Need Advice

[Brian33]

I've had parrots for about 18 years and love the little monsters. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I started putting the macaws in their outside cage so they could get some sunshine and harass the wild birds. Apparently the cage strong enough to keep macaws in, wasn't strong enough to keep a stray cat/racoon/something out, and all but one of my birdies are now gone. The survivor is a 14 year old Illigers Macaw and aside from missing some feathers on top of her head, she's perfectly fine. There were a bunch of feathers around the cage, but no blood, so my husband is holding out hope that the lost birdies may come back. Except it has been a week now and I haven't heard a single macaw noise around the neighborhood and no macaw has ever been quiet a day in their lives. The local animal shelter said they would let me know if any macaws show up.

The advice I need is what to do with my pretty princess, Carmen. If we keep her in the house all day by herself, the isolation is going to drive her crazy and I think that's cruel. We can't take her to work with us, and we can't work from home. We certainly haven't budgeted to buy a new flock of Macaws, and even if we did get more, we simply don't have the time to train and earn the trust of a new flock. I also promised my husband that I wouldn't get any more parrots when we got married. She would get some stimulation in the outside cage, but apparently that's dangerous and I don't think it'll be enough. The idea of giving her to a stranger or selling her is simply repulsive to me. Taking her to a sanctuary or rescue feels like I'm abandoning her and I really do love the little dinosaur. I don't have any other ideas and the ideas I have, I hate. I'm heartbroken, she's depressed, and now she's starting to cling to me and that means we need to make a decision soon.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? If not, what do you guys think would be in her best interest?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Where do you live? A PF member may want to adopt her
Illger's macaws are gorgeous and very desirable.

 

[Brian33]

Where do you live? A PF member may want to adopt her
Illger's macaws are gorgeous and very desirable.

I live in southern California in Riverside County.

Do you think adoption is the best route? She's already depressed and adoption means she loses the rest of her flock and everything familiar. It would be enough stimulation, and depending on the flock she joined, there could be a bird she likes. I would also be devastated and a grieving macaw isn't the easiest pet to care for.

One time when we went on a trip, we boarded them for a week at Omar's Exotic Birds and she did get Extremely interested in a scarlet macaw that was also there, so I'm sure she could like another bird.

 

[LaManuka]

I've had parrots for about 18 years and love the little monsters. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I started putting the macaws in their outside cage so they could get some sunshine and harass the wild birds. Apparently the cage strong enough to keep macaws in, wasn't strong enough to keep a stray cat/racoon/something out, and all but one of my birdies are now gone. The survivor is a 14 year old Illigers Macaw and aside from missing some feathers on top of her head, she's perfectly fine. There were a bunch of feathers around the cage, but no blood, so my husband is holding out hope that the lost birdies may come back. Except it has been a week now and I haven't heard a single macaw noise around the neighborhood and no macaw has ever been quiet a day in their lives. The local animal shelter said they would let me know if any macaws show up.

The advice I need is what to do with my pretty princess, Carmen. If we keep her in the house all day by herself, the isolation is going to drive her crazy and I think that's cruel. We can't take her to work with us, and we can't work from home. We certainly haven't budgeted to buy a new flock of Macaws, and even if we did get more, we simply don't have the time to train and earn the trust of a new flock. I also promised my husband that I wouldn't get any more parrots when we got married. She would get some stimulation in the outside cage, but apparently that's dangerous and I don't think it'll be enough. The idea of giving her to a stranger or selling her is simply repulsive to me. Taking her to a sanctuary or rescue feels like I'm abandoning her and I really do love the little dinosaur. I don't have any other ideas and the ideas I have, I hate. I'm heartbroken, she's depressed, and now she's starting to cling to me and that means we need to make a decision soon.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? If not, what do you guys think would be in her best interest?

Welcome to the forums, @Brian33 but I'm so terribly sorry for your devastating loss! How long ago did you have this discussion with your husband about not getting any more birds? I think if it was me I'd try broaching the subject of getting at least one more under the circumstances. There is of course no guarantee that your Carmen would like them but I think there'd be a decent chance of it, or at least they'd be able to commune with each other on a birdy level. I don't think I'd be able to let my last one go if this kind of thing happened to me. Sending you my very deepest condolences, @Brian33, and I hope you are able to come to a workable decision soon.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would push hard for getting another bird for her. I only talked about adoption as an alternative to being alone. She's only 14 and has a lot if years ahead of her. Your husband has to understand that she wouldn't be happy alone for the rest of her life. You made the promise not to get more birds when you had several, but they're gone and you had no way of knowing this would happen. Maybe he would agree to adopting an older macaw from a rescue. I would make sure your outdoor cage/aviary is strong enough to resist predators. One of the great things about So Cal is being able to keep your birds outdoors much of the year.