New mum to Marley the Blue & Gold Macaw

[Kirstyp]

Hi there! I've had a Green Cheeked Conure (Woody) for 8 months and found him so funny and fascinating that I decided to jump right into big bird parenting and bring home Marley, a B&G macaw. I've had him since February and he's now just over a year old. I love both birds and found taming them both fairly straightforward to begin with but I've encountered changes in Marley's behaviour which I know from reading books and doing online research (Youtube and sites like this) is probably for the most part due to his age and hormones, but I just wanted to see if anyone has any tips to help?
Marley steps up fine onto my hand and now stays there rather than going up my arm and onto my shoulder which was a problem initially but we've overcome that with target training. To begin with Marley was lungeing a little near my face, but I held my nerve and he stopped doing it. Now he's started doing this again but I feel like if I didn't put my hand up and let him bite it that he would probably bite my face! Because of this he's not spending as much time out of his cage, which I feel bad about. I have a large java tree that I would love him to spend lots of time on but he flies off it when he's had something to eat and I can't get him interested in spending time on it. I've tried hanging toys on it but he doesn't seem bothered with them. He has plenty of toys in his cage which he likes to chew but he doesn't play with them on the java tree. I'd love him to be able to 'hang out' in the living room on his tree but he doesn't want to stay on it. Can anyone help?

 

[Flboy]

Welcome to you!
Birdman666 is your mentor! Give this a study!
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html

 

[tfw]

Oh yes my b&g, who's 2, tested us in the beginning. But her bites rarely broke skin but we never backed off so she gave up. Now her bites are playful and more like gnawing.

I hope you learn training tips to stop yours from lunging because the more you keep him in the cage, the more antisocial he may get. Plus you're missing out on training opportunities. Fingers crossed!

 

[wrench13]

As you have found, macaws like to bluff a lot, testing the limits ( much like a human child will). TFW is spot on on this.

While not a macaw, my Amazon Salty went thru a 'bitey' period. We used the "shunning" method to train him out of it, mostly. Shunning is excluding the parrot from immediate interaction with his flock (you). If he bites in excess of what you consider too hard, immediately place him on the nearest chair back, which are usually handy, and turn your back to him, totally ignoring him - NO eye contact, nothing, for a minute or 2. Any longer and the message might not be associated with the bite. Putting him back in is cage is not a good idea, because he may then associate biting with getting to go back in his cage. This is a little more difficult with a flighted parrot, because they can just fly right back to you, so you may need to actually leave the room for the 1-2 minutes.

Remember, any training should be done consistently, every time, again to make sure he gets the message. Parrots in general are very smart - most get the idea pretty quickly. Not doing it every time may contribute to regression.

And of course, we need pictures of Marley now!

 

[Scott]

Welcome to you!
Birdman666 is your mentor! Give this a study!
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56384-big-beak-o-phobes-guide-understanding-macaw-beaks.html

Welcome to you, Woody, and Marley! My first instinct was to post the above thread!

Bottom line, you are more likely to receive a serious bite from Woody than Marley with a huge caveat: We can generalize parrot behaviors but each is an individual. Of course the potential harm from a macaw bite is far more dangerous. Reading Marley's body language and choosing when and how to interact far more critical than stereotypes.