individual 'rescuing' the Parrot, in fact handle the Parrot prior to even being the rescue documentation and that is especially true with Macaws! That is also true for the Pet Stores in my area!