Arika comes home

Hello everyone,
Its been a while since we gave an update on Arika. We've been extremely busy making sure everything was ready for her.

Her cage is all together, toys seem to be properly placed, we have the proper foods, play stand, safety kit, and custom carry cage. We did receive some compensation from the cage manufacturer for all the issues we had and I will update the thread in the Cages area as soon as I can.

So where is Arika?

We picked her up on Friday 9/8. here is a pic of her new travel cage that we customized just for her and she is even wearing her seat belt ! We just folded the rear seat down and the cage fit perfectly.




I'll post more on the modifications to her cage and how we made the seat belts work in our SUV at a later date.

It was a 3 hour drive home and she did very well after she found out how to hold on and steady herself properly.

She is adjusting to her new cage and toys very well and has already learned how to "hop" from her perch and grab hold of the front door. She scares me to death when she does that !

She is being a little stubborn with eating but we are giving her time to adjust. Her weight is about 770 grams which needs to come up for a 4 month old and we are working on that.

Today she went to the Vet for her first visit with her Dr. and it went very well. She commented that she needs to gain some weight and pointed out her breastbone should not be any more pronounced than it is. All other tests are looking good so far.


We didn't realize until after Kelly took the pic that the picture on the wall couldn't be more true !

More updates as soon as we can.

As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the storms in Texas and Florida and we hope everyone and their flocks manage to get through this storm unharmed.

Thanks
Kelly and Karl

Awesome update - congratulations! :jumping40

Welcome home Arika!! Glad the journey went well. There can be no doubt you've prepared well and will be excellent parronts.

We thank everyone for the the congrats and kind words. It's been a long road, but it was nothing but pure enjoyment and we made it.

A question on her weight. I know every bird is different. There are big B&Gs and little B&Gs. Any comments on her weight of 770g at 17 weeks? I remember reading about feeling the breast bone and that is what her Dr mentioned. Is this weight average?
She fledged about 3 to 4 weeks ago and is being picky and very "delicate" when she eats.

Thanks
Kelly and Karl

Welcome home Akira, Now life begins as the 3 of you become a family. COngrats

I see that little patch of yellow in the first picture!

Good to see she's home now She's adorable

wrench13 said:

Welcome home Akira, Now life begins as the 3 of you become a family. COngrats

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Thank you. Our triangle has been broken since PJ left this world.
When we met Arika we knew that this would be a new chapter and a newly formed triangle that will only get stronger.

I've been sitting at the computer keeping her company while she eats. Talking to her softly, encouraging her to eat and be strong. She seems to be going at her food a little more aggressively and hopefully she will pick up some weight.

She has switched between pellets, cooked Goldenfeast mix, fresh fruit and water. Her crop looks nice and full.

She was out with both of us for quite a while, enjoying some mutual preening earlier. Pure joy !!

Thanks
Kelly, Karl and Arika

LordTriggs said:

I see that little patch of yellow in the first picture!

Good to see she's home now She's adorable

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Thanks, I wish I could have grabbed a better picture but we wanted to be on our way home since it was a 3 hour drive. She did really good during the drive.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

Just a brief update.

Arika has been home for a week and is settling in very well. Her appetite has improved and is eating some walnuts, pecans, almonds, and her cooked mix very well.
She is still not much of a fan for fresh fruit. We've tried apple, mango, banana, watermelon, grapes. She will nibble a little but not really eat much. We hope this improves too. Any suggestions are welcome.

She gets around her cage by jumping. From the perch to the front door, from her high swing to the front door. Scares the heck out of me ! I'll have to get her a trampoline soon

She is starting to test her boundaries a little and has received a few time outs already. Just a few minutes of turning our back and the trying again seems to get her on track again.

Her weight is up from 770 to 803 grams. We are glad to see that improvement and hope to see it come up more.

I'll bump this question again, any comments on an "average" weight for a 4.5 month old B&G? Have not checked her breast bone tonight. We'll do that tomorrow.

Thanks
Kelly Karl, and Arika

Arika is just gorgeous, you are very blessed. If you ever find that birdie trampoline you gotta show us! Keep your pics coming please?

