Help Hand Raising 8 week Blue & Gold Macaw

Hi! I thought i would take a moment and introduce myself, I'm Montana & i have a new baby Blue & Gold Macaw. This is my first macaw but not my first time hand feeding. I used to raise ducklings and fostered a 5 year old african grey for about 6 months.

I'm super excited about my baby!! His name is Shorty by the way lol. I got him at 4 1/2 weeks the day after mother's day and he's been doing great. The people i got him from had me feeding him only twice a day andtold me to keep him in the dark. After my first two days following their instructions it didn't seem right with some slow crop problems. We went to the vet and got his feeding schedule right with the right consistency and he's doing great!

Shorty is about two months now and I'm excited about all the developments he has been making day by day.

I'm wondering what are some of the best ways to bond and spend time with him at this stage. We hand out a lot practicing getting on perches,balancing on his basket,stepping onto my hand, spreading his wings. He likes to follow me around and stand on my foot while i prepare his formula.He spends at least an hour out exercising while i prep his food and after he eats. I've tried watching animated moves like Rio, the Little Mermaid and Aladdin. He seemed to look at rio a bit but I'm not sure he is interested in tv or music. Head scratches are loved but still trying to figure out all his body language

Any tips about bonding and raising a macaw this young would be greatly appreciated!! I'm so in love with him already!!!

Welcome! There are some great sticky threads at the top of the Macaw forum. Read everything by Birdman666, especially the Big Beak O' Phobes Guide to Macaw Beaks. And the health forums are good. I'd say don't let him go walk on the floor just yet...many birds have died from being stepped on because they were walking around without the humans knowing. They can also pick up things to eat that they might shouldn't if they are on the floor. At least while for now don't allow it.

It's not too early to practice stepping up until it's second nature for him, so he'll step up for you from anywhere at anytime. It could save his life one day and will certainly make yours easier. Macaws can get pretty clingy and be happy sitting on you all day. In the wild they would sit with a mate for hours allopreening. It can cause a problem if you wind up spending less time with him, like if you have to work or something, so it would also be good to figure out what kind of toys he likes to destroy, I mean play with, so he can have entertaining things to do when he's by himself.

Welcome to the forum, and oh, where are the pictures?

I replied to your other post, but always a good recommended read....

Tips for Bonding and Building Trust

I'm curious about the signs to look for when he is ready to wean... I don't think he's ready AT All but by the end of the month if he keeps making developments like he is i think so.

I really just want to be prepared as i can to make the transition as stress free as possible.

He climbs and perches and started jumping off of things yesterday which almost made me have a heart attack thinking he's going to break his leg. He kept climbing in his basket and on perches and jumping off. I had ended up putting towels and pillows around so he was safe.

I attached some videos of his new behaviors...he is too much fun!!

https://vimeo.com/221476324
https://vimeo.com/221476045
https://vimeo.com/221476232




When did you introduce food?

It an often take macaws months, like around 4-6, to wean, sometimes longer. I know Hyacinths take a year! If he's perching, now is a great time to make him a playstand so he can learn to climb and balance himself, always while supervised of course, and nothing too high off the ground. You can buy a table perch for him to get a feel for it, or make one. As time goes on you will want to begin introducing different foods...for example at first you could offer him baby food, like sweet potato. Just like with a regular human baby, you can work with liquid foods, yogurts, etc until they feel confident enough to try nibbles of actual food. Macaws can enjoy a huge variety of fruits and veggies, as well as cooked legumes and grains. You can start offering these to him slowly, in bite-size pieces, as for when it could be any time, just start attempting to show him new foods and see how he takes. Small, easy to eat stuff first, then work your way up to the fun stuff like nard nuts. Be sure to check out the food/recipes page for great recipes on feeding fresh fruits/veggies mix, aka bird CHOP!

There's two types of weaning out there widely used....abundance weaning and force weaning. Many will wait for the bird to not accept any more formula, and that is when they wean naturally. You begin offering them foods and the more they begin to eat, the idea is the less they should be inclined to take the middle feeding of the day, but you still offer it to them until they refuse.