I think this may have gotten lost in the silliness of my other thread!

[riddick07]

What is the minimum inside height you would want for a blue and gold macaw? He will get out often if we do adopt him!

If I get a loft bed he will be the only one under there (along with the stands I'll store there when not in use) so I was looking at cages at least 40 wide by 30 depth.... I know the blue and golds are fairly small compared to some of the other larger guys. Meeting the hyacinth beak in person is interesting especially when it likes to put its ball in the food bowel so you either have to stick your fingers in to dislodge it or half open the food door (if that will actually work!)... he does like peek a boo though...so he is cute in a I can snap your arm in half but look how sweet I look kind of way...

Since I have a cockatoo and 4 tiels which will be roomed in the same space obviously will a air filter and frequent baths/misting of the tiels be enough? Folger actually produces little dust not sure why:54: We plan to be out of this place before winter so I can cage him in a different room soon enough. I know I've read that macaws can have issues with dust though so I want to be sure I won't be doing him a disfavor by potentially adopting the guy.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I wouldn't go less than 48" in height, that way you could keep 2 "stories" of perches in there.

How big of a B&G is Max? My Niko is no smaller than my Ripley. :54:

 

[riddick07]

He isn't tiny that's for sure! I'm guessing he is the average size if I looked at the others outside. His beak isn't as big as some of the green wings and scarlets. But after seeing the hyacinths overall size I guess I don't consider him huge. Bad comparison to look at I know.

One cage I was looking at had an inside of 45 and another of 47 they are macaw cages. Right now he is caged in the same cage I got Folger and he has two perches at different heights. I'm looking at Kingscages specifically since I really like Folgers (who by the way did a number on his shoulder while I was gone! I might just bring him with me if I leave for days again...)

What cages do you have for your two?

Umm right Folgers cage is a dometop and is 36 by 28 by 64. I wouldn't want a dometop they add a little too much overall height for sliding under a bunk!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Niko is in a King's Cage....this one:
King's Cages - Avian and Pet Bird Cages, Supplies, Food, Toys, Perches, Aviaries, Pluck No More

Ripley is in an A&E...this one:
AE Cage XL Dome Top 48 x 36 Powder Coated - DOME TOP CAGES by Bird Paradise

What happened to Folger's shoulder????

 

[riddick07]

Folger ripped his shoulder open. Part of his neck and all the way down to where his previous scar tissue is located on his shoulder. Its his go to area for mutilating when he is really upset. Mother told me he was screaming for me till 1 to 2 am Friday night. And whenever he heard something he would yell for me again thinking I was home but of course I wasn't. I was gone from around 2pm Wednesday until around 1130am Saturday.

He was almost completely healed from all his mutilation and I was going to start introducing him to the harness so I could take him on car rides without him having to be in a cage the whole time... delayed for now I guess.

Poor guy! Don't know what was going through his head....

 

[riddick07]

Okay another thought! Would Max be comfortable in Folgers cage for a year or so? I could easily find Folger a cage around the same size but shorter to fit under the loft. He tends to stay up top/middle area anyway. I could put him in the middle of my stacker but personally I don't think its tall enough for him and way too much of a downgrade from his current setup.

Folgers current cage:
King's Cages - Avian and Pet Bird Cages, Supplies, Food, Toys, Perches, Aviaries, Pluck No More

Max would be in it 2 years at the max (lol confusing...). Once we move I'll have more room for a big macaw cage. Figured the first thing I would start saving for is that (I've always liked the double macaw cage by A&E) well and those evil student loans...


In the end I bet he will end up in that big aviary I always eyed up when I thought I wanted a green wing when I was all grown up

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yeah, as long as you give him plenty of out time, he should be all right in that cage for a while.

I am SO sorry to hear about Folger. Poor lad!!! I bet he's SO happy to have you home again.

 

[jenphilly]

Yeah, as long as you give him plenty of out time, he should be all right in that cage for a while.

I am SO sorry to hear about Folger. Poor lad!!! I bet he's SO happy to have you home again.

He was beyond happy when she got home... I tried to get some video but by the time I pulled out my phone he was past his snuggling his head in her hair and arm. He did a little dance for music, but just could not focus, would dance, then start preening her.

Byron and I had to run out to the store yesterday afternoon. Folger was back in his cage for a bit by that time and when he heard the door, we could hear him scream her name, like he was checking to make sure she wasn't leaving again.

Anyone who wants to tell me birds don't understand words and how and when to use them properly really needs to take a good long study of Folger.

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

Keeping a Macaw, especially a B&G, in with dusty birds is taking a huge chance with the Macaw's respiratory system. People do it and tell themselves that the air purifiers will take care of it, but how will you feel when years down the road that bird has respiratory issues. Not like you can fix it later either.

 

[jenphilly]

Keeping a Macaw, especially a B&G, in with dusty birds is taking a huge chance with the Macaw's respiratory system. People do it and tell themselves that the air purifiers will take care of it, but how will you feel when years down the road that bird has respiratory issues. Not like you can fix it later either.

I don't understand why people think toos 'have' to be dusty. Ivory's cage is black and there is never dust showing anywhere, anytime. But, being a good Too parent, she gets bathed often and is never a dirty dusty bird. She hangs out with us all the time, most of the day and I can wear a black shirt and not have dust.... and Folger doesn't have a fraction of the feathers that Ivory does, that poor guy can barely produce dust with his bald little chicken boy body!

