Good Company for Macaw

Hi,

I am thinking about getting a b & g macaw as I fell in love with them when I was at the Tambopata research centre in Peru. And got to feed one of the wild ones. Although the Scarlet ones were far more common in that part of the Amazon. There were still a few b & g about.

But I'm not going to rush in to it and need to save up some money first over the course of the next year.

I have never owned a bird before although I have kept cats, dogs and reptiles. And one of my housemates used to live with someone who owned a Macaw so I have some experience on hand.

What I am thinking of doing is getting a smaller bird now so that I can gain some experience before I get a Macaw. What smaller birds would make a good first bird and be good at keeping a macaw company.

Also if anything puts me of getting a macaw it is the screaming. I can tollerate it but not at dawn as I've heard they like to scream at dawn and dusk. If you put a black out curtain over their cage when their asleep will they scream at 4am when the sun comes up or will they not know and scream when you take the sheet off their cage and they see the sun.

Thanks for any advice.

If it were me, I would consider a mini macaw first to experience a "macaw" personality. All macaws are loud at times so if loudness no matter what time of day is an issue in your life you might consider a quieter species bird. I haven't put covers over our cages so not sure if they sleep in longer, my guess is they would since the light is what wakes them that early in the spring and summer months. Our flock wakes us at sunrise which is a gradual change of time, not at 4:00AM though.

I'm not sure what small bird would be good company for a b&g. However, I just wanted to note that I have a Greenwing and she doesn't do the am/pm screaming. She does however scream if I have been out and come in the door or if she feels that she is not getting the attention she wants from me. Macaws are noisy, but it seems with mine it isn't a often and completely tolerable to me. Of course she has me wrapped around her little foot so I may be a bit biased. 😉

Mines' the smallest of the large macaws, but she does not scream at dawn or dusk- hardly at all. When she did pick up screaming (not a lot, but like 10-15 shrieks a day) it was when se wanted attention like on the phone or if she got real excited or if I left the room.

Thanks for your advice so far. As long as I don't get woken up at sunrise all summer I can tolerate noise during the day. I think I'm partially death anyway. I just have a few more questions.

I see alot of information on the internet trying to put you off owning a macaw. But I get the general impression that alot of people get problems with them as they do not pay enough attention to them. How many hours of attention do they require daily to keep them happy. Hardly a problem for me as one of the main reasons I want one is because I want a pet that likes being handled. Reptiles are not good for this. Just want to check its not a ridiculous amount.

Another thing I have to consider. I read somewhere on the internet that you must keep birds away from reptiles.

I have a royal python that posses about as much threat to a macaw as a house plant. And she takes about as much effort to look after as a house plant. Is keeping them in the same room going to cause a problem. They would be at opposite ends of the room but will be in eyesight of each other. Although my snake is mostly nocturnal and usually spends all day hiding.

I have ball pythons, which I think are the same as royal pythons. I haven't had any issues with my amazon and the snakes, but I wouldn't have them out at the same time. I also keep the ball pythons in a different room in the house, a spare bedroom.

Each bird is different. All my birds, excluding my goffin didn't require much more than 2 hours of attention and with my current RFM if she wants attention, she ust flies over to me for it.
Reptiles are to be kept seperate from all other pets- even if they're friendly. YOur bird could eat the reptile or vice versa, but even if both are sweethearts, most if not all reptiles carry salmonella and you don't want another pet getting that, esp. one with a system as sensitive a birds'. That being said I had 2 beardies, one green iguana, 2 red ear sliders, and 2 chameleons while owning my B&G macaw and goffin cockatoo.

As far as the plant remove it from the room when you are leaving the room because you don't want your fid to eat a toxic plant and die.

My Coby doesn't scream at dawn or dusk. He does like to practice his words first thing in the morning. I personally find it quite enjoyable to listen to. I'll lay in bed in the mornings on the weekend and I can hear him in the living room practicing saying the words and phrases that he knows. That's usually when I find out that he has learned a new word or phrase. :0)

I didn't even think about the plants. I have 6 in my living room.
Snake Plant
Devils Ivy
Corn Palm
Dumb Cane
Dracaena
Dragon Tree
From what I have found out on the net the dumb cane and devils ivy are toxic for birds but the rest should be fine. Looks like I might have some plants to go in my bedroom now.

Anyway, I don't intend on leaving my macaw unsupervised as I don't want my sofa getting chewed. Or electrical cables. I'm guessing pinning them tightly to the wall would be a good idea.

Shayne said:

[...]
Anyway, I don't intend on leaving my macaw unsupervised as I don't want my sofa getting chewed. Or electrical cables. I'm guessing pinning them tightly to the wall would be a good idea.

Click to expand...

Look at getting these for your cables:


I have them at my workplace. You can get different types, but they're brilliant with keeping cables tidy and out of the way.

Im not a macaw person really, but i have gotten on fine with my woma python and my ekkie. I keep them out of view of each other because seeing the python moving puts pickle on edge. and i take them out separately. Like you said there is no risk to either from the other in my house as the snake is locked in when shes not out and they're never out at the same time anyway.