Ciry - my new B&G

[Johnny]

Hello!

Today we finally brought our baby macaw home! Yey!
We named her Ciry, she is just 3 months old and we will be handfeeding for a little while. She is already eating from bowl, so I guess a week or two and she will be weaned, we will see

So I want to ask you guys questions, because you already have an axperience with these things:

1. She is obviously not trusting me yet, what would you advice me to do these next few days? How should I approach her? I already had her on my arm, scratched her and she liked it (sticked her feathers up ner the head like they do) and some other stuff. It will be the first day tommorow for her in our place.

2. When should I start with training? I mean simple things, like step up command etc

3. Bathing? I dont want her to be scared of water, I heard that many macaws here are scared just from the spray bottle when misting etc. And also when is the best time to bath (shower)

4. How would you introduce her a harness? I dont want her to be scared of it, so what are the best ways to do so?


SHE HAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL EYES I CANT EVEN BELIEVE IT, I know that baby parrots should have dark eyes, but hers are like 3/4 adult ! But she is only 3 mts old :3

I will post pics tommorow morning

Thanks for any advice !

IMAGES:

Yawning:

Already looking for toys

Here you can her her beautiful eyes )

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new addition

I am not familiar with Macaws, but we have lots of Macaw Owners on here that will be along shortly to answer your questions

Do you have some pics to share with us?

 

[Johnny]

Added a few pictures

 

[antoinette]

Welcome to our wonder forum
Ciry is beautiful
Sure4 many Macaw guardians will reply to your queries
Thanks for the lovely pic's

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Ciry is adorable! What a pretty girl! You must be over the moon.

You can start training immediately. S-l-o-w-l-y...taking baby steps, but nonetheless, go ahead and start.

At 3 months, she is probably still a bit clumsy, but go ahead and work on the STEP UP and STEP DOWN.

As for bathing, you could try a spray bottle with warm mist, or you could take her into the shower with you. Just make sure you do it in the AM rather than in the late evening, so that she can dry completely throughout the day.

As for the harness, I can't really help. I brought my Niko home at 4 months, and no matter how hard I tried, he wanted nothing to do with it. Ciry is younger, so I would think you'll have good success in getting her used to it. Start by letting her get used to the sight and touch of it before you put it on her.

 

[Johnny]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Ciry is adorable! What a pretty girl! You must be over the moon.

You can start training immediately. S-l-o-w-l-y...taking baby steps, but nonetheless, go ahead and start.

At 3 months, she is probably still a bit clumsy, but go ahead and work on the STEP UP and STEP DOWN.

As for bathing, you could try a spray bottle with warm mist, or you could take her into the shower with you. Just make sure you do it in the AM rather than in the late evening, so that she can dry completely throughout the day.

As for the harness, I can't really help. I brought my Niko home at 4 months, and no matter how hard I tried, he wanted nothing to do with it. Ciry is younger, so I would think you'll have good success in getting her used to it. Start by letting her get used to the sight and touch of it before you put it on her.

Thanks a lot! I will do my best

Just to be sure, I shouldnt expect much "cuddling mood" during these first days right? I mean, I would get it if she wouldnt want to cuddle with me. But it is more likely to happen after she gets used to her new environment and me, right?

But she already steps up on my hand, when I want and tell her, so thats great! I can also touch her everywhere (lol that sounds silly xD ) and she doesnt mind, I did not expect that

So you are saying I can start with bathing now? Someone told me you can bath them after 5-6 months old, but I wasn't sure about that :20:

I guess I will try to take her with me to the bathroom, and if she wants to try the water a will let her, but no pressure on her

I also tried to show her the harness and she acted normally, she tried to chew it, was wondering what that is (I guess the thinks it is another toy) so I will continue like this and hopefully she will do ok.

Again thanks a lot !

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, it's perfectly normal for Ciry to be uneasy for a while. New environment, new people, new sounds, new everything for her.

But it is a GREAT sign that she steps up for you readily, and that she allows you to pat her everywhere. She's obviously enjoying it, especially if she's ruffling her feather for you.

My Niko got a bath within the first week of me bringing him home. He wasn't fond of it at first, but he got used to baths quickly. There are still days he "doesn't get into it", but I feel baths are important, especially their skin and plummage.

Macaws "taste" everything. They use their tongues a LOT. It's a sensory organ for them. So it's a good thing she's "testing out" the harness.

