Compatability

Pepperswings · Feb 7, 2026

I have a blue and gold 30 yrs old and a Scarlett Male 7 to 8 yrs old no rings to verify.
They are housed in double cage with no divider.
They do not fight short disagreements over a toy when inserted into cage. Will they bond or is there any way to know???

DonnaBudgie · Feb 7, 2026

Maybe, but I'd be careful. These are big birds with formidable beaks that could hurt each other. I wouldn't keep them in an undivided cage unsupervised.

Pepperswings · Feb 7, 2026

they are fine. The squabbles are like 2 seconds long 9ver a toy. I do not care if bond to mate only so they play more together and not so lonely.

DonnaBudgie · Feb 7, 2026

Pepperswings said:
I have a blue and gold 30 yrs old and a Scarlett Male 7 to 8 yrs old no rings to verify.
They are housed in double cage with no divider.
They do not fight short disagreements over a toy when inserted into cage. Will they bond or is there any way to know???

Do you know what sex thr blue and gold is? If they're a female you may end up with breeding behavior you don't want.

Pepperswings · Feb 7, 2026

Yes. I know sex and if they become bonded it will be fine.

DonnaBudgie · Feb 7, 2026

What sex is he/she?
Bonding can happen with two birds of the same sex or the opposite sex. But opposite sex bonding often results in breeding.

Pepperswings · Feb 8, 2026

Blue and gold is female. I am aware of the breeding possibility. I just wasn't sure if this bonding with age difference was a possibility. Don't really care if they breed i just want them to not be so lonely. Interaction with us is usually aggressive by the male. I believe the person we got him from did a lot of lieing about his friendliness to people.

DonnaBudgie · Feb 8, 2026

Unlike humans, I don't think birds care about how old their partners are. I don't see any reason that the two of them can't bond other than simple incompatibility.

I would avoid any breeding situation with them. There are way too many macaws in captivity to justify bringing more into the world. Macaws are so difficult to find homes for so it doesn't surprise me that someone lied about how human-friendly the scarlet male is. Didn't you get to meet him before adopting him? Either way, thank you for giving him a home and trying to give both of them a decent life.

kme3388 · Feb 8, 2026

This is a great video to watch in your situation.

Jinx the blue throat is showing his dislike towards another macaw in this video. He has no intentions on being friends with the one macaw. If you watch the body language of Jinx his dislike for the other macaw is very obvious. If your macaws are snipping at each other to this extent I’d separate them.

If your macaws are just snipping at each other because one’s been preening the other, and the one gets tired of it. Well that’s expected.

If you are feeling overwhelmed there are resources all over to teach you the macaw body language. Shelters are full of trained people that work with macaws daily. The macaws I’ve worked with are very loud in their body language.

It is a possibility that the one macaw that the previous owner claimed is nice was nice to that person. My macaw is very bonded to me, and insists on being with me every waking minute. He try’s to bite anyone else that cleans his cage, or feeds him. If I opened the cage door he’d come out to attack that person for being anywhere near his cage (nest). I clean his cage with him out, and we have a lot of fun. That takes time to get that relationship. I had to work with him daily. Some macaws bond very strongly to their owners, and dislike everyone else like in my case. Anyone on here that has a parrot that is a one person bird knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s something that can be worked through but it takes a lot of time, and effort.

Best of luck, I hope something here helps.

DonnaBudgie · Feb 8, 2026

I wouldn't trust those macaws together. I just look at those beaks and get nervous!

Macawdamia Nut · Feb 8, 2026

kme3388 said:
This is a great video to watch in your situation.

Jinx the blue throat is showing his dislike towards another macaw in this video. He has no intentions on being friends with the one macaw. If you watch the body language of Jinx his dislike for the other macaw is very obvious. If your macaws are snipping at each other to this extent I’d separate them.

If your macaws are just snipping at each other because one’s been preening the other, and the one gets tired of it. Well that’s expected.

If you are feeling overwhelmed there are resources all over to teach you the macaw body language. Shelters are full of trained people that work with macaws daily. The macaws I’ve worked with are very loud in their body language.

It is a possibility that the one macaw that the previous owner claimed is nice was nice to that person. My macaw is very bonded to me, and insists on being with me every waking minute. He try’s to bite anyone else that cleans his cage, or feeds him. If I opened the cage door he’d come out to attack that person for being anywhere near his cage (nest). I clean his cage with him out, and we have a lot of fun. That takes time to get that relationship. I had to work with him daily. Some macaws bond very strongly to their owners, and dislike everyone else like in my case. Anyone on here that has a parrot that is a one person bird knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s something that can be worked through but it takes a lot of time, and effort.

Best of luck, I hope something here helps.

I recognize that aggression. My macaw has it toward a Squawker McCaw stuffed toy.

The toy actually has a chunk missing from its plastic beak.

My husband bought the toy for me one Xmas. It now lives in a closet so as not to upset my bird. My bird is fine with other living macaws and he lives peacefully with my husband (no fights, but no great love). Bird fights are no fun!

HarleY 06 · Apr 13, 2026

personally I think the age difference is the decider. body language of the birds in question should be the answer- just like humans; a second look, a smile or a sign usually tells someone is interesting. The % of successful breeding is when they have completed all the " rites". if they are not preening each other daily, and pin feather inspections, yet; I would suggest you don't hold your breadth for clutches. I could be wrong, but how breeders get their breeding stock, is by having a large comunual aviary and all the macaws after weaning are placed there (usually with an equal number of the sexes). after a pair start the bonding , they are transfered to separate cage/aviary together.
Usually after a given period if they haven't laid eggs the breeder will on sell "as a breeding pair".
How I come to notice _is the interactions between the ages of my macaws. The older ones stick together more than the younger ones, yet the younger ones thrive on what the older ones do ; from something interesting - they become interested. the young ones learn how to crack a walnut by watching the older ones. And in the aviary, or roosting at night - they stick to their own age