Some bad and good news

As the title states I have both bad and good news...
I'll start with the bad news...
I've been putting off posting the bad news as I wanted to get my emotions in better control. Earlier this month, the 14th to be exact. My recently acquired feathered friend, Apollo the three month old DYH Amazon passed away in my arms.. I was in total shock! Just four days prior to his passing he'd gotten a clean bill of health from the vet. That same day he passed, I took him to get a necropsy and it turned out he had kidney disease. And was told that even if it had been caught a bit earlier, his chance of survival would had still only been 50/50.
Even though he was only with us for 20 days, they were the most wonderful 20 days I have personally experienced with such a grumpy, sweet, independent, bold, and an amateur opera singer, feathered friend. And will be missed!

And now for some good news!
My family and I have decided that we still want to have a feathered friend to come home to everyday. And so after some emails with a breeder it has become official, that in about 2 months give or take our family will be welcoming a new member. His name is Emit, a DNA sexed male, Blue Throated Macaw. He's being raised by Wendy, from Wendy's Parrots. And we are anxiously waiting to pick him up, just not excited for the 10hr round trip drive we'll be making. Oh and I've included some pictures of him since I know you guys love pictures!




P.s. Sorry for making this so long, I tried to make this post as short as possibly.

Omg! Sooooo cute, I love BTM's!

I'm so very sorry about Apollo, I know it's heartbreaking. I'm glad you were there to comfort him in the end and to love him in the last weeks of his life.

We do love photos and those you posted are adorable. Congrats, I'm glad your family made the decision to give another bird a loving home.

We feel your pain, we lost our Yoshi after 11 years with no prior warning. May i ask what Emmet cost you.

You can't go wrong with Wendy. She's great. I almost got a rescue from her.

So sorry about Apollo, but congrats on Emit. He is a stunner.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
And Yoshi1950 I paid $2000 + tax.
she's been nothing but wonderful and helpful. I know she has 3 other BTM males available of various ages. One ready to go home, another about the same age of my Emit( I think his clutch mate) and a 7 week old.

I am so sorry that Apollo passed on. I too have had the opportunity to be with my feathered friend when he passed. My Eclectus Joaquin died in my arms also and as hard as that was to go though I was very grateful I was able to be with him when he died. I sang to him his favorite song and was able to give him my good bys. This happened in 2005 and I still miss him but I have very good memories as well and I will always have the memories.

I also got my RFM Valentino from Wendy Craig. She was the BEST breeder I have ever had the pleasure working with. I also consider her a friend. Two months before Valentino was old enough to come home my 17 year old Noble Macaw Mihijo died during the night from a heart attack. I was devastated and took his passing so very hard. Wendy helped me though that hard time sharing personal experiences with me so like my own. I almost didn't take delivery of Valentino because I felt for a while I could not take care of parrots and that I was cursed with all my boys passing. It was such a dark and severely depressing time with the house being so quiet. I have lived with parrots for over 20 years so the period before Valentino came home was so hard.

I am sure you are going to LOVE your BTM Emit. I know Wendy names the babies but because we had to wait so long for a male she called mine Valentino right out of the nest. She raised him with the name I chosen for my RFM so when he came to me and I said his name he made that connection with me. It was a very beautiful moment when I picked up Valentino. (Wendy shipped him up to the frozen tundra called Minnesota)

Did you pick the name Emit or was that the name Wendy had for him? I am sure you are very excited for Emit's arrival. It is bittersweet but believe me Emit will help you heal from Apollo's passing. Valentino has helped heal my heart.

I am sure you recognize the "bird stand" all the babies are perched on. Valentino is the baby perched in the right by the circle part. Such a cute pose too.



I look forward to hearing about Emit and seeing picture of him. Take care.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Apollo! I think Emit will definitely help you heal. Congrats!

Wendy Craig is one of the best macaw breeders in the US in my opinion.

(If not THE best...)

I've met quite a few of her birds, and they were all exceptional.

And BTM personalities are pretty exceptional to begin with!

I am so sorry for your loss of Apollo
Emit is stunning and I am so happy that he will soon be joining your family.

I agree that Wendy Craig is one of the best breeders in the US. She sent to me a well adjusted confident, well behaved Red Fronted Macaw. However it was I who has made him weird.

Valentino has some strange habits and aspects of his personality as the result of living with me. I also see a lot of RFM normal behaviors that I see in other RFM's.

