And so here I am, starting over with another macaw.
My last B&G passed away at the age of 64, just after I retired as rescue director. My house went from 10+ parrots to none in what seemed like overnight. It's been almost a year since I've had a bird in my home and I found myself missing that beautiful exotic smell that filled the air, the cat calls when I walked by and even the mess she'd make when she got ahold of something I wanted to keep. Joey always managed to brighten my day, even when I had the worst day imaginable and when she died, I felt like a part of me died with her. I guess I just hit a point where I couldn't go on without one. I had to at least explore the possibility.
I periodically scanned the ads for several months, mulling the idea over and over in my head if I was truly ready to do this. Joey was such an intricate part of my life and the idea of replacing her made me feel slightly guilty. I met several birds but none really seemed to be a good fit. I didn't want to go the breeder route and I didn't want to buy from a pet store. I wanted to take on one that needed me. I wanted to make a difference somehow. I'd almost given up.
Then I saw it... The ad didn't have much to say about her but something kept drawing me back to it for days on end. 2 weeks later she was still listed, so I decided it was time to go meet her.
I walked in to find her in, essentially, an amazon cage. Her feathers were tattered and ratty and she looked miserable. She was covered in pin feathers and her color was dull and flat. Not at all the glistening sheen B&G's are so well known for. I could tell she was still young, as her eyes hadn't changed color yet The cage hadn't been cleaned in months and I stood there in horror staring at the 5+" of droppings in the bottom pan. I spent 2 hours with her, talking with the lady who owned her and watching the body language of the bird. It didn't take long to realize they'd bitten off more than they could chew and weren't quite prepared for the demands of a large parrot. She was purchased on a whim, without much thought and moreso, just a novelty. She was just a baby. Just shy of 11 months old and hadn't been taught anything. I asked how she was with a bath and they revealed that she'd never had one. They were afraid of her, so they opted not to try to handle her much. Her diet was strictly seed. No pellet. No fruits and vegetables. No cooked human foods. For a treat, it was salted Ritz crackers only, and you could tell she had an abundance of those. Taking food from the hand was the only thing she knew how to do. "What's her name?" I asked. She doesn't have one. They'd never bonded to her enough to even give her the dignity of a name.
I stood there apprehensive. Baby macaws are so much work and then you have the teenage, bratty years. Luckily, I have a clean pallet to work with. She hasn't been alive long enough to develop bad habits. The more I looked at her, the more I just knew the answer. She was the one. She needed me. And I needed her more than anything. I took a deep breath, packed her up in my travel cage and whispered to myself "I can do this" as I walked out the door with her.
I dumped the cage. Just left it there. It was in such bad shape that even an amazon shouldn't be in it, despite the fact that it's sized for one. I went in search of the biggest cage I could find, located an Island cage in like new condition that formerly housed a Greenwing and brought that home. I'm a fan of huge cages anyway, so this one was perfect. We were up until midnight wiping things down and disinfecting. When I finally had everything set up and ready, I put her in it. Confused for a minute, she looked around and realized that her living environment just quadrupled in size. She spread her wings, looked at me and said "HI!". I could tell she was happy.
Now normally, bringing home a new bird means putting them in a quiet room and leaving them to adjust for a few days. She seemed so happy and chatty the next day that I decided to give it a try anyway. For a baby, she is pretty vocal. I've heard Hi, hello, bye bye, and about 5 other phrses out of her in the past week. Working in rescue for so many years, getting bit wasn't something strange to me. I'd been bitten by bigger, meaner parrots than her. I reached in and tried to get her to step up but she didn't understand what I was asking. She doesn't know anything. She had a weird smell to her. Dirty smell. I grab her by her feet and coax her onto my hand gently and into the bath we go.
She didn't know what to make of that at first. This was new and not something she'd ever experienced. But as the water soaked through her feathers and reached her skin, she started moving in closer, letting it run down her head and make it's way past her wings. She sat there for 20 minutes while I tried to preen some of the keratin casings off her head, all the while talking softly to her. I was surprised that she so willingly let me do it. I think the whole experience, while initially frightening, just felt good and she was basking in all the attention that she'd been missing.
After she dried, we sat for over an hour and just preened while she snacked on some apples. So far I haven't seen any aggression out of her. Apprehension, yes, but no aggression. She's growled but hasn't attempted to really bite anyone. I've allowed several people to handle her under caution of "I don't really know this bird so..."
She's been with me Since Thursday now and I've made it a point every day to get her out and show her something new. Getting her to step up is still a challenge. She's not sure of the stability of my arm yet. So that's something I need to work on. And she still has that quiet baby macaw cry. Slowly I've been introducing new foods to her and she's loved everything I've offered so far. She really took to the zupreem and in just the span of a few days, her feathers are already developing that sheen and looking healthier.
She's kind of a loon. She dangles from the top of her cage by 1 talon a lot and is extremely playful. She's not afraid of anything it seems. I open the door and she immediately makes her way to the front looking for scritches. She's vocal and screams whenever you're not in the room with her. I have her in the living room and often leave the tv on when I have to go somewhere so she doesn't feel alone.
I need to name her. If nothing else, she should have a beautiful name to go along with the bird she is. Definitely open to suggestions there. She is a DNA sexed female, so at least I know that for sure.
