Baby macaw need little help please

Samin Alakozay

Regular Member
Registered
Hi all

Hope I can get some advice and help from you amazing people!



I used to have a ring neck that suddenly passed away-

After almost 2 years I decided it was time to get the bird of my dreams!

BLUE AND GOLD MACAW!!!

My experience with macaw’s are limited so I will be here more often asking for help I hope that is okay with you guys!

The bird is 4 months old - girl and unfortunately clipped even though the seller promised me she wasn’t!



I have some concerns that I would like to address and any advice would be much appreciated



1:- she doesn’t seem to know where the food or water is until I put her inside her cage (doesn’t want to go in) - once she eats shes happy to come back out which Is fine as her cage is open



2: there is a mirrored table in the living room which at first it seemed like it was having fun playing with it but now im a little worried with howmuch time shes spending infront of this mirror! Is this normal?



3: she puts her self in a very weird post shes near the mirror and approached by myself or mrs- tail up as high as possible (see picture)



4: she seems to fall asleep randomly on the floor on on top of her cage is this normal?



Shes currently in the Livingroom until her room is ready! Any advice would be apricated

You
 

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Sorry to hear of your ringneck, Hello and welcome, It may not be that she dose not know where to find her food but it maybe she just dose not like going in the cage. one piece of information that will help is how long have you had her home? with her reaction to the mirror makes me think she lived with other young macaws and finds comfort when looking at her reflection. the large macaws have a lot of control in how they point the tail but yet again its most likely the position that makes her comfortable, young macaws will often sleep on the floor keeping close to a wall with there bottom close and next to other baby macaws, young macaws will fall asleep often during the day like all babies they need there beauty sleep (well I know I need it, as far as I can tell your bird sounds normal for its age
 
Sorry to hear of your ringneck, Hello and welcome, It may not be that she dose not know where to find her food but it maybe she just dose not like going in the cage. one piece of information that will help is how long have you had her home? with her reaction to the mirror makes me think she lived with other young macaws and finds comfort when looking at her reflection. the large macaws have a lot of control in how they point the tail but yet again its most likely the position that makes her comfortable, young macaws will often sleep on the floor keeping close to a wall with there bottom close and next to other baby macaws, young macaws will fall asleep often during the day like all babies they need there beauty sleep (well I know I need it, as far as I can tell your bird sounds normal for its age


hi @Michael Reynolds
Thank you very much !!

the amount of help and support you provided me was above and beyond anyone can wish for ( jacky sparrow was my ring neck not sure if you remember )

I’ve only had my macaw since Monday so it’s been 4 days…

thanks again
 
Yes i do remember your Ringneck, sad news, do you know what caused Jacky's death? I will recommend that you take your birds weight ever three to four days as loss of weight may mean a problem. only having your macaw for four days so it is still getting used to you and its surroundings. what are you feeding your her? what is her name? We are all here to help each other and this is what makes this site so good, Hopefully one day you will be able to help someone new by informing them of your experience. Shame they clipped your bird, if you can take a photo of her with her wings spread out (best time to do this is when you spray bath her)
 
Yes i do remember your Ringneck, sad news, do you know what caused Jacky's death? I will recommend that you take your birds weight ever three to four days as loss of weight may mean a problem. only having your macaw for four days so it is still getting used to you and its surroundings. what are you feeding your her? what is her name? We are all here to help each other and this is what makes this site so good, Hopefully one day you will be able to help someone new by informing them of your experience. Shame they clipped your bird, if you can take a photo of her with her wings spread out (best time to do this is when you spray bath her)

@Michael Reynolds the ring necks death was unknown unfortunately they didn’t find anything

currently she’s a mix of seeds but I have ordered a few pellet brands to see what one she likes and will eventually phase out the seeds and nuts and only use for treats

her name is likely to be “blue” but not100% haha

please see attached photo of her wings

please let me know if there is anything else you require or want to know
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oh how I hate them being clipped especially when they have been clipped badly like this, lets hope that the new feather will grow to replace the clipped ones. one thing I will recommend is getting your bird used to wearing a harness and keep up the training with it. too many people will start harness training at your birds age and then not carry on with it and then wonder why the bird dislikes using them. @Roz is very good at explaining different training issues.
 
Being you have a blue and gold and Blue sounds more like a Males name inspired by the film Rio I would of thought Goldie would be more appropriate (Goldie Horn was a well known actress in my younger day), Macaws learn there name quite quick and will respond to it so I do think that you will need to find a name for her soon
 
Hello and congratulations on your new baby!😍
I love macaws, but take my hat off to anybody who owns one! You have a beauty.

I had a grey who was clipped really bad as a baby, we got him at 5 months and they’d clipped one full wing it was horrific (we were also told he wasn’t clipped).
Luckily his feathers grew back in perfect following his moult, he is 2.5 now and has full flying ability and two perfect healthy wings! Fingers crossed your bird has a successful wing regrow!

Wishing you all the best with your new beauty!😍
 
Hello, good luck with your macaw. Lots of good advice from Michael and hopefully nothing to worry about.
 
Hi, sorry to hear about your Ringneck passing away, very sad.
Your macaw is a beauty , all good advice given . It is very sad and cruel that the breeder clipped the wings, as has been said they will regrow and then she will be able to fly as birds should.
 