How is she doing with food? You said she is still being fed (perfectly normal, my Niko wasn't weaned until 4 months). Is she readily trying to eat on her own as well?

 

[Johnny]

Yes, it's perfectly normal for Ciry to be uneasy for a while. New environment, new people, new sounds, new everything for her.

But it is a GREAT sign that she steps up for you readily, and that she allows you to pat her everywhere. She's obviously enjoying it, especially if she's ruffling her feather for you.

My Niko got a bath within the first week of me bringing him home. He wasn't fond of it at first, but he got used to baths quickly. There are still days he "doesn't get into it", but I feel baths are important, especially their skin and plummage.

Macaws "taste" everything. They use their tongues a LOT. It's a sensory organ for them. So it's a good thing she's "testing out" the harness.

How is she doing with food? You said she is still being fed (perfectly normal, my Niko wasn't weaned until 4 months). Is she readily trying to eat on her own as well?

Ok I guess I will bath her then when its the time, her tail and wing feathers are in a mess so that should help it.

She also doesnt have the feel in her beak, because when she is on my shoulder, she always "bites" my ear in a good way, but in 95% cases she overdoes it and it hurts, so I always tell her NO, but nothing so far, she also bites my neck and sometimes fingers, but like I said it is not a biting from fear or anything like that.

She tries to eat, she has a 3 bowls, one with seeds, one with some dry-fruit mix and last with fresh veggie/fruit, our breeder told us she is starting to eat on her own, but at our place she just taste it here and there, usually it drops from her beak :-D Like you said, she is still a little bit clumsy : )) But I think in a day ir two, she will do OK with the food.

 

[plax]

Johnny: If Ciry doesn't seem inclined to indulge in the shower experience after a couple of tries, you can always use the spray bottle (on a fine mist setting with warm water, as Wendy suggested) to saturate her tail alone. You can guide the mist plume away from her body (if she doesn't seem comfortable in the spray yet) so her tail is the only thing getting wet. Once her tail is soaked, you can either leave it to drip dry or blot it off a bit with a towel or a paper towel. When it dries it should look better.

 

[yagen]

She is gorgeous!!! About the harness, you want to introduce it to her slowly, every time she allows you to get it closer to her reinforce her (give her a treat) the same with showers. I was told that my B&G did not like the water and that he would scream out of his mind when you would mist him, and I have been misting him every day since he got home (less than a week) and I spray and then give him a treat if he is calm and not screaming. Then continue and reinforce only calm behaviors!!! I am a marine mammal trainer, first time bird owner but i have trained many birds before! this is the case with anything that you want your bird to get used to. baby steps and reinforce good behaviors that are to close proximities to the final behavior you are looking for. also remember birds learn by REPETITION!! so practice makes perfect!

 

[Merlee]

My bird doesn't like bathing of any sort. If I were to do it over, I would do it daily in some manner so he/she gets accustom to it. Birds in the wild get it if they like it or not. lol.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I agree with you, Merlee! Macs come from VERY humid conditions, with tons of rainfall. Not to mention that they NEED to be bathed for their well being.

Niko's NEVER screamed out of fear for water though, not even in the beginning. He just sat there. After a while he sat there like a wet statue because he wouldn't move, lol.

Also, I don't make a big deal out of "normal" maintenance. And to me giving a bath IS maintenance. If he likes it, GREAT, if he doesn't "oh well, too bad, maybe next time." That's the kind of approach I use with him.

He doesn't like me checking under his wings? Too bad. I won't make a fuss over it, but still get it done in a gentle, reassuring way. (...and perhaps a couple of bruises later...)

 

[Sherry]

She is beautiful! I also just brought home a three month old B&G. Isn't it amazing! Just curious, have you weighed her? If so how heavy is she? I'm just curious about mine and his weight.

 

[Johnny]

She is beautiful! I also just brought home a three month old B&G. Isn't it amazing! Just curious, have you weighed her? If so how heavy is she? I'm just curious about mine and his weight.

Thanks Sherry! I have not weighted her yet, going to do so tommorow. It was our first day together today, and it was amazing.