My last B&G passed away at the age of 64, just after I retired as rescue director. My house went from 10+ parrots to none in what seemed like overnight. It's been almost a year since I've had a bird in my home and I found myself missing that beautiful exotic smell that filled the air, the cat calls when I walked by and even the mess she'd make when she got ahold of something I wanted to keep. Joey always managed to brighten my day, even when I had the worst day imaginable and when she died, I felt like a part of me died with her. I guess I just hit a point where I couldn't go on without one. I had to at least explore the possibility.
I periodically scanned the ads for several months, mulling the idea over and over in my head if I was truly ready to do this. Joey was such an intricate part of my life and the idea of replacing her made me feel slightly guilty. I met several birds but none really seemed to be a good fit. I didn't want to go the breeder route and I didn't want to buy from a pet store. I wanted to take on one that needed me. I wanted to make a difference somehow. I'd almost given up.
Then I saw it... The ad didn't have much to say about her but something kept drawing me back to it for days on end. 2 weeks later she was still listed, so I decided it was time to go meet her.
I walked in to find her in, essentially, an amazon cage. Her feathers were tattered and ratty and she looked miserable. She was covered in pin feathers and her color was dull and flat. Not at all the glistening sheen B&G's are so well known for. I could tell she was still young, as her eyes hadn't changed color yet The cage hadn't been cleaned in months and I stood there in horror staring at the 5+" of droppings in the bottom pan. I spent 2 hours with her, talking with the lady who owned her and watching the body language of the bird. It didn't take long to realize they'd bitten off more than they could chew and weren't quite prepared for the demands of a large parrot. She was purchased on a whim, without much thought and moreso, just a novelty. She was just a baby. Just shy of 11 months old and hadn't been taught anything. I asked how she was with a bath and they revealed that she'd never had one. They were afraid of her, so they opted not to try to handle her much. Her diet was strictly seed. No pellet. No fruits and vegetables. No cooked human foods. For a treat, it was salted Ritz crackers only, and you could tell she had an abundance of those. Taking food from the hand was the only thing she knew how to do. "What's her name?" I asked. She doesn't have one. They'd never bonded to her enough to even give her the dignity of a name.
I stood there apprehensive. Baby macaws are so much work and then you have the teenage, bratty years. Luckily, I have a clean pallet to work with. She hasn't been alive long enough to develop bad habits. The more I looked at her, the more I just knew the answer. She was the one. She needed me. And I needed her more than anything. I took a deep breath, packed her up in my travel cage and whispered to myself "I can do this" as I walked out the door with her.
I dumped the cage. Just left it there. It was in such bad shape that even an amazon shouldn't be in it, despite the fact that it's sized for one. I went in search of the biggest cage I could find, located an Island cage in like new condition that formerly housed a Greenwing and brought that home. I'm a fan of huge cages anyway, so this one was perfect. We were up until midnight wiping things down and disinfecting. When I finally had everything set up and ready, I put her in it. Confused for a minute, she looked around and realized that her living environment just quadrupled in size. She spread her wings, looked at me and said "HI!". I could tell she was happy.
Now normally, bringing home a new bird means putting them in a quiet room and leaving them to adjust for a few days. She seemed so happy and chatty the next day that I decided to give it a try anyway. For a baby, she is pretty vocal. I've heard Hi, hello, bye bye, and about 5 other phrses out of her in the past week. Working in rescue for so many years, getting bit wasn't something strange to me. I'd been bitten by bigger, meaner parrots than her. I reached in and tried to get her to step up but she didn't understand what I was asking. She doesn't know anything. She had a weird smell to her. Dirty smell. I grab her by her feet and coax her onto my hand gently and into the bath we go.
She didn't know what to make of that at first. This was new and not something she'd ever experienced. But as the water soaked through her feathers and reached her skin, she started moving in closer, letting it run down her head and make it's way past her wings. She sat there for 20 minutes while I tried to preen some of the keratin casings off her head, all the while talking softly to her. I was surprised that she so willingly let me do it. I think the whole experience, while initially frightening, just felt good and she was basking in all the attention that she'd been missing.
After she dried, we sat for over an hour and just preened while she snacked on some apples. So far I haven't seen any aggression out of her. Apprehension, yes, but no aggression. She's growled but hasn't attempted to really bite anyone. I've allowed several people to handle her under caution of "I don't really know this bird so..."
She's been with me Since Thursday now and I've made it a point every day to get her out and show her something new. Getting her to step up is still a challenge. She's not sure of the stability of my arm yet. So that's something I need to work on. And she still has that quiet baby macaw cry. Slowly I've been introducing new foods to her and she's loved everything I've offered so far. She really took to the zupreem and in just the span of a few days, her feathers are already developing that sheen and looking healthier.
She's kind of a loon. She dangles from the top of her cage by 1 talon a lot and is extremely playful. She's not afraid of anything it seems. I open the door and she immediately makes her way to the front looking for scritches. She's vocal and screams whenever you're not in the room with her. I have her in the living room and often leave the tv on when I have to go somewhere so she doesn't feel alone.
I need to name her. If nothing else, she should have a beautiful name to go along with the bird she is. Definitely open to suggestions there. She is a DNA sexed female, so at least I know that for sure.
No name? Never had a bath? Lived on seeds and Ritz crackers? WOW - so sad! 
