Going to visit a couple of rescues

[BeatriceC]

MrC and I are going to be visiting some macaws this afternoon that need new homes. Their current human is undergoing some life changes and no longer have the time and space for them. They have a 34 year old male b&g and a 10 year old scarlet female. The male is reported to have no behavior problems but the female has been plucking and has a missing wing (they rescued her from elsewhere and state it looks like a surgical amputation.)

We have been interested in adopting s macaw for some time, but weren't seriously looking for now. We had the early part of next year in mind. We just adopted a Senegal four months ago, and have a YN Amazon (31 years old, here for 20), and a 24ish year old cockatiel that MrC has had since he was about 2. These particular birds are in need of a home sooner rather than later, so we are considering it. We are going to visit them to see if there might be a personality match.

That leads me to the reason for this post. I don't want to be irresponsible, and we do have experience with birds in general, but not macaws. We have a 4200 square foot house with a large yard to install a flight cage, so we definitely have the space. The one thing that's absolute is that if we take one of these birds, we can only take one. While I am a housewife and MrC is retired, we still have teenagers and I don't think I have enough time time to take on two macaws. I want to make sure I'm asking all the right questions. Other than the standard diet, behavior, and medical questions, what else should I be asking before we make a decision?

 

[Terry57]

First, bless you for thinking of taking one of them in. If you feel like you can do it now, I would say go for it. Are they a bonded pair? If so, then it will be really hard on them to separate them.

 

[BeatriceC]

They are not bonded at all, according to their current human. If they were, then we were willing to talk about it, but would have been hesitant.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

I am only responding here to say well done for thinking of adopting one of these birds and Best of Luck with you initial visit ...I am not a Macaw person so I will leave the macaw parronts to answer your questions and give you advice and tips but I do wish you well

 

[Terry57]

That's good, at least you don't have to make that decision.
Is there one you are really hoping will be a good match? The female sounds like someone I would want to bring home, I am a sucker for feather or any other challenged.

 

[Kiwibird]

Thanks for considering bringing one of these babies home!

Just my personal feelings here, but as a experienced bird owner (as it sounds like you are) I would probably be a bit more interested in the female scarlet macaw. A lot harder for a special needs bird who plucks to find a home than a happy, well adjusted one. And special needs birds can be especially sweet when shown love. Of course, if the male "clicks" always better to bring the right bird home than to get into a situation that doesn't work out for anyone. Best of luck whatever your choice, and again, thanks for considering some older birds in need of a great home!

 

[BeatriceC]

I was kind of leaning towards the male, thinking that his age might prevent him from finding a new home easily, but kiwibird brings up a good point about the female and her special needs. But at the end of the day, the birds have a lot of say in the matter, and if one or the other of them clicks, than that's the deciding factor. If they both click, then it will be a tough decision.

 

[BeatriceC]

And we are taking the female scarlet. She was immediately friendly to me and there's just something about her. I would have preferred to visit her a few times, but the people needed her gone as soon as possible. She's going to need a lot of attention and work. Her whole chat is plucked clean. But she really is a sweetie. We spent about 90 minutes with her before making the decision. The male blue and gold was also a sweetheart, but he's picture perfect, so I think he will find a home far more easily.

 

[GraciesMom]

That is so exciting! It's wonderful that you & her clicked. I can't wait to see pics

Big Congrats!

 

[BeatriceC]

She's in our spare cage in our rec room while MrC puts together the cage she came with and her play perches (and I clear out the space in the room we want to use for quarantine), so forgive the mess in the background.

 

[BeatriceC]

And this is her good side, on her perch at the place where we got her.

 

[BeatriceC]

(And sorry for three posts in a row)

I will be calling our avian vet first thing in the morning to try to get her in a soon as possible for a complete health check up. The story on the plucking is that they took in a dog about 9 months ago, and the plucking started about then. Prior to that, she had been a rescue of unknown history. A friend of theirs found her being sold at a garage sale. She was already missing the wing at that point. They've had her for about 4 years, and so far she's had a "no touch" policy, but can be moved around on a stick. She also loves her showers, so that's good information to know.

They sent us with a huge cage, two play perches, a shower perch and a huge box of toys.

 

[Flboy]

Such a beauty!
An angel just earned her wings because of you!

 

[Terry57]

I am so thrilled you brought her home! She truly is a beauty, and if she has only been plucking that long you may be able to turn it around. Please let us know what the vet says and keep the pictures coming. This thread has made my day.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Congratulations on your Beautiful new addition to the family...she sounds like she is an Adorable girl and I hope you all have many long and happy years together filled with lots if goofy macaw laughter. Good Luck with the AV visit hope all goes well....Welcome home Beautiful girl

 

[BeatriceC]

Thank you! We have a lot of work to do, but I'm very excited. Right now she's calm and looking around curiously, and chattering a little bit with me when I talk to her. So far, so good.

 

[GraciesMom]

What an awesome girl. I'm sure you are excited who wouldn't be with such a beautiful addition to the family Hope all goes will at the docs office. It's great she's curious & chattering a bit. With lots of time, patience and encouragement I'm sure you'll be able to heal her hurts & soothe her fears. If I learned anything it's that parrots are resilient and capable of amazing feats.

Good luck with your beautiful girl!

 

[BeatriceC]

MrC had to go back to get the rest of Scarlett's things. While he was there some people had come by to look at the other one and said no. They mentioned that they've had that happen several times. We talked about it and decided that if they get to the point where they have absolutely no other options, they could call us. We do have the space, but I am worried about having enough time. From what I understand they have about a month before they are at that point, so if it came to that Scarlett will have had some time to settle in and we will know her better, so we can make a better evaluation of the situation at that point.

Edited to add: they really need both birds rehome do as soon as possible, preferably in the next day or two, but the timeline relaxes a little bit if they are on,y caring for one rather than two, especially since the one I took was the one with the more intense needs.

 

[BeatriceC]

We took a few more pictures before we put her to bed tonight. Here's some decent ones showing both her good side and her bad side.





She's so sweet. I sat in the room with her for a good chunk of time, just being quiet for the most part. When I had to leave to do other things and it got quiet, she started squawking, and would calm down as soon as I called to her saying things like "it's okay, Scarlett, I'll be right back". She's definitely a little stressed out from being moved and being with new people, but it's a good sign that she calms down with my voice or my simple presence. She won't take food directly from me, but she does let me move her around on a stick, so we have a good start going.

 

[BeatriceC]

She's doing about as well as I can expect this morning. She was a bit frightened when I first came into the room, but after a few minutes of talking soothingly to her, she relaxed and I was able to feed her without her getting her hackles up. She's now been moved to her play perch in her quarantine room and I've moved my laptop to the other side of the room (I can do what I need to as easily here as at my desk) so I can both make sure she knows she's not alone and I can make sure she stays safe, but I'm far enough away to not crowd her. Her appointment with the vet is a week from tomorrow. Other than the plucking she seems otherwise healthy, so unless I see something alarming, I won't push for anything sooner.