At my wits end

[Ira7]

Maybe that mural is starting to freak him out!

 

[mica21493]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't stick to one brand or type of food. So I feed Zupreem, pretty bird natural gold, harrisons regular, harrisons hot pepper(thank you Scott!) and sometimes I mix it up, in the past I've fed Tropican, lafebers, and oven bites (which they all hated, lol). My birds also get Volkman or Abba seed, nutriberries, and my macaw also gets an assortment of in shell nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts) not too many though because they are high in fat. I also give them something from whatever we eat like oatmeal, scrambled eggs, veggies, occasionally fruit, and even the occasional tidbit of pizza crust or toast. I had a heck of a time getting the little goffins cockatoo I adopted to eat enough, let alone eat a variety, but she is doing great now! I just kept offering, showed her me eating and making yummy noises. I feel like keeping them on a variety of things makes them more open minded to try new stuff. The key for me was to not give them too much of any one thing so they were more likely to eat a variety and not pick just one thing. If you do any kind of food change please make sure you monitor weight and droppings to be sure they are eating.

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

Maybe that mural is starting to freak him out!

Nah she doesn't care about the mural...why are the lights bad?


Also, I took outside today for about an hour and a half, she was running on the ground for at least 30 minutes of it...it's 3:45 PM and she's back home tired as f*ck on her playstand and totally disinterested in everything. This is great.


I bought a bag of intune pellets (smells pretty funky) along with a bag zupreem veggie blend. Hopefully I can get her to switch.



I threw out all the fruit blend I had in her bowls...just have them in reserve in the fridge just in case.

 

[noodles123]

Again... you want to wean off-- not cold- turkey..I hope you have a digital scale so that you can tell if weight is being maintained

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

Again... you want to wean off-- not cold- turkey..I hope you have a digital scale so that you can tell if weight is being maintained

If I mix it, she'll end up throwing out everything except the zupreem fruit pellets.






Every morning she also gets 4 fresh baby carrots and 5-10 small cubes of a birdie bread I bake every few weeks.




She's eating it now while it's in her playstand bowl. I can't tell if its the intune or the veggie-bland since I don't want to walk up to her and disturb her but I hear her crunching away.

 

[noodles123]

I'm just telling you, birds are one of the few animals that HAVE starved themselves out of pure protest, so monitor carefully because if you don't things can get away from you quickly if your bird chooses not to eat enough calories or nutrients.

GREAT THAT SHE IS EATING THE NEW STUFF!!!!!

 

[Ira7]

Maybe that mural is starting to freak him out!

Nah she doesn't care about the mural...why are the lights bad?


Also, I took outside today for about an hour and a half, she was running on the ground for at least 30 minutes of it...it's 3:45 PM and she's back home tired as f*ck on her playstand and totally disinterested in everything. This is great.


I bought a bag of intune pellets (smells pretty funky) along with a bag zupreem veggie blend. Hopefully I can get her to switch.



I threw out all the fruit blend I had in her bowls...just have them in reserve in the fridge just in case.

I got yelled at for buying that light. I just bought one, with extra bulbs.

I have no idea why some consider them terrible.

I just obeyed their commmand.

 

[Ira7]

Maybe that mural is starting to freak him out!

Nah she doesn't care about the mural...why are the lights bad?


Also, I took outside today for about an hour and a half, she was running on the ground for at least 30 minutes of it...it's 3:45 PM and she's back home tired as f*ck on her playstand and totally disinterested in everything. This is great.


I bought a bag of intune pellets (smells pretty funky) along with a bag zupreem veggie blend. Hopefully I can get her to switch.



I threw out all the fruit blend I had in her bowls...just have them in reserve in the fridge just in case.

I just bought a small travel cage to shlep Archie (YNA) around town.

I can’t wait until we’re out driving around, and he meets all of my bartenders.

It arrives tomorrow, and his first time out is going to be a long day!

Many bartenders.

 

[Ira7]

Maybe that mural is starting to freak him out!

Nah she doesn't care about the mural...why are the lights bad?


Also, I took outside today for about an hour and a half, she was running on the ground for at least 30 minutes of it...it's 3:45 PM and she's back home tired as f*ck on her playstand and totally disinterested in everything. This is great.


I bought a bag of intune pellets (smells pretty funky) along with a bag zupreem veggie blend. Hopefully I can get her to switch.



I threw out all the fruit blend I had in her bowls...just have them in reserve in the fridge just in case.

That stand is awesome! I gotta make one!

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

That stand is awesome! I gotta make one!

All the colored parts is just vet tape wrapped around the pvc for grip...self adhesive and never falls off.

 

[Jottlebot]

What a beautiful bird room!

I know this feeling. I only have an Alexandrine so he is nowhere near as loud as a macaw, but he has a cough noise that he likes to repeat and repeat and repeat when he's on his own and it DRIVES ME MAD!!!

I don't think there is anything bad about proper full spectrum bird lights, the issue is that they don't seem to do birds any benefit, but I don't know of anything saying they are bad for birds - as long as they are not too close to be uncomfortable etc... As you are using them for general lighting I don't think it would be an issue at all.

