Site Newbie Rescuing Gracie on Friday

Hi all,

I am new to the site and will definitely be in need of some help from those who have experience with Scarlet Macaws. I am a huge animal lover and cannot stand to see any animal suffering.

I was searching for a dog to rescue when I came across a Scarlet Macaw that piqued my interest. I hand raised a blue and gold macaw in my mid 20's but lost him a few years later in a divorce, so I am not completely new to the unique challenges of big bird ownership.

I contacted the owner of Gracie and was sad to find out her living arrangements. While she is not in deplorable situation, she is with an owner who is terrified of her and therefore keeps her caged 24 hours a day. She is never held and is kept alone in a bedroom because her parents are also terrified of her. (Sexing has not been done but she refers to her as female)

With a lot of communication back and forth, I am now taking ownership of Gracie, at a minimum to get her back to a happy and healthy life, but my hope is to have her as my life long friend.

Gracie has severely plucked her throat feathers due to neglect. She also has a ruptured air sac which was present when the current owner adopted Gracie. I have been doing a great deal of research regarding the air sac situation and contacted my vet who handles exotics to discuss the challenges I will be facing.

I have to say, at first I emailed and told the owner that I didn't feel like I was up for the challenge of taking such a huge financial risk not knowing anymore about Gracie's health. In the end, the girl is so desperate she is going to just give me Gracie with no fee attached so I will have those funds to spend on vetting if needed.

So, if all goes as planned, come Friday, I will be the proud owner of a Scarlet Macaw named Gracie who is going to need a lot of love, attention and medical care to get her back to the happy state that she so deserves.

I will be forever indebted to anyone will will be able to help me on this journey and I plan to set up a facebook page for her once she comes to her new home.

Thank you,
Karen T

Dear Karen T.
I admire what you are doing. It is wonderful !!! I'm so glad you found Gracie. She needs you. I have no experience with Macaws, but there are lots of great people on this forum that do. There is also a Macaw forum here.

I'm so glad you're taking her. That's a big challenge on a lot of fronts. I don't have any experience with scarlets or ruptured air sacs. Hopefully someone will come along soon who knows more about one or both.

Aw. My heart is breaking for sweet Gracie Thankfully she has found someone to help her and provide her with the life she deserves. My biggest suggestion is to get her to an Avian Vet asap. Non-behavioral causes need to be ruled out as why she plucks (certain deficiencies and diseases can also cause plucking) and also a vet consult on what (if anything) to do about the ruptured air sac (also if she needs any special accommodations or considerations because of it).

I have never felt with behavioral pluckers before, but I will tell you rescue birds who have never been handled or have not been handled in a long time, it is a difficult journey. However, it is VERY rewarding when you begin building trust and making progress I think you may be interested in watching Michael Sahzin's (AKA the parrot wizard) journey with his rescued macaw Santina I know not everyone likes his particular training methods, but he has made incredible progress with her, so even if you use a different raining method, seeing that progress can be made with a (IMO) rather "intimidating" bird could if nothing else give you some strength to keep moving forward if things get difficult Best of luck, and look forward to her progress.

Heres a link to his playlist of Santina videos-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VumYs4pMqN0&list=PL7r8khfXHubtDbSd_JW4TSnoj1CCDoQHh
I've enjoyed watching these

I have finally been able to rescue Gracie and it was so sad to see how she has been living, but her life is going to turn around. I am exhausted and will post more later but for those who were interested, I wanted to post the news. Her self mutilation was so much worse than expected, but she got an excellent report from the vet which was the most important thing. Here are some photos of Gracie (still in her travel crate).

Welcome Home Gracie! Gracie's story touched my heart, thank you for sharing her journey. The dog you were looking for when you found beautiful Gracie may have been a lot less challenging, but I'm sure Gracie will reward you for giving her a new life and a forever home. Best of luck to you both, looking forward to seeing her progress.

Aww...Bless you for saving her! Everything happens for a reason...I think you were meant to be hers. Keep us updated! She is beautiful, plucked or not!

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Get the beakiest of macaws, don't train it to control bite pressure, then get scared when it puts it's beak on you, and you get bit a few times...

Then the bird does life in solitary and slowly goes mad.

If you don't train them to control their bite pressure, they will draw blood.

If you don't handle them they don't stay tame.

Lock them up too much, and they get mad.

These are attention oriented bird with super high IQ'S.

Blah, blah, blah... I've made this speech a million times.

Handle, socialization, get the bird out of the cage, and give it attention.

They bounce back.

Gracie is doing amazing! She has adopted me! I could not imagine such a sweet bird ever having an owner that required a rescue. Gracie is amazingly quiet, feisty, and loving. She does not bite at all even when in a nervous situation. She grabs for help but never bites with pressure. Today she gave me a hair cut. I guess because she is a plucker right now, instead of preening, she actually clips my hair off and plays with it. I was fortunate to find someone willing to sell me a beautiful mobile tree stand for a ridiculously low price so now Gracie has wheels and can go with me throughout the house and out on the deck.

I am so thrilled to hear your update. I think that Rosie must realize that she is finally home...where she is safe, loved and cared for. That's a fantastic stand!
Bless you for taking this girl in