Emilymaggie
New member
Hello,
This last September I came into owning a Hahn's macaw. I was looking into adopting a Mustache, and when I went to meet one the foster lady started pushing her own birds on me. She had the macaw in a cage on the front lawn and insisted I take him. The cage was FILTHY, the bird had clearly been over preening, there were two old, stringy toys in with him, and only one perch that was more suited for large macaw feet. I couldn't just leave him like that, so I packed him up and arranged to find a new home for the Mustache ASAP.
Introducing- Chester! He is chatty, social, and thinks he's pretty sneaky
. So far he will only step up when he thinks I'm not looking. I am not trying to push him, I think with time we will become great friends. My only concern is that he does not act like a normal macaw. I have a large variety of toys in his cage and none of them seem to interest him. I "trick" him into playing with some by hanging them in areas where he is forced to encounter them (near his favorite perches, closer to the top of the cage, by his food bowl etc) and he is not afraid of them, just uninterested. I have wood toys, shredables, foot toys, bells, skewers, climbing toys, swings, rope toys... I know he will learn how to play on his own if I keep trying new things and rotating old ones out, but I was hoping for some input? I left one of the toys he came with because he likes to sleep behind it, and I don't want to take away that security. But other than patience, I am not sure what more I can do to get him to entertain himself.
Vet said he has a strong liver, good weight, and he is now on a good diet. By the way, his lungs work great too. My grey is going through a molt, and it looks like Chester is too. I am a little worried the over preening might advance to plucking, but I am hoping the toy situation might help stop that.
This last September I came into owning a Hahn's macaw. I was looking into adopting a Mustache, and when I went to meet one the foster lady started pushing her own birds on me. She had the macaw in a cage on the front lawn and insisted I take him. The cage was FILTHY, the bird had clearly been over preening, there were two old, stringy toys in with him, and only one perch that was more suited for large macaw feet. I couldn't just leave him like that, so I packed him up and arranged to find a new home for the Mustache ASAP.
Introducing- Chester! He is chatty, social, and thinks he's pretty sneaky
. So far he will only step up when he thinks I'm not looking. I am not trying to push him, I think with time we will become great friends. My only concern is that he does not act like a normal macaw. I have a large variety of toys in his cage and none of them seem to interest him. I "trick" him into playing with some by hanging them in areas where he is forced to encounter them (near his favorite perches, closer to the top of the cage, by his food bowl etc) and he is not afraid of them, just uninterested. I have wood toys, shredables, foot toys, bells, skewers, climbing toys, swings, rope toys... I know he will learn how to play on his own if I keep trying new things and rotating old ones out, but I was hoping for some input? I left one of the toys he came with because he likes to sleep behind it, and I don't want to take away that security. But other than patience, I am not sure what more I can do to get him to entertain himself. Vet said he has a strong liver, good weight, and he is now on a good diet. By the way, his lungs work great too
. My grey is going through a molt, and it looks like Chester is too. I am a little worried the over preening might advance to plucking, but I am hoping the toy situation might help stop that.
