I swear I thought she was at least 18...

1800 grams that is... what were you thinking?!

Had both macaws and my red lored well birdied yesterday. The CAG and my Lilac Crowned get it tomorrow.

My Red Lored is 16 years old now, and I swear her weight hasn't changed a microgram in the 14 years she has been with me - 385 grams.

My RFM weighed in at 565, which is pretty much normal for her. Hasn't varied much.

Then my GW mac got on the scale. Check again that can't be right!

No way! Check again.

Same result. Damn! How could this happen? Is this the onset of macaw wasting disease?!

1735!!!

Admittedly, I haven't been weighing them. They're healthy. They get fed right. Their blood work has always been perfect. I haven't worried about it. In fact, it never even occurred to me...

She's lost almost 100 grams in the past two years!!! I'd like to think that it's because she's active, and fed right. But honestly, I am at a loss on this one... My vet said she's perfectly healthy, and didn't understand why I was even worried about it. "What are you talking about, she's friggin' huge! Well above normal." But 90-100 grams in two years seems like a lot to me... She's NOT fat. She's "Bolivian" greenwing. One of the XXL varieties. The "normal" scale doesn't apply to this one.

I'm still somewhat shocked that she came in that far under 1800... I'm trying not to worry, but I am anxious to see her blood work.

LOL Love the thread title . Sure woke me up .

Ya Mark, the title sure got me, too. :54:

C'mon, she's STILL ginormous! And I don't mean in a 'fat' way, just in a HUUGE GW way.

Don't be throwing out stuff like 'macaw wasting disease', NOT your Maggie, no way!!! She's as healthy as a horse, no doubt about it.

You've got one wicked sense of humor. (in a good way)

I bet Maggie is just fine. Perhaps she's just been a little more active these past 2 years. Glad the 'first batch' is healthy, and am sure the other 2 will be as well

JerseyWendy said:

Ya Mark, the title sure got me, too. :54:

C'mon, she's STILL ginormous! And I don't mean in a 'fat' way, just in a HUUGE GW way.

Don't be throwing out stuff like 'macaw wasting disease', NOT your Maggie, no way!!! She's as healthy as a horse, no doubt about it.

You've got one wicked sense of humor. (in a good way)

Click to expand...

I was kidding about the macaw wasting disease, but I'm still a little bit worried about a 100 gram differential. That just seems like a lot to me in two years. She acts fine. I'm not that concerned about it, but I'll feel better when I get her lab results. If anything was going on with her it would KILL me...

The only time I've had that drastic a weight loss was on a bird that WAS morbidly obese, and we were trying to get them down. (Amazons, mostly! How did you guess!)

Believe it or not, a friend of mine had a male RLA (Like Sally) who was OVER 850. That's like you or I being around 400-ish! We got him down to around 625 with a crash diet.

Pecker bird was obese when I got her as well. She lost around 85 grams...

If you really think about, on a bird THAT big, thats not really AS drastic as on an amazon that should only weigh 400-500 grams. It also happened over several years, and could well just be a natural and not inherently unhealthy thing.

Very clever title, Mark! Thanks for the laugh. I expect Maggie's test results will prove she's in perfect health. Maybe Maggie's just watching her weight and getting lots of exercise. Hope all your flock's check ups go well.

Kiwibird said:

If you really think about, on a bird THAT big, thats not really AS drastic as on an amazon that should only weigh 400-500 grams. It also happened over several years, and could well just be a natural and not inherently unhealthy thing.

Click to expand...

I concur. If a bird loses weight from somethimg being wrong, it would be more like 100g in a week or month, not 2 years!

I can't blame you for worrying though, that's exactly how I am too.

Mark - you are always so funny.

Just got back from the vets. Got the other two done. They had a lot of fun playing with the vet's Caique. We had three dancing, talking, displaying birds competing for attention in the lobby... which was fun.

Tusk went first, and the second he got toweled, Lila flew to the Doctor's shoulder, and made sure he wasn't hurting anyone... peered over his shoulder the entire time Tusk got his nails done...

They are very bonded, and she's very protective of him.

Tusk came in at 445. So he's still down in weight from where he was before his little adventure - but let's face it - he was also getting fat. I expect he'll be back in the 525 range one of these days.

Lila came in at 335. Sh she's gained about 10 grams since I've had her.

But they both are very healthy.

Glad to hear the good vet check.

Have a look at big jake the B&G Macaw. This is abuse by food
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCkQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scottemcdonald.com%2Fpdfs%2FAverage%2520Weights.pdf&ei=GqZ5VIS-As3k8AWUl4LwAw&usg=AFQjCNGn4mUycEOIuoygio_FtfAw12P-Pg&sig2=sSB1bjY5ktp-ZNEjjj7LfQ

Maggie isn't fat. She's a "Bolivian" greenwing...

I've got a friend whose Hys are between 2100 and 2250 on average, and they are NOT fat. Just freakin' huge! Heads the size of a rottweiler. (and hearts of pure mush!}
Having a normal B&G that is double it's normal weight is not healthy.

My CAG is also off the chart. He's about the same size as my red fronted macaw. Though admittedly, it was probably good that he lost a little weight on his little adventure. He and my lilac crowned are both hearty eaters.

There is different sizes in all species of animals. But a B&G macaw weighting over 2400 grams is overweight. I have seen some huge birds for their species but they looked healthy.