New Kid on the Block - Severe Questions

[Chelsey]

Hi everyone!

I've been lurking for several weeks and finally decided to join and post I recently lost my CAG after 20 years (sudden, unexpected). Shortly thereafter I ran across a Craigslist ad that went something along the lines of, "Please for the love of all that is holy, somebody take this bird from me...I just want her gone", with a picture of a young (not even 5 months) severe macaw. Several years ago I briefly fostered a Hahn's macaw and really liked his goofy personality and outgoingness. My grey was extremely bitey and had a rough start to his life, so was not an "ideal" grey (if there is such a thing). He was pretty close to the opposite of the Hahns. I saw the Craigslist ad for the severe, which quickly tugged at my heartstrings, and went to work researching severes. I've come to discover that they aren't the most beloved of the mini macaws, and that it seems like most people either really like them or really don't. I have read as much as I can on these guys, and have thoroughly appreciated reading candid experiences, both on this forum and elsewhere (https://parrotmusings.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-thoughts-on-severe-macaws.html that's a particularly good one). I've read the Big Beak O Phobes Guide thread several times over as well. I still have a few questions. If you all would be kind enough to either answer or direct me to threads I would greatly appreciate it!

1. "Clover" is in my CAG's old cage, which measures roughly 74" tall, 40" wide, and 32" deep...somewhere around there. She has several different types of perches, differing in dimension and material, with a few of them being apple wood (we're lucky enough to have an apple tree at our house, so she can chew to her heart's content!). She's also got a few toys in there. She is much more of a climber and mover than my grey ever was! Do I need to put a bunch more perches in there? She has ample space to move around, plus a fair amount of open space in which to stretch her wings, but she does have to move from perch to cage bars to perch in order to get from one perch to another. Is that ok? I want to make sure she's got enough stimulation but I also don't want to overcrowd her cage.

2. What about toys? There are several toys in her cage, mostly for shredding, preening, chewing, etc, and a few for foraging, but her cage doesn't have toys every 3". Again, I want to make sure she's got plenty of things to keep her occupied while I'm at work during the day, but I also want her to have ample room to move. At what rate would you add new toys? My grey would get nervous if you added more than one toy at a time, but Clover seems to have a much different personality. I don't want to giver her a sensory overload and make her upset by adding too many though. I need to find some pics of Severe cage setups...maybe I'll go do a search after I post this.

3. She really, really likes to be on my shoulder, and on my head. With my CAG I was told this was kind of a no-no, because it could become a dominance issue. I have only had Clover a few days, and don't really trust her quite yet, so it's unnerving to me for her to be up there, especially since I'm a bit nervous that she might take a chunk out of my ear if she gets startled or mad. She gets very upset if I don't let her on my shoulder, and I'd like to be able to bond with her, but making her mad by keeping her off my shoulder doesn't seem to be a good way to do it. Suggestions? Do I just need to get over the fear? Being bitten I can handle, though I'd prefer not to. Being bitten in the ear...that could be a little less tolerable.

4. I've tried to do some research on body language for these guys, but I'm finding that different birds have different lingo, even within the same species. I apparently can't even compare Clover's behavior to my CAG. Last night Clover was being all snuggly and wanting to have her head and under her chin rubbed and scratched. I happily obliged but then she started pinning her eyes...something that was a definite sign that my CAG was about to bite...so I stopped. I feel like I'm getting her signs wrong. Can anyone give me a crash course on Severe body language, or again, point me in the right direction, so that I don't get bit or neglect good behavior?

5. New foods. I made a big batch of CHOP, froze it in large ice cube trays, and have given her some already. She wants nothing to do with it. Nothing. She will beak it a little bit and then ignore it. Same thing with any nut other than an almond. How can I get her to try these things? How am I supposed to figure out what her favorite treat is for training if she's unwilling to try anything but her regular food and almonds?

I think that's all I can think of for now, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue down my path of being "owned" by a Severe

Thanks in advance for your help!


