A little new to this

[abaddon879]

Hi I am David, from Reading, England, UK. I'm 25 and currently working in IT Service Support.

I have just purchased a Hahns Macaw from a local pet shop, having not exactly gone there with the intention of coming back with a pet bird. When I saw him say there in his tiny cage in the middle of the pet shop, surrounded by larger Macaws, a Cockatoo, Cockatiels, and a variety of smaller birds, I instantly fell for his charms.
I initially left the pet shop and began to head home, but something made me turn around and go back and purchase him. It was very weird behaviour for me.

So now I am one of those people who are looking after a bird without knowing too much about them, and quickly trying to learn!

Solo (I gave in to the obvious Star Wars temptation) has been living with me for 3 days now, and is definitely making himself known. We both have some barriers to get over before we properly become bond, such as his tendency to try and nip at anyone who gets too close to his cage, his current living conditions which are far too small and looked neglected, and my confidence in handling him and not having him try to bite.

I believe he is 6 years old (worryingly the pet shop owner told me nothing) from the ring around his leg which seems to suggest an '06 birth. I do not know he is male, but considering there is little value in knowing his sex I have decided he wont mind too much if he turned out to be a she. I will get them sexed when I book my first visit to the vet.

 

[Safira]

Welcome to the forum! I LOVE the name Solo. We demand pictures

 

[abaddon879]

I will get some nice pictures once I coerce him out of the cage, I have a feeling that there may be bloodshed on my part, but that may just be fear. He was quite happily being hand fed through the bars today, but he did try and go at my fingers once or twice even when he had food in his mouth.

Another thing I need to get sorted is his diet. It looks like he was only fed seed mix at the pet store as that is all they recommended me, so I have started to introduce some fruit and veg into the mix, feeding him it through the bars. He definitely has a thing for sunflower seeds, he seems to eat nothing else in his food bowl!

 

[Safira]

Take your time. We enjoy thru cage pictures too! No need to get a finger chomped.

 

[Wulfgeist]

Welcome David and yes, pictures please! There is alot of experience here on the forums so don't ever hesitate to ask for advice or an opinion.

 

[abaddon879]

I will try and take a few tomorrow when he is awake. Everyone else seems to have pictures of him except me so far.

I will need to be able to handle him to get him from one cage to another. He will have had just over a week to get used to his new surroundings by the time I come to try move him into a new cage. Hopefully he will accept the new cage and the huge increase in space he will be given.

 

[MikeyTN]

For the time being don't worry about his food. Add fruits and veggies to begin with is a great start. The seed part you can work on it over time. You want to make as little of change as possible until he gets adjusted to his new environment before pressuring him to accept new food. In a week, start picking out all sunflower seeds out of his dish and leave just 3-4 piece within. Either dispose the sunflower seeds or keep it for later as a treat. Then when you feed fruits and veggies take away the seed dish and offer a dish of pellets on the side. This trick worked on Java my U2. I've also done the mixing portions of seeds and pellets but so far this was the easiest transformation.

 

[roxynoodle]

Welcome to the forum! I know we already met in the Cage section, lol!

Yes, eventually you will need to get him off that seed, especially the sunflower seeds. It was recommended to me with my amazon not to change his diet for one month though to let him adjust. I did start giving him fruits and veggies right away though. You will want to eventually get him on a pelleted diet, with fruits, veggies and some nuts. I know macaws need more nuts than other parrots, though you will have to learn how many for a Hahn's, as I don't know off hand. I'm a macaw person who has never actually had one.

 

[gmkielbasa]

I have a hahn's mccaw named Kahn. He is a great talker, but was wild when i first got him. He settled down alot over the past few weeks. He freezes up with strangers, but is always saying something .

 

[mnkeastman]

Welcome and grats on Solo, love the name

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum Look forward to seeing pics of Solo Love that name..

 

[abaddon879]

I had a thought this morning whilst playing with Solo a little - his leg tag could read 90 as opposed to 06, which would make him 22 instead of 6... It is so hard to get him to stay still so I can read it properly at the moment.

Would there be any visible signs if he was a much older parrot? What sort of things would I look for?

I have taken some pictures this morning, so will upload them when I return from work so people can see what Solo looks like.

 

[Mayden]

Can you check the full ring number? (Don't post it here) and check is the 06/90 is the right way depending on the others numbers.

 

[Mayden]

Also, as much as I loved the name Solo... and got the whole "Ah, Hanhs Solo from starwars" it completely slipped past me that it's HANHS as in, hanhs macaw solo...

God I'm dim sometimes. ^^

 

[abaddon879]

Also, as much as I loved the name Solo... and got the whole "Ah, Hanhs Solo from starwars" it completely slipped past me that it's HANHS as in, hanhs macaw solo...

God I'm dim sometimes. ^^

I shall not pass judgement, it's ok

Can you check the full ring number? (Don't post it here) and check is the 06/90 is the right way depending on the others numbers.

If I can ever get the little bugger to stay still long enough and offer his leg then I will take a proper look. Maybe I can tempt him with a treat and check it whilst he is eating.

 

[Mayden]

Well there's no rush, maybe the vet will be able to check when you take him.