She was very friendly, she even fell asleep next to me on my bed, I was so happy : )) I also tried to touch her with harness, even put it over her head and stuff, giving her rewards as she was very calm, such a good girl

But LOL she also tried to fly today, and she actually did :-O Well looks like very thrilling days are coming

 

[Sherry]

It is a very exciting time. Nemo licks my face and sticks his tongue in my nose. It was really strange at first but now I'm getting used to it. I'm new to his macaw thing ,like you and I have been amazed at how fast Nemo has learned some things. For instance I purchased this huge playstand that has feeding cups that you turn to lock in. In just a couple days he figured out how to turn them and pull them out. I've got to start some training so he learns good things to do with his time. Oh today was he first time I let him close to the kids. He was soooo excited! He was dancing around yelling "hi! Hi!hi!" It was really awesome. Have fun with your baby bird.

 

[Johnny]

Question:

Should I keep her on top of a cage, where she has bowls with food, water and some toys etc -- or on our "tree stand" that is not so high, has some toys but no bowls...

It is not like she is eating yet, she is just 3 mts old, and I have read about possible cage aggresion (but I dont think she would ever do that), and that maybe she should be on our eyes lvl so she doesnt feel like the "alfa" here :-D

Also I tried to take her into shower with me, she was standing on my shoulder and I was showering myself, she wasnt scared of the water or anything, so that was good. I tried to gently splash her feet - again she remained calm. Then my GF took her and turned around and I soaked her tail, because it was in a messy shape and again she remained calm, so I think that showers will be OK Havr to wait until out shower perch arrives.

Right now we keep her like 50/50 on her tree/cage, so she gets used to both things, but I guess she prefers the cage, but when she is on her tree she acts the same as on the cage (sleeps, plays and stuff).

And today morning she was like a hyper bird :-D It was like 7:00 am and she started to dance inside the cage as she was hanging on it, making noise and stuff, I thought that maybe she is used to get up early, and maybe that after a while she would stop and go back to sleep, but it lasted around 45min ~ and she was still doing it :-D So I went and gave her formula and let her be outside of the cage, then she calmed down and fell asleep again ...
Any idea what that dancing could mean? I will take a video of it, but it goes like this:
She hangs on side of the cage and then starts stepping on place left - right - left - right and so on and her beak goes like that - left - right and so on It looks kinda funny

 

[JerseyWendy]

The "dance" you describe sounds like the happy and excited dance. A video will definitely help though.

There are mixed opinions on how "high" you should let your Mac perch. I personally don't like Niko on top of his cage (he's got a dome top) because it's a BIG game for him trying to get him down. Mind you, he's also 3 years old. He can hang out on his Java Tree all day long though, I don't mind that a bit.

And GREAT news as for the shower adventure.

 

[Johnny]

Just curious, have you weighed her? If so how heavy is she? I'm just curious about mine and his weight.

So I just weighted her and she is 890g ~ after night feeding (60cc) so I guess with empty crop she is 830



Also guys, I have a feeling that she is not drinking enough... I mean, I have not seen her drink yet. When I try and put the bowl with water in front of her, she doesn't want it. I heard that baby macaws are not big drinkers, but what worries me is that sometimes she does that strange sound like someone is choking... it is really weird - she does not seem stressed or anything bad when she does it, just strange sound.

And at night when I put her in cage, after a while she always does one loud scream every 5-10 min, weird Oo

Hopefully tommorow I will take the "cage dance" and "choking" video and post it here

 

[Johnny]

Ok so here are the vids:

She does that aften when I feed her or when I give her some food like treats etc, simetimes just randomly, it is kinda different than on the video, here it sounds more like a loud breath or smthing

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFLKxb_u_08]Weird sounds - YouTube[/ame]

And here is her cage dance. Wendy, I dont think that it is a happy dance, because she does that immediately after I put her in the cage (and ofcourse she struggles, she does not want to go in ). And she did that today after she woke up. Right now, she did it only 2 min after I put her to sleep and then she was quiet, so quite the progress

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK2HLtsXI1A]Dance - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Sherry]

Hi, I'll start by saying I have very little experience. I have only had my B&G home or one week so take my comments with a grain of salt. The breathing thing? Sounds normal o me, Nemo makes all kinds of weird sounds that you don't think a bird would make. Some sound just like your video. He also does this really weird but cute high pitched whining sound. The vet said its his baby bird voice. Then there's the sound like a duck quacking. They are really funny. He's also been saying hello and hi so that's awesome. Maybe some other experienced macaw owners can chime in on the dance thing. To me she looked kind of pissed for being in the cage. She looked like she just wanted out. I really don't know but maybe your cage is just a bit too small, she should be able to spread her wings out fully. At least that's what I was told. Anyway, she is beautiful. Have fun with her. Oh and how many feedings are you on now? Just curious as to my own feeding.