How to handle aggressive macaws

[kme3388]

Does anyone here have advice on how to handle aggressive macaws? Mine has a past of severe abuse. He was beaten with a broom, and had his wing broken by a previous owner. I have no idea if that’s what has made Blue aggressive. He was okay to handle at first but his demeanor changed after he settled into our home. I don’t know if it’s just hormones. He has been at the bottom of his cage lately. It appears he’s searching for a dark place. He attacked me yesterday, and got ahold of my lip when I was handling him. I’ll post a photo below. I was informed I got lucky. He attacked the back of my head today when I was trying to clean his cage bars. He wasn’t handled a lot in the past. Any advice is appreciated. He’s also trying to attack my hands, and my husbands when feeding him. I can’t even get into his cage today to put in new toys for the day for him to forage.

 

[Thechoplady]

Im sorry i dont have first hand macaw experience but i want to say im sorry that happened to you. Sophie did the same exact thing to my lip one time and I was just so upset and devastated. Can you go back to target training? I use a portable T stand to transport sophie from room to room as she is just too unpredictable to have her on my hand. I shower her alot and that seems to take out some of her energy, i also take her on car rides occasionally.. and i dont let her have alot of grains, fruit, carbs, seed etc as the sugar and fat really amps her up. She also sleeps in a dark room by herself for 14 hours a night. You might already be doing all these things. Even with all the above Sophie can be okay some days and a absolute terror on other days. Im sorry I dont have better advice.

 

[kme3388]

Im sorry i dont have first hand macaw experience but i want to say im sorry that happened to you. Sophie did the same exact thing to my lip one time and I was just so upset and devastated. Can you go back to target training? I use a portable T stand to transport sophie from room to room as she is just too unpredictable to have her on my hand. I shower her alot and that seems to take out some of her energy, i also take her on car rides occasionally.. and i dont let her have alot of grains, fruit, carbs, seed etc as the sugar and fat really amps her up. She also sleeps in a dark room by herself for 14 hours a night. You might already be doing all these things. Even with all the above Sophie can be okay some days and an absolute terror on other days. Im sorry I dont have better advice.

Thank you, I do have a stand. He is not safe to transport. Well today anyway. I am in the process of signing him up for some classes for aggressive macaws. I really want to see him work through this. Any advice is helpful if someone has experience with an aggressive parrot, and if something may have worked for them that I haven’t tried.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

My Macaw Max is incredilbly aggressive towords me.
And with him it is a big joke.

His lifelong dream is to get a hold of my nose or my lip.
I keep my face well away from him at all times.

He bonded to the other parront in my household -who can have max on his shoulder, sleep with him, kiss him, pet him.

Max is only affectionate when his daddy is out of the country, otherwise I am only just most awesome caregiver.

So sorry about your lip.
Max cracks a walnut every morining for breakfast, I know what he could do to my lip.
I am of no help to you, but I do sympathize!

 

[kme3388]

Thursday I got bit in the face, Friday the back of my head got attacked, and now today Blue wants head scratches & snuggle time. This parrots mood swings are unbelievable.

 

[smwboxer]

Macaws are not for the faint at heart. You are likely going through past trauma and hormones at the same time. Best to step back and let the bird do its thing until the hormones wain, then start working on trust.