The past 10 months have been hard on Valentino with all the severe transitions he has suffered through. Its not even close to being stable as yet. I try to be as consistent with him as possible and work hard to help him understand that though all the changes I will not abandon him. I can see with Valentino's high intelligence he does understand when stress levels are high and when they are lower. Like any intelligent being he does act up and act out when the stress levels are too high.

I understand no one can ever raise a parrot perfectly. The baby adapts to the people they live with, abused or taken care of very well will affect how baby develops.

I am sure Emit will arrive healthy, happy and confident. I do know from experience keeping Valentino flighted helped with his confidence level being so high. I asked Wendy not to clip his wings and did prepare my home to receive a flighted macaw. Since BTM and RFM are similar in behaviors I can attest that if you keep Emit flighted he will stay a confident bird and be happier. However if you and your family are not comfortable with keeping Emit flighted he will adjust with a lot of care, love, nurturing and positive reinforcement.

If you keep Emit flighted prepare never to be able to use the bathroom alone again. No matter if it is on a different level of the house our macaws are very talented with flying. Once Valentino flew into the bathroom while I was using it, promptly told me "you stink" then flew out of the bathroom laughing. At least he has a sense of humor. LOL

I am so, so sorry to hear of the passing of Apollo that must have been such a horrible and difficult thing to go through. I hope that Emit can help to heal your heart -- I know that you will love the heck out of them. It seems like blue-throats are the cutest, funniest little clowns!

See, now with Sweepea, it's the kitchen sink. You can't use the kitchen sink without that bird flying over and jumping into it the minute you turn the water on... [Last night when I went to do dishes, for example!]

That bird seriously likes her baths!

Rachel had a Red Front, a Blue Throat, and a Scarlet that were all originally from Wendy... They were all socialized to the Nth degree from the time they hatched. So they were all exceptional from the get go... The Scarlet in particular had NONE of the usual scarlet beakiness issues, and was 100% lap bird!

I totally understand the RFM love of the kitchen sink. Wendy gave them baths as babies in HER KITCHEN SINK. LOL. Valentino is the same way. I was doing dishes last night and he jumped into the soapy water. He is so insistent about getting into the sink when the water is running. he jumps in with this head in the sunken part of the drain and rolls around squealing. I have video of him taking his sink bath. Silly parrot.

Okay so Wendy might of helped made my parrot weird. LOL

If I didn't already have Valentino I would LOVE to get a BTM from Wendy. Sometimes I feel like my RFM is a little dog in a feathered suit. I just love that boy.

I am so sorry for your loss. Makes me sad, i cant imagine how you feel.

On the bright side, i heard Wendy Craig is an amazing breeder from many sources.
I'm sure Emit will help fill that void in your heart and home. Blue throats are great, i almost ended up with one a few years back because i fell in love with him.

I wish you the best of luck!

noblemacaw said:

I totally understand the RFM love of the kitchen sink. Wendy gave them baths as babies in HER KITCHEN SINK. LOL. Valentino is the same way. I was doing dishes last night and he jumped into the soapy water. He is so insistent about getting into the sink when the water is running. he jumps in with this head in the sunken part of the drain and rolls around squealing. I have video of him taking his sink bath. Silly parrot.

Okay so Wendy might of helped made my parrot weird. LOL

If I didn't already have Valentino I would LOVE to get a BTM from Wendy. Sometimes I feel like my RFM is a little dog in a feathered suit. I just love that boy.

Click to expand...

YEP! Sweepea does the exact same thing every time! [These people that say, how do I get my macaw to bathe?! I've always had the opposite problem with mine. Turn on water around here, you need to keep your head on a swivel!] But you can't blame Wendy for Sweepea's behavior. She's one of Cindy's birds (Blackstone Aviaries, San Diego. I was still in Cali at the time.)

And there is no better happy bird noise in the world than a red front getting wet happy squeal...

I'm so sad and happy for you at the same time. Losing my male red factor canary Skiddle was so devastating. He was singing up a storm all morning, then the next thing I saw he was gone. I was so sad and cried for what seemed like forever. Apprehensive about getting another bird, I decided to take the plunge and now we have two. Not canaries, but a senegal and a parrotlet. They will both be two in feb. I got them at 12 weeks. So enjoy your new baby... You will never forget, but the new baby will help mend your broken heart. Mine did.