We have a small/ big problem My parents adopted a blue and gold macaw I guess 6 years ago . She is I would say fresh birdie who would love to remove any part you stick near her. She can break her toys within secs flat and take things apart probably just as quick. Any ideas on how we can gain some trust?

Here is her background. My aunt knew her former owners and they never made her stay in a cage the actully let her have flight as a wild bird and she came and went as she pleased and would have to find her own food and water. The ladys son told her to find it a new home or he was going to shoot it and so this is how we got involved do to the fact my Aunt knows we have taken in parrots and always have room so we took her in not knowing how bad it was and was ready.First night here she took her whole cage apart with herself inside. By the look in her papers she has been moved around alot and miss sexed someone did a dna sex and it came back male but I haven't knew a male bird to lay eggs lol she is also around 11 years old I believe

Now I don't want to give her up I love her to death even though I can't touch her and I think its a shame I would love to snuggle with her

She just hates people and is happy as can be when she is out playing

Any way to gain her trust? Show her not all people are mean and stupid and can see she is loved?

Its gonna be a long hard struggle for you, but I think you are willing to give it a go. It seems she has always gotten her own way and doesn't know how to interact with people, she also doesn't know what is right or wrong.

Firstly I have to say I don't have Macaws, so I'm only going on how I would possibly tackle the situation.

When she does something unacceptable let her know it, but when she does something good, well party time. She needs to know what she can and cannot do in your home. (Is she still fully flighted?)

Give her treats through the cage, She has to know that the cage is a place of fun and not some punishment that you are putting her through. I think the best way to go is to start right from scratch, as if you had hand fed her. Do things slowly but regularly, Also the Hand is a wonderful thing you don't want many bites from a beak that size.

Black Nova our Admin here has Macaws, I'll give him the heads up and see if he can help you more than I could. The thing is to do things right, you don't want to confuse the poor girl any more than necessary.

A DNA sexed Male that also lays eggs, thats a first for me.

From her story it seems as though she has never had love and doesn't know what it is all about, and for a magnificent bird like that, that is awful.

Good luck to you both, please let us know how you are both getting on.

I don't know personally how much help I can be to you. I don't have much experience with Macaws, but I can try and help.

My first piece of advice is to get her wings clipped if they are not already. This should tone down her aggression a bit. I know my rescued Mealy Amazon has had full flight until I adopted her and she is much less aggressive. Progress wil be very slow unfortunatly. Try hand feeding special treats through the bars of the cage first and when she is taking them without being too aggressive, praise her and let her know how good she is. I know my two parrots like when I talk to them in "kiddy" voice.

My Amazon has started letting me know when she is ready to make progress. We didn't try to push her and one day she put down her head for a scratch and now she does this everyday.

Has this Macaw been to a vet since getting her? Maybe she may have an unknown injury that may be causing her pain which would make her aggressive.

Don't know if that helps at all but good luck with her. You are doing a wonderful thing saving such a beautiful parrot!

Things are okay Giz is doing good today her regular nasty self but I still love her. She has her own room and out of time cage where she has her toys and boxes to destroy it makes her happy. with in the 6 years we have had her she has come some way not all the way and she may never . I never knew how headstrong Macaws could be I've worked with two other abused birds a grey that feared people because its ex owners boyfriend would knock him off his cage so he became a feather pluker 3 years later that bird is my best friend has all his feathers and is a mush beyond this world hhis only problem is he counts his toys and gets upset if one is missing due to breaking or it needs cleaning I can't even toss his comfy perch and replace it with one thta looks alike or he will not eat or drink. The other was a cockatoo that pluked her chest and never had a good diet I loved her but her dander almost killed me so I had to rehome her to a friend (her dander used to make the house look like a truck of powdered sugar exploded) No matter how much we cleaned. I'm hoping one day Giz will come around and realize she is home and safe and loved and any ideas on how I am willing to try even if it means I must get bit a bite can only hurt for so long

All the above are good suggestions.

I've had my macaw since after he was weened. So I really don't have any experience with a situation like your's. With mine, if he's not near me, he really doesn't like it, so he's kinda the exact opposite of your's. There are behavioral experts ( if there is such a thing ) that claim they can help out with situations like this. Positive reinforcement is usually the best way to train a parrot, but I'm not sure how you would get in a situation to 'give' positive reinforcement. I think there are a few books that talk about it, too. I think I've read in read where they put the bird in what the bird thought was a life threating situation and the person 'saved' the bird. From that point forward, the bird was bonded to that person. Seems kinda extreme to me.

The more challenging it is, the more you'll love each other when you bond.

I personally like positive reinforcement. I've read about "saving" your pet when researching more on reptiles. Where you put the reptile in water and then "save" them. I don't like these ideas I think they are a bit traumatizing and not guarenteed to work.

Here are a couple of books you can check out about behaivior and positive reinforcement.

http://www.amazon.com/Parrot-Problem...531733-7333541

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog...531733-7333541

Don't shoot the dog, is yes a bit about dog training but she explains how the training methods can be used on all animals even people.

Clicker training is apparntly another good method to try. I've never personally tried it but I heard people say it works wonders.

Check these books out, they are great reads.

Thank you for the advice I will look into those books if anyone has any more I'm hear to listen thank you

This is the time that Im sure we all wish we were some super experts on the subject, but as we're not but loving companions to our birds.

Anyway, don't know if this will help but its interesting anyway.

http://www.clevelandpeac.org/CMS/med...ining_peac.pdf

I have to say I'm a great believer in PR+ another thing I find helpful is clicker training, this may help when she's in her cage as usually when a bird hears the clicker they will turn to see what it is, then you can give a treat and it starts from there. I'm sure I posted a video clip on here somewhere, of clicker training I'll go look for it and get it linked here. Please let us know how you are both doing. And maybe some pics of your babies.

I think Barbara Heidenreich does great work. One of the books I recommended is written by her I believe. I got my fingers crossed to win the photo contest for the pass to her 2 day workshop coming here.

Thanks for the article Peta, very interesting and I havn't seen that one before.

this is my favorite parrot behavior book and while were talking about training does anyone have any tips on how to teach Sidney that the top of my head IS NOT his play gym ??? LOL crazy little guy

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