AlexK
New member
Hello Everyone, this is my first post and I have a few questions about a Blue and Gold Macaw that my girlfriend and I just got.
First, i'll give you a little background. My girlfriend has had several conures and cockatiels over the years, and I currently have two Indian Ringnecks. She works at a veterinary office, and I do quite a bit of volunteer work rehabbing injured Birds of Prey, as well as educational programs about Birds of Prey. I think it's fair to say we both have at least a limited understanding of keeping exotic birds in captivity.
My girlfriend has been wanting to get a large bird for quite a while now, and has been on the lookout for a macaw that needed rehoming through various rescues and websites. We happened upon quite a deal the other night, an 8 year old Blue and Gold Macaw with a wonderful temperment and a VERY large cage, for a relatively small rehoming fee. We borrowed a truck and started on the 3 hour drive to pick up the new addition to our family, Indy.
When we got to the house where Indy was staying, we got her full background story. She had been a one owner bird for the past 8 years, fairly well socialized around people, but her owner had developed terminal cancer, and at this point asked a friend who handled a lot of rescue and rehoming to find her a good home. This is where she was now, she was less than a week out from her original owner. She was well behaved while we were there, stepping up onto the womans arm, not biting or doing any large amount of screeching, just being in general a well behaved bird. She had at one point had her wings clipped, bu all her flight feathers have grown back in at this point.
We got her home, set up her cage, and put her into it to sleep for the night. On the car ride home she had been talking a little bit, quietly say hello and chittering to herself and she sat in a large cat carrier for transport. We turned the lights out, covered her cage, and went to bed.
Today after we both got off work, we decided to let her explore her environment a little bit. The first thing she did after we opened her cage door was to climb over to the bed where we were sitting, and raise her foot up. My girlfriend slowly put her hand out and said "step up." Indy stepped onto her hand and sat there for a few minutes, then climbed up onto her shoulder. We were sitting next to each other, and Indy climber from her shoulders, over on to mine. We don't particularly want her to be a shoulder bird where we can't keep an eye on her, especially not on the first day or us having her. So I slowly put my hand up and said step up, which she did. I sat her down on my knee and she happily sat there looking around. From here, I very slowly rubbed her tail and back, she is currently molting and has a lot of new feather growth. I tried to rub around her head but she pushed my hand away with her beak, although didn't bite me.
Up until this point, she hadn't shown any aggression at all. Well, my girlfriend layed back on the bed, and Indy instantly stepped over on to her and tugged at her shirt, then climbed onto her chest very quickly and bit my girlfriends upper lip. Not hard, but enough to be very uncomfortable. My girlfriend tried to sit up, and Indy leaned over and bit her finger, again, not hard, but an uncomfortable nip. I managed to get Indy onto my hand and she spent the next half hour or so sitting on me staring at my girlfriend. Eventaully, my girlfriends mom came to see the bird, and instantly Indy loks at her and says "C'mere" clear as a bell. We ended up sticking Indy back in her cage for a little while, unsure of how to continue.
Later on all 3 of us were in the Room where Indy is kept and Indy was constantly looking at my girlfriends mom, saying "C'mere." We opened Indy's cage and she got out and climbed on top of it. She was puffing up at me and doing what I assume is some type of display, although I don't know. She would stand straight up and put her wings out. Not all the way but she would seperate them from her body without stretching them. I assume she was only doing this in my direction because im the only one taller than her cage, but I don't have any idea, truthfully. My girlfriends mom went up to the cage slowly, and through a series or slow movements, eventually managed to touch Indy as though they had known each other all their lives, she could rub her head, pick her up, run her finger across her beak, Indy even leaned over and licked her face while she made kissing sounds. Eventually Indy climbed up onto her shoulder and then everytime I moved, Indy did the wing display, if I got anywhere near her, she would lunge out and attempt to bite me. She was also eye pinning almost constantly.
I'd like to know what's causing this biting, what the display means, Why she was very friendly towards me and then suddenly completely hostile toward me, and I'd like to know how I might possibly fix these behaviors.