Hello and congratulations on your new baby!😍
I love macaws, but take my hat off to anybody who owns one! You have a beauty.

I had a grey who was clipped really bad as a baby, we got him at 5 months and they’d clipped one full wing it was horrific (we were also told he wasn’t clipped).
Luckily his feathers grew back in perfect following his moult, he is 2.5 now and has full flying ability and two perfect healthy wings! Fingers crossed your bird has a successful wing regrow!

Wishing you all the best with your new beauty!😍

thank you!!!!
But your comment scares me ! Haha. She’s not yet destroyed my house ! Fingers crossed she won’t!

Haha
 
Hi all

thank you for kind words!!!

3little questions…

1…as I said above she naps through out the day and when I put her in the cage she’s determined to come out and goes sleep in the corner of the the room next to the mirror

2: she went for a little nipple today my hand and my Mrs… it wasn’t to hurt us but definitely was a little hard… any idea on what to do here

3:: she often holds on to my hand with her feet and flaps her wings 100mph I’m assuming it’s to do with her not being to fly and practicing ? But I can hear her breathing really fast

sorry if I’m being paranoid

thanks
 
She is not used to being in a cage and dose not fill safe in it, maybe she lived in a more open area, Buster my Greater crested Too also mainly slept near a mirror. so I positioned a mirror behind the cage. Macaws do not develop very quick and will retain there baby ways longer, this will include the amount they sleep during the day.

The little nip, This is something you and your macaw must get used to, It is something Macaws will do as like a child most experiments are by using the mouth. She is not trying to bite but I know at this age they may not realise the pressure she is using or how we fill it. So If she is starting to hurt then react not by pulling your hand away (this may make her put more pressure on your finger or you can catch your hand on the edge of her beak) but just give a command like no or a screech. I often play with my Macaws and they will grab my hand or fingers in play, even when older they can forget there selves and use too much pressure especially when they get excited, i still have to let them know its starting to hurt by calling Ouch and they will release the pressure. macaws use there feet and mouth on us as a way of showing there acceptance or wanting to play, I believe its there way of trying to gain our trust in them by not trying to hurt us. let face it to many people the large beak can be worrying.

So pleased she is keeping her wings active and this must be encouraged, the fact that she is breathing heavy after the exercise shows me that she is not used to such exercise. My concern regarding the breathing will be how long it takes her to breath normally after, the flapping of wings means that your bird will need more air around it body so I will expect your bird to breath more heavily.

you will find that over the next few weeks your bird will get used to your routine and should settle more
 
She is not used to being in a cage and dose not fill safe in it, maybe she lived in a more open area, Buster my Greater crested Too also mainly slept near a mirror. so I positioned a mirror behind the cage. Macaws do not develop very quick and will retain there baby ways longer, this will include the amount they sleep during the day.

The little nip, This is something you and your macaw must get used to, It is something Macaws will do as like a child most experiments are by using the mouth. She is not trying to bite but I know at this age they may not realise the pressure she is using or how we fill it. So If she is starting to hurt then react not by pulling your hand away (this may make her put more pressure on your finger or you can catch your hand on the edge of her beak) but just give a command like no or a screech. I often play with my Macaws and they will grab my hand or fingers in play, even when older they can forget there selves and use too much pressure especially when they get excited, i still have to let them know its starting to hurt by calling Ouch and they will release the pressure. macaws use there feet and mouth on us as a way of showing there acceptance or wanting to play, I believe its there way of trying to gain our trust in them by not trying to hurt us. let face it to many people the large beak can be worrying.

So pleased she is keeping her wings active and this must be encouraged, the fact that she is breathing heavy after the exercise shows me that she is not used to such exercise. My concern regarding the breathing will be how long it takes her to breath normally after, the flapping of wings means that your bird will need more air around it body so I will expect your bird to breath more heavily.

you will find that over the next few weeks your bird will get used to your routine and should settle more

Thank you once again for your response !
Her room is complete and I have moved her cage I. There ! Her toys are taking long to come so I’m spending as much time with her as possible to avoid her being bored

I have been paying attention to her breathing during her flapping session… so when she goes 100% effort I can start to hear her breathing 5-8! Seconds into her flapping and she breaths normally 5-7 seconds after stopping

this is the room I have given her…there is a cage… the table and chair is where I’m going to be working when on shift. And next to the table will be her playstand

if you think anything I can do to improve please let me know

Thanks!
 

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her breathing is fine as she recovers quickly, I would try to get some swings or swinging toys and ropes put up as these will get her to gain balance, having a play box with foot toys will also keep her entertained.
 
her breathing is fine as she recovers quickly, I would try to get some swings or swinging toys and ropes put up as these will get her to gain balance, having a play box with foot toys will also keep her entertained.

I’m so glad to hear this!!!
Yh the plan is to put like a rope from her cage to the play stand which will be next to my desk!
 
Do make sure she's not shut away in a room all alone that is too sad for a parrot, also leave a radio or some sort of music on too.

she won’t be alone as 3 days a week I’m working 12 hours at home so I’ll bethere to entertain her! The room looks naked right now I’ve ordered tones of toys along with a radio and air purifier

on Fridays she might be alone from 9am to 4pm but other than that she will have company and constant change of toys !
Any tips at all will help!!
 
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