Chelsey

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome! Lots of bird-lovers here to help you out. While you're having a look around, you can take any issue or topic which interests you, use the Search Tab and then read about it. It's a really good engine.
I'm glad you found us.
My thouhts on diet conversion/etc.... I feed Harrison's, supplemented by fresh healthy treats. My first, and later, my current avian vet recommended it. 30-ish years ago, Harrison's was still a small company. My vet was actually able to talk to Dr. Harrison about my bird's species and status, and they decided on the High Potency. My bird loves the pellets now, but to get him converted, my avian vet suggested putting pellets out all day, and putting seeds (his old diet) out for two 15-minute periods a day. That would sustain him but leave him hungry enough to try new stuff. I presume the same technique could be used to get him to eat other healthy stuff. My guy was eating pellets in a couple of days, and now I can feed a good variety of other stuff, knowing he has the pellets as a basic. Pellets are out all day... fresh treats a few times a day. This idea might apply to chop, I think.

Miscellaneous thoughts on dominance/aggression...
I have an old bird who is set in his ways, and may be a good example of what can happen if you DON'T do effective, early intervention.
I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it.
But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.
My darling is kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.
I'm kinda a bad example... I think...
I have surrendered.
DO LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRAINING TACTICS BETTER THAN MINE!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome! Your guru is Birdman666 for you new baby! Not to make you nervous, but a nickname for a severe macaw is a severed macaw!
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html

Mariar is worth searching out, she adopted A severe macaw and had a rough time at it in the beginning! From my understandings she is doing extremely well right now!
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/53893-adopted-severe-macaw-need-advice.html

 

[MosaicMadness]

Congrats! I've never had a severe but worked with them when I was in college at a bird only pet store for a year. Personally, I really liked them, but was warned off them by being told they can be a very one person bird if not socialized early. I found them to be very smart, good talkers early, playful and snuggly. But again, they were all under 6 months old. I had a macaw for quite a few years though, and have had a number of others of various species: for food, I found that ALL of mine would eat kaytee exact pellets - original (NOT rainbow). My trick is also to put plain cheerios on top of what ever I want them to try because they love to play with them. I put fun foods like nuts and seeds in foraging toys or give them by hand as treats... not in a dish. I rotate mashes and chopped foods and just keep presenting them. Sometimes a certain bird will eat it if just presented differently: try larger pieces on a kabob, large chopped in bowl, smaller chopped, grated. Good luck!!

 

[JBassset]

I believe the advice I saw regarding macaw vs AG reading is basically read them backwards. Apparently the standard Mac behavior is the yin to a greys yang.

Trying news foods... Romeo is a picky eater. Just keep trying. Eventually he'll eat it if you offer it enough. The other advice comminlymofferrdnis to eat it yourself Infront of the bird. Make a big show of it and liking it. Then act like it's not for them. Get them interested and then share a little bit.

Anyway, good luck. Don't lose your ear. You need it!

 

[Chelsey]

Thank you all for your words of wisdom and welcome!

I made a point to do a search for "severe" as well as a few other terms, but didn't really find the answers I was looking for to questions 1-4.

Couple more questions:

I'd like to pull a few chest feathers and do DNA to find out if Clover is male or female. Should I do this now, or wait until we are best buddies?

Is there anything I definitely should be teaching Clover to do at this stage, in preparation for when her true colors emerge? Stick training, bite training, etc? Right now my biggest goal is becoming her friend and gaining her trust without letting her get away with murder


Should I be discouraging her from climbing on my head and shoulder? If she were my CAG I'd say yes, but some posts I've read say severes love riding on shoulders, and if she's not going to eat my ear for breakfast I'll just get used to not being able to see where her beak is.

Thanks again everyone, I appreciate you taking the time to read/post!

 

[wrench13]

All I can say is that treats are your best friends. Find out what his absolute favorite is, and use that as the basis for any training. Treats for training should be immediate and used consistently and appropriately ( ie only when the desired action is done correctly - no 'oh he almost did it') all so your severe knows what you want and when he has done it right.

Other then that, I have nothing specific - Birdnam666 is your guru, your sensi, teacher and general go-to-guy for anything macaw.