New B&G Macaw Mummy Needing Advice!

Hi everyone

New member from Australia here.

I got my dream bird, a B&G Macaw named Cosmo, approx 3 weeks ago. For the past 12 months or so I've researched absolutely everything and thought I couldn't be more prepared for my new baby... boy was I wrong!! You can read all the information on the internet you like but nothing compares to talking to someone who actually has a Macaw or experiencing it for yourself. Needless to say it's not as easy as I thought it would be after I armed myself with all the information I had researched. However I'm completely dedicated (and SO in love with him!) that I believe with a little guidance I can build a loving, trusting relationship with him.

The main thing I am having trouble with is getting him to step up. He goes to have a little nibble on hands/fingers whenever you reach out to him and has no interest in stepping up. I don't believe he would bite for real, however still a little nervous to push that limit with him!

The other thing is getting him out of his cage. I only work part time so I'm at home a lot and would love for him to just be out of his cage whenever I'm at home. However when I get him out of his cage, he has a bit of a flap around the house, scaring himself in the process, and then it's impossible to get him back into his cage. We ended up having to just grab hold of him (which I HAAAATED) and put him back in his cage. This completely smashed my confidence in getting him out of his cage and I've been too nervous to do it since. It's no life sitting inside in his cage everyday so I just feel a little heartbroken whenever I look at him I want to provide him with the best life possible and I don't feel like I'm doing that at the moment.

A little bit about Cosmo...

*Almost 8 months old
*Purchased from a breeder, hand raised, however I haven't received much support from his breeder since bringing him home
*He seems to really crave human interaction and affection, and is definitely friendly enough to be trained and come out of his cage once I know what I'm doing!

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated by both myself and Cosmo!

Thanks

Welcome to the forum!!

Good to see another Australian macaw owner!

Where abouts in Australia are you?

I completely understand, i read every single website and book for months before bringing home my boy, but nothing teaches you like hands on experience!


I got my guy from a breeders, and he had the nickname 'Feral' and was suggested he wouldn't be a great pet, because he didn't enjoy interacting with people !

For the first few days, he was in his cage most of the time, and then was let out for a little bit, just so he was settled in and wouldn't get scared, because it was a completely new environment!


I had a similar problem, when i went to catch him to put him away, he wanted nothing to do with me

What worked for me? Completely ignoring them...

Remember a macaw is like a toddler.. They do things for attention, and they WANT you to be looking at them


I tried to catch Fargo, he wouldn't come to me.. So i walked away, and just sat down.. He immediately was offended, and would climb down to me.. How dare i ignore him!!


One thing that really helped, was getting his favourite treat- Pecan nuts- and using them as bribery in the beginning..

He would step up for a pecan, and he would fly to me if i had a pecan!



It is all a slow process.. The first week i had Fargo i was a little heart broken.. I thought we would never have a bond? Honestly, i loved him so much, but i thought he wouldn't return that feeling!

After the first week, he started to trust me, and want to spend time with me!


Now i think most people agree he is the most affectionate, well behaved, cuddliest macaw ever He lies upside down in my arms all day long!

It took about a month before he was completely out of his shell, but ever since then he has loved me more than i knew was possible!


Sorry for that long post! It will always be rocky in the beginning, but give him space and give him treats, and he will come around

Lots of yummy treats always does the trick haha


Ask him to step up onto your arm, hold out a nut in front so he wants to step up onto you

This thread might help show the stages in our relationship
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/35568-has-been-1-year-me-fargo.html

At 8 months he is still a baby and chances are he might not know how to/that coming out of the cage is a great place and thing to do. You have to teach him and playing little games like Peek-a-boo is a good starting point. Make yourself fun and interesting to him so that he wants to be with you. If you haven't received much help from the breeder that tells me he probably did not spend a lot of time with him as a baby to socialize him so it is now up to you make up for lost time.

