Some suggestions to make new macaw comfortable?

Hi everyone! I'm brand-new to this forum, but not to owning macaws. With that being said, I am picking up a new baby later today that is coming with a new set of obstacles for me.
Sarge is an 8 year old B&G. He has been passed around 4 times in the past year. Trapped in a room alone, only being fed, has contributed to EXTREME plucking. This baby is almost completely bald. He will be going to the vet as soon as I can get an appointment. According to the current owners, he is as sweet as he can be, and was well socialized by his first owners. No bad habits or behavior issues.
I have never gotten a macaw that was in this type of situation. I'm sure I can handle him, but I'm lost on what to really expect with him because of how he has been treated lately. Can anyone offer any suggestions on possible ways to make him more comfortable in the first few days? Or some things to maybe expect? (if this is the wrong place I am so sorry, please feel free to point me in the right direction)

Welcome
I am rather new to macaws, but Sunny is also a plucker.
(She was given to me by her despairing owners roughly 10 months ago, and seems to be mellowing out a bit and grows some feathers again/ only some!)


Just go with his signals-
does he come with his own cage?
(that always helps imho)
I would just treat him like any other new bird- let him set the pace.... if he wants to come out and play, let him, if not...thats okay too.


I am rubbish at making and posting photoos- but I would love to see his pictures (whenever convenient).

Thank you! I am not sure he comes with his own cage. Although I am prepared in the event that he does not. His current owners have not given me much information on anything. I just know he needs out of that situation NOW. By what I've been told, he is a very mellow and sweet baby. I'm worried he may have permanent folicle damage I will know more in about 4 hours, as that's when I'm going to get him. I will certainly post photos.

So we have made it home and it is much worse than I imagined. I will try and post photos. He is an absolute sweetheart though.

Congratulations on your new (rehomed) baby! It's heart breaking what he must have been through....I'm glad you came to the rescue of this lost soul!! Even if he never gets his feathers back, he gets a life, he gets treated like the magnificent creature he is, with a companion who respects him! Thank you so very much for taking him on. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01CYTU95K/ref=sxts_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542074389&sr=1 I've been recommending this a lot lately... But with a featherless bird he might need it. I've used one for 17 years , you hang it outside the cage puts out a good amount of heat so don't cover the cage all the way, run the cord through a pvc pipe to protect from his beak, it's a wonder raidiant gest panel ( no light) you only need the small size as works great. You can find a thermostat somewhere then it will kick on and off, I just leave my on all the time.....for 17 years!

Good, now you have a "this is the beginning"-point to start your journey together.
(sorry about the shock though)

I am just curious where he picks his feathers the worst-
I have seen the bald chests, chickendrums, and half eaten wings (sometimes the tops, sometimes the flightfeathers) missing tails, bleeding backs- so for me it is just "where does Sarge love to gnaw on".

Just very happy for you he really is a sweetheart from the start.
I'd rather have an ugly looking dinosaur with a good disposition than an gorgeous looking homocidal maniak.
(as long as everyone is happy, right? )


Do you know how long he has been plucking?
(just to guess at the damage/ permanent or not)

Thanks for the heater suggestion! He will most definitely need it. His chest is completely bald, and the tops of his wings are bald but I'm seeing some new growth there. Will try to post pictures if I can figure out how. The previous owners didn't know how long he's been plucking. However, it could have something to do with the fact that they were feeding him wild bird food and peanuts. That was his entire diet. I'm thinking that and boredom are the main culprits. He also has a slight case of scissor beak. We are going to the vet today for a beak/nail trim and a work up. Wish us luck!

Lots of luck!

Lovely set of drumsticks btw - but that and the lack of contours on his chest tell me he has not had much activity-options lately.
I think better food and more activity outside/ less stress will probably work wonders for your boy.
Can he fly? (and will you let him?)

He has a gorgeous "head of hair" btw - impressive and a good sign that his featherforming abilities seem to work just fine.
I am quite relieved not to see any scabs or signs of mutilating anything other than feathers.
I hope the vet will give him a clean bill of health.

I think with the condition of his flight feathers, he is not able to right now. However, I will let him fly in an outside flight cage when it gets warmer again. Besides the baldness, beak, nails, and muscle tone, he seems to okay. I believe it hurts him to eat, that's why we made a vet appointment now instead of waiting for him to settle in more. I'm hopeful as well! Whatever the case, he will have a wonderful life here and will never be treated badly again.

Read up on radiant heat, I don't want you to over heat him

TheRightAlice said:

Whatever the case, he will have a wonderful life here and will never be treated badly again.

Click to expand...

....and you had me in tears with that one.
Thank you so much for saying that. :07:
(I know you mean it.)

Awe, congrats! He looks like a sweetheart...

Actually that isn't that bad, believe it or not. I work at an Avian Rescue, and the birds who are basically locked in a room and never given attention are usually the ones that are really bad and who even start chewing holes in themselves from the boredom. But he doesn't look anything like what I usually see.

His plucking is probably 90%+ the boredom, total lack of stimulation, etc. If he's that big of a sweetie and still likes to be handled after not being for so long, that usually means that he was bred and hand-raised well by a loving breeder, and probably handled and given attention by his very first owner. But once all of that attention, affection, love, and stimulation is totally removed and the bird is just locked in a room alone it's entire life, then this is what happens. It's probably not worse because they only had him for a year.

The diet isn't the main cause of the plucking, and probably actually has little to do with it, that damage is done on the inside of his body. He most-definitely has an enlarged liver, but that can be remedied with a healthy diet and if the CAV thinks it's bad enough, then a daily dose of Milk Thistle. I'd ask for full blood-work and an x-ray, just to see what you're dealing with since his diet was so full of fat and had such a lack of nutrition, as he's probably suffering some deficiencies as well. So hopefully your CAV is good and you can design his diet and any supplements like Milk Thistle, Probiotics, any added Vitamins, etc. around what his blood-work and films show.

The good news here is that in spite of him being treated like a piece of old furniture stuck in a room alone, he's still a sweetheart. That's fantastic, and a sign that he will most-likely recover quickly and the more love and stimulation he gets, the more he'll leave his feathers alone...

We are home with some wonderful news. Besides the feather plucking and him being a tad underweight, he has no issues. I'm shocked but greatful. The beak and nail trim went wonderfully, he didn't even try to tongue the dremel like all of my other babies have. His nails bled pretty bad from the lack of upkeep, because the quick had grown out so long. Other than that we are settling in nicely

what did the vet say?