Scarlet Or B&G?

[Brodie]

Okay so Im back (again), i have no internet, and I have also lost my phone...great.
Anyway, i'll be on whenever I can.
So basically we are ready to start looking for breeders for a Macaw, cant wait!
But we are torn between a Scarlet and a Blue and Gold.
What is everyone's honest opinion on which is better suited personality wise?

 

[scottyR00]

I have a B&G currently, looking to get a Scarlet in a couple months. I believe they are equally good. Scarlet's are slightly bigger...that goes for their beak as well.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I think scarlet macaws are stunning, but I always liked the blue and gold much more for personality. Blue an golds are my all time favorite macaw

I like the green wing macaw more than the scarlet

 

[Brodie]

greenwings go for about $15k in Australia, little bit too much right now lol, but that would have been my first choice if it wasn't for the huge price tag

I have heard Scarlet's can be a bit nippy, but that obviously also depends on the bird.
Blue and golds seem the prefect companion, i love the colours, but i absolutley adore the colours of the Scarlets.
But i dont want to base it off colours, i want the macaw that is right for us.

Looking for breeders now, there is quite a few who do scarlets and blue and golds, i think i might go have a look at both, make my decision that way, aslong as with research and advice from you guys, as i have always done

 

[MikeyTN]

I've always been told that Scarlets are nippy from breeders and everyone who owns them and knows about them. I've always wanted a Scarlet for a very very long time but I kept ending up with B&G...lol....But I love my B&G Macaws very very much!!!!

 

[haleybird]

I think you should with the species you are drawn to the most, then let the bird pick you.

Or you could just visit as many as you can and whichever bird you connect with, or are drawn to for some reason or another, and then go from there. Personality really does depend on the bird, and how it was raised...scarlets have a reputation for being "nippy" and b&gs have a reputation for being easy going...but there are definitely individuals within each species that are the complete opposite...I'd say do lots and lots of research on the breeders, see what the breeding stock is, and basically dont leave any stone unturned, and you can't go wrong...after all, this is going to be a lifetime friend/fid you're choosing here!

I'd say check out the rescue opportunities, but from what I've heard/read, there's not really very many macaws who are given up (in au)....at least not in the epidemic proportions of how many are given up in the states....but correct me if I'm wrong!

Good luck!!

 

[MikeyTN]

haleybird,

Depends where your at, some places have nothing but Macaws and Cockatoos....In my area, people give up Cockatoos more then anything else. Not a lot of Macaws...

 

[JerseyWendy]

Oh Brodie, this is a NO brainer.

Blue & Gold ALL the way. Each time you have second thoughts, just look at Fargo. And I wonder which one Tab would suggest. :09:

 

[horsesculpter]

Or the best of both worlds. Our beloved Sunny has a blue and gold papa and a scarlet mama and we think she has the best traits of both! But before you guys yell at me about the pros and cons of hybridization she is a rescue.

 

[U2gal]

I've always been told that Scarlets are nippy from breeders and everyone who owns them and knows about them. I've always wanted a Scarlet for a very very long time but I kept ending up with B&G...lol....But I love my B&G Macaws very very much!!!!

I think its how they're raised and handled.

My scarlets weren't nippy.

And even Barbara Heidenriech worked with a group of just weaned scarlets and didn't find the species more nippy than others.

I have found that they're are a bit more emotional than other species though.

 

[davisn456]

I haven't been around too many scarlets, but the B&G's have always been my favorite, with the greenwing being the second. I don't think I've ever met a B&G that wasn't overall quite friendly.

 

[U2gal]

So I'll vote Scarlet macaw.

 

[MikeyTN]

U2gal,

Years ago when Petco used to sell the big parrots, they had a Scarlet and I wanted to hold him but the manager lady wouldn't let me as she cautioned me about Scarlets. She was holding him fine and I think he wants to take him home....lol....She was very much a bird person but kinda rude from what I can remember of her....

 

[Featheredsamurai]

greenwings go for about $15k in Australia, little bit too much right now lol, but that would have been my first choice if it wasn't for the huge price tag

I have heard Scarlet's can be a bit nippy, but that obviously also depends on the bird.
Blue and golds seem the prefect companion, i love the colours, but i absolutley adore the colours of the Scarlets.
But i dont want to base it off colours, i want the macaw that is right for us.

Looking for breeders now, there is quite a few who do scarlets and blue and golds, i think i might go have a look at both, make my decision that way, aslong as with research and advice from you guys, as i have always done

I frogot you live in Australia, so expensive! Maybe you should go completely different and get a black cockatoo haha, those cost a arm and a leg here LOL

I've met so many wonderful blue and golds, I love them

 

[Alwese]

I have both a Scarlet (Clifford) and a B&G (Kayko) plus a hybrid cross between the two called a Catalina (Doogie) and have had all of them over 10 years. Clifford is 10, Kayko is 31, and Doogie will be 20 on the 5th of July. There is a natural tendency for Scarlets to be a little aggressive. Scarlets in the wild throw B&Gs out of the prime nesting sites. Very young Scarlet chicks will pinch you while the same age B&Gs together in the same holding box will not. I have seen a Scarlet that would let anybody hold it (I'm a REAL dummy for not buying that one when I had the chance) so their are exceptions, but I tell people when I am out and about at the beach with Clifford and Kayko that having a Scarlet is like having a blonde wife; they are very pretty, but they have temperment issues you will have to deal with. B&G Kayko gets to be held by everyone and has been on the arms of 5,000 children this year alone. Clifford would bite you so badly you would have to be hospitalized, but he is my best talker, readily talking in public, so I have the best of both worlds. My vote goes for getting a B&G for being the most likely to be a sociable bird. Click on the thumbnails to somewhat enlarge the pictures.

 

[JerseyWendy]

....... but I tell people when I am out and about at the beach with Clifford and Kayko that having a Scarlet is like having a blonde wife; they are very pretty, but they have temperment issues you will have to deal with........

I will now have to change my hair color to see if that will lessen my temper.

 

[Brodie]

You guys are great! Have found a perfect breeder of blue and golds, his got three babies left, ready to go early august, I think we are gonna go for the blue and gold for sure! I'm gonna get him to send me Pictures as soon as he can aswell, So I will have to show you all when I get them!
Now the excitement begins! Finally getting the bird of my dreams, can't wait, this is going to be a big life long adventure, with Scarlet aswell of course
IM SO EXCITED!! haha yay!!

 

[SparkkiSparkS]

I grew up with a pair of scarlets (sparkki and sparks) and they were the best birds ever! I can't remember them ever being nippy even when I was young and all over the place. I hope you have another scarlet some day and wont take any others first. I love them! I hope that helps. Either way good luck with your decision.

 

[Chesphoto]

Alwese makes some interesting comments about his flock.

I narrowed my choices down to b&g and scarlets and then let the bird choose me. A 17 year old scarlet picked me about two months ago and it has been such a great experience.

Nippy, a little bit towards me, more like love bites... What is really funny is sometimes she mumbles and it sounds like "hurts so good". Makes me wonder about her past owners.

My only problem is that Skittles is a one person bird. She seems to really like being out around other people, but if they get too close, she will bite. It is strange because she seems to love attention and loves it when people come up and admire her. Unfortunately, she loves to sneak in a quick nip too...

 

[Nocturnal]

ALL the scarlets and scarlet hybrids I have met are techy -- you really gotta watch their body language and they are often more timid and high strung-- leading to higher incidence of nips.

I have met a bunch of mean B&G's too, but for the most part they are much nicer.