I rehomed Donovan a year ago last April. He had a history of biting, rehomed once already but when he bit the second owner real bad, she called the original owner to come get him and he bit the first owner when she was trying to take him out of the cage which in turn made her gun shy on handling him and so he only came out about once a week.

I knew his history and agreed he was coming home to live with me. I brought along a bunch of nuts, treats, toys of which the treats he only ate one type and the toys he was afraid of. I would offer him a toy and he would scream. That was not good so I took the fabric ball I had brought along and started playing with it by myself, tossing it in the air but still no interest. I was getting tired seeing it was starting to get to be a long day after the early flight, then driving and all so I sat on the floor still tossing the ball in the air. Still no interest. When I turned my back to him and playing with the ball, now that got his interest. Macaws want to be in the middle of things.

He climbed down from the perch, onto the grate and either with his foot or maybe the beak, he started touching my head as I was leaning up against the cage. Knew I had his attention. Kept playing with the ball. It did not take him long to come over to the door and so I lifted up my elbow and put my arm on the edge of the door frame and after about a minute, maybe less, he had stepped onto my forearm which I then slowly moved my arm onto my outstretched legs where he then moved to my legs.

Everything I had to do in a very slow way. I would always have to ask him to step up before I had my arm there otherwise he would strike with that beak and his strike was extremely hard and he would scream out at the same time. All of this has gotten better but I still always have to watch him.

He has turned into a pretty good Mushmellow as I call it and he had better get his good night cuddle before the lights go out otherwise he screams but he now wants to cuddle up which is a great thing.

I have to say I was proud of him this past weekend. Kalea is another Macaw who I call my little monkey. She loves swinging by the beak, wants to bounce in the air while I am sitting and lifting my arms over my head and holding her feet. Loves hanging on my finger by one toe nail too. Donovan sees how we are playing all the time and a few weeks ago he started wanting to go up in the air too so we started that but what I was most proud of was somehow all of a sudden he was hanging upside down by one foot in my hand.

With an 8 month old, he is too young to be fearful of the world outside of his secure caged world. Bribery is your best asset, use it to your advantage. Make yourself important and fun to be with. Sounds like this baby was not loved on and cuddled with much growing up. Teach him what cuddling is all about and you will have a friend for life.

Tab gave you good advice. They are attention oriented. Use that to your advantage. Let the bird come to you.

Macaws are the most toddler like of birds. They need discipline and guidance.

Start playing beak games with him now, and teach him to control his bite pressure.

Wishy washy does not work with macaws. If you show fear and back down when he gets pushy with you, then you are inadvertently teaching him to bully you. You have to be the one in charge. You can control that beak with two fingers, or the palm of your hand and just gently deflect it to control biting.

Teach this bird basic step up, step down, and no bite.

Sit down with the bird on your lap, and play games.

Interaction is the key.

You've already gotten great advice, but I will mention one other things. In my experience macs don't like it when you are tentative and nervous when dealing with them. They use it to their advantage to bluff you. Be calm and confident with your guy. I also find speaking softly to them when they are worked up helps.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

thekarens said:

You've already gotten great advice, but I will mention one other things. In my experience macs don't like it when you are tentative and nervous when dealing with them. They use it to their advantage to bluff you. Be calm and confident with your guy. I also find speaking softly to them when they are worked up helps.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Click to expand...

Exactly. You are holding yourself back with this stuff. These birds are empathic. When they sense fear, they become afraid. If they are afraid, the answer is going to be an emphatic NO!

In the wild, you would never in a million years get this close to a parrot. They would fly away long before you ever did. We have basically overridden their biological survival programming by getting them to interact with us. They are QUITE LITERALLY trusting us with their lives...

THAT TAKES A LOT OF TRUST. And it's a two way street. He has to learn to trust you, but you have to also trust him in order for this to work.

WHEN IT'S ALL PLAYTIME, AND LOVE... IT QUITE LITERALLY BECOMES ALL ABOUT PLAYTIME AND LOVE TO THESE GUYS.