5 month old Blue and Gold macaw

[SoulReaper]

I'm having a bit of a challenge with her, I did just get her tuesday and that might be the problem. First bigger bird, but she will not come out of the cage and lunges/bites me when I try and give her fresh water and food. I do not make fast movements and talk to her softly. She has drawn blood on my hands and fingers already, plus have the best food for her but seems like she is just throwing it all over the cage then eating it. Need help bad, will take any suggestions!!!

 

[TheSpoiledReckless]

uh-oh, five months is extremely young. I have an umbrella cockatoo arriving tomorrow who is about four months old and is still being handfed three times a day. Is it possible your dear blue and gold is not properly weaned?

 

[Phoenixjay]

There are a lot of Mac people on here that know more than I do. :/ Check the mac forums for advice. There are so many people who are very experienced with macaws.
My one tip is spend a lot of time around her cage, but don't reach in for awhile. Keep the cage open so she can come out on her own. Just to let her know you aren't a threat. Lack of weaning might be possible too.

Good luck. <3

 

[TheSpoiledReckless]

It would help a lot if you could tell us how you got the bird, and if she was hand-fed or parent-raised, I could be wrong but there should be no reason a five month old bird should be this aggressive or refusing food if they were properly hand-fed.

 

[SoulReaper]

I got her from California, the breeder said that she was weaned and to feed her oatmeal and peanut butter at night to help bond, and that was it. Ara averies i got her from, but she doesn't seem like she was handled at all. I do have her cage by my chair, now and then I give her a piece of food to show her I wont hurt her at all. I leave all of my birds cages open when I get them out ( dont let all of them out at once)

 

[Phoenixjay]

I definitely agree that she doesn't sound properly hand-raised. Again, I'm not an expert in macaws, but this doesn't sound right. From the sound of it, you are a good pet owner and this is not your fault; you are looking for answers and research instead of giving up, so definitely kudos. Too many people just put birds in the cage after being bit and hide the key. So don't get discouraged. I would look around the macaw boards.

I also looked up the breeder, and I up front don't see anything weird about them, but someone else with a better eye for error than I have might see something odd? I can't find much on them...just one link.

 

[Phoenixjay]

Another thought: Maybe contact the breeder and tell them you are having this issue? Just to see what they say. Though out of concern for the bird and concern about the breeder, ask a macaw expert on here before you take any of their advice.

 

[SoulReaper]

I won't give up on her. She is my baby now and will do anything. Yeah might just contact him, I might have to still hand feed her and he didn't tell me and just expected me to know. Thank you for the advice guys!

 

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums, hopefully you can learn some practical tools to better interact with your B&G. I have had macaws in the past, but never youngsters. This legendary thread from our Macaw Forum may be of help. While it focuses on that multi-purpose tool known as the beak, there are posts that cover many behavioral aspects. Good luck!

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html

 

[happy410]

Our B&G was 4 1/2 months when we brought him home. He was fully weaned. I did feed him oatmeal a few times because I was concerned he wasn't eating enough pellets. I also soaked a few pellets in apple juice to soften them. Just remember not to leave the juice soaked pellets in the cage very long. You can also try a scrambled egg.
As far as the biting and lunging, we never had that issue. Our breeder was 5 minutes from our house so we visited him a couple of times every weekend. So over the couple of months waiting for him to wean, I'm sure our visits with him started our bond early.
Just be patient, spend alot of time around the cage. Talk, read, sing to her. Hopefully someone with alot more experienced will have more help with how to start getting her out of the cage. I'm only concerned that with the big birds you can't give them their way, they have to know that your the boss. So you have to be able to remove her from her cage, especially at such a young age.
On a good note, once you get everything smoothed out and get comfortable handling her you will see how wonderful macs are. We love ours so much, he makes us laugh everyday.