Her weight is up which is good, the average adult weight is between 1000-1200g. IMHO concentrate on quality of foods eaten, things will level out.

If Arika isn't very keen on fruit then you can offer veggies which IMO are a better option. An inexpensive and convenient way of feeding veggies to your macaws would be sprouted seeds. An extremely nutritious option. Certainly they are my saviour. A great way to introduce greens to your birds diet.

Have you thought about introducing a home made chop?

You will find tons of info here http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/

https://www.thespruce.com/chop-concept-revolutionary-way-feed-birds-390189

plumsmum2005 said:

Arika is just gorgeous, you are very blessed. If you ever find that birdie trampoline you gotta show us! Keep your pics coming please?

Her weight is up which is good, the average adult weight is between 1000-1200g. IMHO concentrate on quality of foods eaten, things will level out.

If Arika isn't very keen on fruit then you can offer veggies which IMO are a better option. An inexpensive and convenient way of feeding veggies to your macaws would be sprouted seeds. An extremely nutritious option. Certainly they are my saviour. A great way to introduce greens to your birds diet.

Have you thought about introducing a home made chop?

You will find tons of info here Parrot Food, Recipes and Diet - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

https://www.thespruce.com/chop-concept-revolutionary-way-feed-birds-390189

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Thank you very much for the compliments and yes we are very lucky to have her in our lives. Also thank you for the information.
As soon as we find a bird trampoline, we will send you the link

She likes the Golden Feast Madagascar Delight, Bean Supreme, and Caribbean Bounty. They seem to be full of a wide variety of fruits and veggies. When cooked and brought down to a safe temperature she is eating quite a bit of what we put in her bowl. We tried weighing what went into the bowl and what came out, but sometimes a fair amount winds up on the bottom of the cage, Now we just use a visual to judge if she ate a majority of what we put in there or not. She is also eating a fair amount of her pellets but we want to ensure that the gets a nice balance of them, fruits and veggies.

She has expressed a little interest in lettuce (green area), really likes fresh steamed string beans, and lately she tried some scrambled egg and ate a little of it. The first time with the egg, she wanted nothing to do with it. At least she seems to be expanding her horizons on food a little. We are trying to give her plenty of options.
We read the thread on sprouts and that seems like that could be an interesting thing to try.
Home made chop is also on the list of things to try and I think we will give that a go next week. BTW, love the pic on the chop link !!! Just picturing Arika doing that is so funny.

Her breast bone feels about the same. Her vet said that if it becomes any more pronounced, then we need to see what is going on.

We are recording her weight and will ensure that we track it carefully.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

Yes, I think we have a Mush Mac
She actually fell asleep sitting there with Kelly.




Checking out the new play stand.

Arika is doing well. Eating much better and her weight is up to 820grams.
Breast bone still feels about the same. A lot is going in and a lot is coming out Everything looks to be the right consistency and color.

We tried some sprouts. The mung spouts were a definite no go. They were tossed them right away. The alfalfa sprouts were a big hit and so were the oranges. We still need to try doing our own sprouts.
She had some blueberries for the first time yesterday and they were devoured along with strawberries. We tried cucumbers but she showed little interest. Her cooked food has plenty of veggies but we are trying to get her to eat something fresh.

She is really starting to show some personality. Some of it has earned her a few time outs, but overall she has been very good. Stepping up almost consistently. She also appears to dance left to right on her bottom condo grate.

She loves to come out and spend time with us and has started making soft "macaw sounds" almost like a rough cooing sound when getting her head and wings scratched. Definitely a Mush Mac !

Thaks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

She is adorable! What a cute B&G. I have a soft spot for them!

wrench13 said:

She is adorable! What a cute B&G. I have a soft spot for them!

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Thanks,

We've always admired the B&G even while we had PJ. She has started training us well

Hopefully Salty's wing feather is doing better. Preparing for emergencies up front is much better than realizing you are not prepared when they happen.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika.

What great pics and updates, glad to see your new macaw is doing so well.