It's a shame you've clipped, it's just my personal opinion and I don't know why clipping would help with this behaviour. It actually sounds like clipping is just one of the things that you've done recently that could have helped.

 

[Ira7]

That stand is awesome! I gotta make one!

All the colored parts is just vet tape wrapped around the pvc for grip...self adhesive and never falls off.

Thanks for that info! Where do you get vet tape?

Also, what diameter PVC do you think I should use for a YNA?

 

[Ira7]

What a beautiful bird room!

I know this feeling. I only have an Alexandrine so he is nowhere near as loud as a macaw, but he has a cough noise that he likes to repeat and repeat and repeat when he's on his own and it DRIVES ME MAD!!!

I don't think there is anything bad about proper full spectrum bird lights, the issue is that they don't seem to do birds any benefit, but I don't know of anything saying they are bad for birds - as long as they are not too close to be uncomfortable etc... As you are using them for general lighting I don't think it would be an issue at all.

It's a shame you've clipped, it's just my personal opinion and I don't know why clipping would help with this behaviour. It actually sounds like clipping is just one of the things that you've done recently that could have helped.

If you look at one of the photos, that macaw (and I assume the grey) get to hang outside on the terrace!

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

If you look at one of the photos, that macaw (and I assume the grey) get to hang outside on the terrace!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UELV8S8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Haha that's actually my loft/work from home area.


But ever since her clipping last Wednesday I've been taking her outside for at least an hour and a half every day.

 

[noodles123]

That stand is awesome! I gotta make one!

All the colored parts is just vet tape wrapped around the pvc for grip...self adhesive and never falls off.

Thanks for that info! Where do you get vet tape?

Also, what diameter PVC do you think I should use for a YNA?

You can get vet tape on Amazon. Vet-wrap is what I bought

 

[wrench13]

If you look at one of the photos, that macaw (and I assume the grey) get to hang outside on the terrace!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UELV8S8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Haha that's actually my loft/work from home area.


But ever since her clipping last Wednesday I've been taking her outside for at least an hour and a half every day.

PLEASE be aware that even clipped, some parrots can in fact still fly well enough to disappear into the wild blue yonder. All it takes is a startled parrot and a small puff of air and whoosh - your beautiful Blue and Gold macaw gone. It happens ALL THE TIME!

 

[noodles123]

if you look at one of the photos, that macaw (and i assume the grey) get to hang outside on the terrace!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b00uelv8s8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=utf8&psc=1


haha that's actually my loft/work from home area.


But ever since her clipping last wednesday i've been taking her outside for at least an hour and a half every day.

please be aware that even clipped, some parrots can in fact still fly well enough to disappear into the wild blue yonder. All it takes is a startled parrot and a small puff of air and whoosh - your beautiful blue and gold macaw gone. It happens all the time!

yes! 50000%

 

[Jottlebot]

I think you might have cracked the issue then! I assume when she isn't clipped you don't take her outside? In that case I would guess that that's at least part of the reason why she shouts, less outside time and less time with you taking her outside and keeping an eye on her etc.

If you didn't want to clip in the future (I think you mentioned you're trying with a harness, but she doesn't like it? I could have posts mixed up though!) maybe an outside cage would help, but you'd probably have to stay with her like you would do if she was clipped and loose.

 

[BluenGold_Congo]

I think you might have cracked the issue then! I assume when she isn't clipped you don't take her outside? In that case I would guess that that's at least part of the reason why she shouts, less outside time and less time with you taking her outside and keeping an eye on her etc.

If you didn't want to clip in the future (I think you mentioned you're trying with a harness, but she doesn't like it? I could have posts mixed up though!) maybe an outside cage would help, but you'd probably have to stay with her like you would do if she was clipped and loose.

Still all just theories or maybe it's a combination of a few different things:


Looking at people outside the windows causes screaming - 100% Certain



Being up higher than others (like on top of her cage) causes dominance/territorial issues



Some things I've changed:


Clipped - Been taking her outside every day and letting her get fresh air ,sunshine and run around herself a bit for an hour and 30 min



Replaced existing sheer curtains with less transparent white sheer curtains (Light still comes thru, room is still illuminated but she cannot see outside). With the sheers I had before they were pretty much see thru and she saw every movement.



No more Lucky Charms (Zupreem Fruit Blend) - Replaced with a combo of intune natural and zupreem veggie blend. I'm sure she doesn't love it but she's been eating.

Every morning I noticed she eats her birdie bread first, then she goes and takes some of the pellets.
(That birdie bread has some zupreme fruitblend pellets mashed into it.)

I have one weeks worth of it left, once that's done I'll add the tropican granules to a new batch.

When shes out on her play stand 2 PM - 8 PM she has no choice but to eat the intune and veggie blend.

I finally caught her taking a nap today in her cage at around 1:30 PM, I've never seen this before. She's usually going batsh*t crazy.

 

[Ira7]

That stand is awesome! I gotta make one!

All the colored parts is just vet tape wrapped around the pvc for grip...self adhesive and never falls off.

Is the base a cat litter tray, and what size?

I want to pick up the materials in the morning.