First, i'll give you a little background. My girlfriend has had several conures and cockatiels over the years, and I currently have two Indian Ringnecks. She works at a veterinary office, and I do quite a bit of volunteer work rehabbing injured Birds of Prey, as well as educational programs about Birds of Prey. I think it's fair to say we both have at least a limited understanding of keeping exotic birds in captivity.
My girlfriend has been wanting to get a large bird for quite a while now, and has been on the lookout for a macaw that needed rehoming through various rescues and websites. We happened upon quite a deal the other night, an 8 year old Blue and Gold Macaw with a wonderful temperment and a VERY large cage, for a relatively small rehoming fee. We borrowed a truck and started on the 3 hour drive to pick up the new addition to our family, Indy.
When we got to the house where Indy was staying, we got her full background story. She had been a one owner bird for the past 8 years, fairly well socialized around people, but her owner had developed terminal cancer, and at this point asked a friend who handled a lot of rescue and rehoming to find her a good home. This is where she was now, she was less than a week out from her original owner. She was well behaved while we were there, stepping up onto the womans arm, not biting or doing any large amount of screeching, just being in general a well behaved bird. She had at one point had her wings clipped, bu all her flight feathers have grown back in at this point.
We got her home, set up her cage, and put her into it to sleep for the night. On the car ride home she had been talking a little bit, quietly say hello and chittering to herself and she sat in a large cat carrier for transport. We turned the lights out, covered her cage, and went to bed.
Today after we both got off work, we decided to let her explore her environment a little bit. The first thing she did after we opened her cage door was to climb over to the bed where we were sitting, and raise her foot up. My girlfriend slowly put her hand out and said "step up." Indy stepped onto her hand and sat there for a few minutes, then climbed up onto her shoulder. We were sitting next to each other, and Indy climber from her shoulders, over on to mine. We don't particularly want her to be a shoulder bird where we can't keep an eye on her, especially not on the first day or us having her. So I slowly put my hand up and said step up, which she did. I sat her down on my knee and she happily sat there looking around. From here, I very slowly rubbed her tail and back, she is currently molting and has a lot of new feather growth. I tried to rub around her head but she pushed my hand away with her beak, although didn't bite me.
Up until this point, she hadn't shown any aggression at all. Well, my girlfriend layed back on the bed, and Indy instantly stepped over on to her and tugged at her shirt, then climbed onto her chest very quickly and bit my girlfriends upper lip. Not hard, but enough to be very uncomfortable. My girlfriend tried to sit up, and Indy leaned over and bit her finger, again, not hard, but an uncomfortable nip. I managed to get Indy onto my hand and she spent the next half hour or so sitting on me staring at my girlfriend. Eventaully, my girlfriends mom came to see the bird, and instantly Indy loks at her and says "C'mere" clear as a bell. We ended up sticking Indy back in her cage for a little while, unsure of how to continue.
Later on all 3 of us were in the Room where Indy is kept and Indy was constantly looking at my girlfriends mom, saying "C'mere." We opened Indy's cage and she got out and climbed on top of it. She was puffing up at me and doing what I assume is some type of display, although I don't know. She would stand straight up and put her wings out. Not all the way but she would seperate them from her body without stretching them. I assume she was only doing this in my direction because im the only one taller than her cage, but I don't have any idea, truthfully. My girlfriends mom went up to the cage slowly, and through a series or slow movements, eventually managed to touch Indy as though they had known each other all their lives, she could rub her head, pick her up, run her finger across her beak, Indy even leaned over and licked her face while she made kissing sounds. Eventually Indy climbed up onto her shoulder and then everytime I moved, Indy did the wing display, if I got anywhere near her, she would lunge out and attempt to bite me. She was also eye pinning almost constantly.
I'd like to know what's causing this biting, what the display means, Why she was very friendly towards me and then suddenly completely hostile toward me, and I'd like to know how I might possibly fix these behaviors.