Sorry, bit of a rant, hopping off my soapbox (and not a dusty one at that) and gonna figure out what to do for dinner

 

[riddick07]

She has anger issues we are working on that

And while your post did come across like a word that shall not be mentioned since the forum is supposed to be nice. I know that respiratory problems occur but I have come across article after article on info that says with the right precautions they can be housed together. I don't want to keep him in the same room as the tiels after I move. Honestly the boy tiels were a huge mistake (shhhh don't tell my mother...she likes being right too much...) but I love the girls. They are dusty creatures but I don't bath them as often as I could and currently don't own a filter. My cockatoo is missing over 50% of his feathers and gets baths often to keep his skin from being irritated so he isn't all that dusty. My mothers too probably gets a bath every other day and misted everyday. The bare eyes don't produce dust like the bigger cockatoos.

I know filters work. Making it sound like they are useless is strange. They are used as allergen reducers and in the medical field all the time for clean rooms. My parents worked in the clean room business for years (my mother on the construction side and my stepfather on the certification side) and my stepfather used them when he was a nuclear biological and chemical specialist for the military. If anyone knows about filters its them.

I was thinking two filters... one by the tiels and one by the macaw. I was also going to up the misting/bathing to everyday for the cockatiels. When we move I was going to remove the tiels to a different area of the house. My conures which I didn't realize were affected negatively by dust will be housed in the same room as the macaw and Folger. Folger just doesn't have the feathers to be a worry with an air filter going in my opinion. He probably doesn't even produce the same amount of dust that I do in a day.

 

[riddick07]

And the rescue uses fans with a filter slapped on which is both amusing to look at and strangely effective....

 

[MacawLoverOf3]

I then have to wonder why you even posted the following: I know I've read that macaws can have issues with dust though so I want to be sure I won't be doing him a disfavor by potentially adopting the guy.

Your house, your rules. I just hope this little guy doesn't have to come back at a later date and say 'They told you so'.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Victoria, don't drive yourself crazy worrying, please.

I know plenty of people who successfully keep large toos and B&Gs in the same room with NO filter, and have never had any problems at all.

In fact, my GF used to breed toos and B&Gs in the same bird barn, her birds were vet checked yearly, nobody ever had any issues or health problems.

 

[getwozzy]

I then have to wonder why you even posted the following: I know I've read that macaws can have issues with dust though so I want to be sure I won't be doing him a disfavor by potentially adopting the guy.

Your house, your rules. I just hope this little guy doesn't have to come back at a later date and say 'They told you so'.

The OP is a very active volunteer at the rescue in which the Mac in question currently resides, and she has wonderful experience with parrots.

I don't think it's wrong for a responsible parront to ask others for their opinions... In fact, it's extremely responsible to consider ALL factors before adopting.

Just because cockatoos are labeled as dusty birds doesn't mean that they have to be, or even be overly dusty. Baths do wonders at keeping the dust down.

 

[jenphilly]

I then have to wonder why you even posted the following: I know I've read that macaws can have issues with dust though so I want to be sure I won't be doing him a disfavor by potentially adopting the guy.

Your house, your rules. I just hope this little guy doesn't have to come back at a later date and say 'They told you so'.

She posted because she thought she would find some helpful responses... and she did not ask me or her stepfather she was as worried about it. I had told her we would do a filter, because well I know plenty well enough, if I can oversee design, modular manufacturing and onsite construction of a cleanroom to ISO Class 1 and my husband worked in cleanroom certification, we can figure out a filter for a room... But guess she wanted to hear from 'macaw' people and not the parents... cause really, who believed their parents had a clue what they were talking about.

Sorry, need to put away the mom hammer and go back to the moderator hammer....

 

[riddick07]

Kill me now...I want to know if what I have planned is ENOUGH...

If you believe thats not enough wonderful you have an opinion and I'll take it into account. On that note you might want to take into account how you word things so people don't want to discount you because they don't particularly like the holy then thou tone. I wrote obviously worried about the dust issue and a well worded answer would have worked so much better then how you wrote... Plus, the the bird is going to die if you don't do things my way is not a good approach...maybe suggestions would have worked... or something like, I know you love Max but have you thought about the potential issues of this killing him,... or I know you really like this macaw but maybe you need to really think this might not be the right home for him, or you know this suggestion or maybe this suggestion will help with keeping dust issues down....

Anyway... I need some whiskey now....

 

[jenphilly]

Kill me now...I want to know if what I have planned is ENOUGH...

If you believe thats not enough wonderful you have an opinion and I'll take it into account. On that note you might want to take into account how you word things so people don't want to discount you because they don't particularly like the holy then thou tone. I wrote obviously worried about the dust issue and a well worded answer would have worked so much better then how you wrote... Plus, the the bird is going to die if you don't do things my way is not a good approach...maybe suggestions would have worked... or something like, I know you love Max but have you thought about the potential issues of this killing him,... or I know you really like this macaw but maybe you need to really think this might not be the right home for him, or you know this suggestion or maybe this suggestion will help with keeping dust issues down....

Anyway... I need some whiskey now....

uh oh... think somebody inherited the anger issues... and found the hammer!! Tho she's not much of a hammer kinda person, more like a surface to air missle...

 

[riddick07]

uh oh... think somebody inherited the anger issues... and found the hammer!! Tho she's not much of a hammer kinda person, more like a surface to air missle...

I have no idea what you are talking bout.... I am a perfectly nice reasonable person.... which is why Folger picked me...obviously...:54::21:

 

[Birdbrain91]

First of all, I want to say I'm jealous of how sweet Max is, he looks like he has really taken to you. My Wesley has a wild spirt about him (or maybe he's just Bipolar lol) you never know what your going to get but I love him anyway.

I can't help you with the dust because I don't have any tiels or toos but I do have a B&G. I know the cage is only temporary and you don't seem like the type of person to leave him in a cage for long periods of time but IMO I think 28 is a little to small. Looking at the video he flaps/extends his wings a lot. Just make sure he can fully extend his wings in the cage. I have Wesley in a cage like Wendy's Riply.

No matter what you decide to do I know you'll do what's best for Max.