Green winged macaw afraid of his new cage .Help me please

Kash

Member
Feb 9, 2020
20
40
Pakistan
Parrots
Green winged macaw (2 years old) Named Zack
Hi
I bought a green winged macaw Zac when he was 1.5 years old...Now he's 4 years old and a very happy and healthy macaw
I was not an expert, I do admit that ,he was in worst conditions at shop,trading him illegally from south africa to Pakistan so I know his journey might be fearful.Where I live there were no options for large cages,I was ready to invest hefty amount too
Anyways I put him in a cage which was ok for his size when he was little as he was not hand tamed .He slowly started bonding with me like head scratches, taking food from open door. But he's still afraid to step up .I admit I wasn't consistent in training and I kept on giving him almonds to make him happy .
Now I found a vendor and constructed a very large stainless steel cage for him
It's 48 inches side to side long , 38 inches wide/deep and 76 inches high (6 feet and 4 inches). He's afraid of heights too
Today I showed him his new cage but he started shivering with fear and fluttering around in his previous cage
I'm so sad and upset...I can't even step up him in his old cage as door is small...I want him to go inside his large cage happily 😢
Please give me suggestions. I'm attaching files
(And please don't say that I'm cruel that I keep him inside cage...he's perfectly healthy and I don't even leave him a second...he's always sitting at the bottom of his cage and I'm always kissing him and preening him.)But he's fearful when I try to do it through front cage .
I don't want to use Bird catching net for him
 

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Cottonoid

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I think it's pretty common for parrots to be scared of new things. Does he get scared with new toys too?

I think you are doing the right thing by not forcing him to go inside the new cage. I agree with Cindylynn and SailBoat, that letting them explore on their own works the best. Do you have a room or space where it's safe to have both cage doors open where he can explore the new one as he's ready?

If he has favorite toys or things he likes to chew up maybe put some in the new cage, and treats, so he has something inside that he knows already is a good thing and not scary.
 

wrench13

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All excellent advice above! Parrots are all about trust, so please don't try to use a net or towel to capture him. THat is a big trust buster. Parrots frequently take weeks and sometimes months , to accept change in their surroundings, schedule, toys, food and cages. Be patient and be consistent.
 

18tillidie

Member
Sep 19, 2022
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28
Los Angeles, CA
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Green Winged Macaw, Sun Conure
I couldn't get Debit, our Green Winged anywhere near his new cage... this may be a little extreme, but I actually set up a mobile bedside table up with my laptop, and started sitting inside his cage to work! ...Not actually "inside" inside, but just sitting inside the door of the cage. He likes to sit on my shoulder while I'm working, so he eventually would accept being inside the cage while I was sitting in there. Over a week or so, he finally accepted that it wasn't a totally evil place. He still hates being in his cage (because he's rarely in it), but he doesn't hate the actual cage now.
 

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