macaws warming up to you?

hey all,

i was wondering how you guys got your birds to warm up to you. i am feeding them with treats thru the bars but taking them out, they really dont like that to much yet. they are older one is 21 and the other is 11. they were both given to me so i know it will take a little longer but what can i do to speed things up.

thanks

Lets see ... you want to speed things up ... um, NO! GO AT THEIR SPEED! DO NOT PUSH THEM! A little time spent now building relationships AND TRUST will mean the difference a year down the road ... I know you are probably really excited with your new flock members, just give them time to adjust to the new situation. You will build a stronger bond with them and they will let you keep all ten of those "silly little things" at the end of your hands ...

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Welcome, and I'm going to have to agree with Tex (Tex, start saying ridiculous things again so I can constantly taunt you!!!!), the birds need to go at their own pace to trust you.

And no matter what Tex says, you don't really need ALL "ten of those those "silly little things" at the end of your hands"...

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- Yellow Crowned Amazon, Iggy

I, too, agree ... and, I, too, am in a similar situation as are you runningwithbears.

Excepting that my fid is a lil wee Parrotlet. It is very, very difficult for me to reign my wishes, desires, hopes in ... to accomodate the trust level of my little fellow Timothy. I must always remember the harder I push (unintentionally, and inadvertantely as it may be), the longer I prolong our true bond to one another.

Timothy calls the shots ... I *do* challenge him; but, when my challenges are not realistic, it blocks our progress ten-fold.

Welcome and best to you!!! You've lovely little creatures--the pics were very nice.

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Namaste, Anna

*looking at Minzer's hands* 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... and a half ... 4 .... 5 ... and another half, well, that's 6 .... 7 ... 8 ... and a half ...

I see it's been a pretty good week with Iggy hasn't it ...

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Hey welcome back you two Its been so quiet here Minzer.

Anyway have to agree with Tex, if you push them too much you're gonna regret it later. Go at their pace, once they learn to trust you things will move quicker.

Agree, but its quite nice to have them there intact.

thanks guys for the replies,

i will deffiantly let them dictate the speed we go.

I don't have big birds (but I *do* have a yellow one who thinks she's big) but yeah, best thing is to go at their speed, and keep in mind you WILL get at least one chomp (bite) from them ... I like to think of chomps as love gnaws though.

I'm going to agree with everyone here.

Relationships with parrots are based on mutual trust, so don't push things too fast, or they may not trust you the way you would trust them. This may take longer, but it's worth it in the long run.

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"Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well:
Here's to the nights we felt alive,
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry,
Here's to goodbye; tomorrow's gonna come too soon."
-"Here's to the night", by Eve6

Macaws can be a bit standoffish. Honestly, the best way I know to gain their trust is a combination of: talking with them, singing with them, feeding them, and the number one part, lots of face time. You have to spend prodigous amounts of time to get to know each other. Preferably in a calm enviroment.

Thats what I think at least. Your mileage may vary.