new baby greedwing will arrive sun

[luv4scjjt]

I am sooooo excited. Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. Experienced with greys but we were given our first macaw Bayshing. She is a wonderfull bird and with time i am sure she will love being held but right now still very shy. We had plans on getting a baby a while back but then Bayshing came along. We decided that we would be ok with the extra work of 3 birds instead of 2. Just makes the family more interesting. So those of you out there in forum land please fill me in on the do's and don'ts of the the baby macaw, and the rehomed macaw. I will take all advice on both cases very seriously. Im sure their are a lot of differences between a grey and macaw. (p.s) I raised both my grey's from baby's and they are both loving well adjusted birds. Hopefully with your help i will be as succesfull with the macaws.:41:

 

[wenz2712]

Hello and welcome to the forum

We would love to see some pics.

 

[JJones1719]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Congratulation on wanting a Macaw to join your flock.

Macaws are very different in personality, behavior,diet and care then Greys.

There are many reasons why a Macaw might end up at a rescue. I know of some Macaws who came from horrible backrounds and have taken years to overcome before the owner can handle them and gain their trust, while other rescue Macaws I know end up in rescues due bad heath issue of the former owner and had to give them up but the Macaws are perfect, happy and healthy. So it depends on the Macaw and their backround.

Purchasing a baby macaw does have it's advantages, one, you are it's first real owner so the bond will happen over a shorter timeframe. How the Macaw matures and it's behavior is controlled by you so you have a direct effect on it's up bringing.

I would advise you to go to a local rescue to see first hand what it available, learn to handle the Macaw and learn it's backround. Handling a Macaw is very different then the Greys. Greys tend to hang out on the owner with very little fuss while a Macaw is high energy, uses their owner as their personal Gym. They are truely feather can openers so watching out for the massive beaks is very important and they can pack a serious bite.

I too would advise you to visit a Macaw breeder and learn everything you can about the Macaw before bringing them into the home.

If or when you bring the Macaw home, you must keep them seperate from your Greys for up to 30 days so make sure you have a seperate room set up prior.

Schedule an Aviary Vet visit for either the rescue or new baby macaw before bringing it into the home. Have the Vet perform a complete physical including blood test, this way, you ensure that you have a happy healthy Macaw and will not pass anything to your Greys.

one more thing you must know about Macaws and greys, Macaws do not do very well around Greys or Parrots that give off powder or dander. Macaws can get very sick. Please make sure you have some sort of air filtering system close to the Greys cage if the Macaw and greys will be in the same room together. Also, your Greys will need more baths or spray showers to keep the dust down.

best of luck on whatever you choose and please post lots of pictures as all us members love to see them. Thanks Joe

 

[luv4scjjt]

Hello agian, We have made wonderfull strides with Bayshing. She is now stepping up for my husdband and lets him scratch and pet her. She seems very happy. She talks all the time and has a wonderfull vocablulary. She eats almost everything we offer her. She sits on her play gym from 3 pm to bedtime and she gives us no hassle about going to bed. She does rip apart her toys and plays with the non distroyable ones like she should. That makes me feel good because i know she's occupying her time instead of mopeing. Everyone in the family gives her snacks and she takes them very gently. (healthy snacks)lol. We are picking up our new baby today. I am so excited. I am hoping it doesn't hurt the building relationship with bayshing. But we already had purchased the baby when we were asked to take Bayshing so we will make it work. I have confidence we will do ok. I will make sure that Bayshing gets her stuff first and is given attention before the baby. We definatly have our work cut out for us but we are prepared and look forward to it. My Timney is on the other side of the room from were the macaws will be. I bath her at least once a week and i am always cleaning the cage of all dander and debree. Not only for the macaws but also for the dust factor. I am a clean freak. I dont mind that they make a mess but i am right behind them cleaning it up. lol. Her cage gets wiped down every couple days. We also own our own heating and cooling company so i am able to get my ducts cleaned every year. I love it. lol. Its a great thing to have done when you have birds or pets in general.