Pre-first big mac checklist/advice

[greytness]

He's beautiful!

 

[ACFERRET]

I will chime in, and suggest a travel perch. I got my macaw two years ago, and ended up making it to fit the need for it. I use it all over the place! I put it next to the bathtub so he can hang with me there when he doesnt want to go in the shower, i use it at the vet, i use it when i take him out of the house and he needs to be in the car, i use it for training, its just a great friggin perch. I like it so much i made 8 of them and put them for sale on etsy I have two left if you want one, i posted the link in the accessories for sale section here: http://www.parrotforums.com/accessories-sale/80271-portable-hardwood-travel-perch.html

I see good value in the foraging cage, make sure to pay a few bucks extra for a stinaless steel cage, some of them are just powder coated steel. I load mine with walnuts, or chinese finger traps which you can buy in bags of 500 for cheap, you can foten recycle them once he pulls themall out and throws them on the floor by reloading the cage. its a great economical way to have a semi re-useable toy and it gives them a fun activity.

I have a large play stand for my macaw, gives him a place to be when hes not in the cage. My macaw treats his cage like his nest and hes doesnt poop in it at night, if you DONT USE A PLAYTOP CAGE and instead let him out of the cage every morning to his play perch, you wont have very much poop cleaning to do in his cage which is annoying.

I made the play stand for my macaw, and made a post in the DIY section about it offering some details and photos to give you ideas if you want to construct something similar. Other people have made perches like that out of PCV pipe and vet tape which is easy to do. there are certainly many ways to build a play perch for him, but its a must have regardless of making it or buying it.
see here: http://www.parrotforums.com/do-yourself/80304-large-parrot-play-tree.html


I think you will also need to order a couple dozen stainless D rings for hanging toys, there never seems to be enough of them around to do what you want to do.

You should buy some kind of poop solvent, just buy gallon of it and use a refillable spray bottle. the cages are really big and you can burn through it fast. "poop off" brand has a funny smell, i dont like it, other brands dont have that smell, recoomend not using poop off brand, but if the smell doesnt bother you it is effective at removing and softending hardened poop.

Reccomend a spray disinfectant such as "F10 SC" it should be used on any used bird items you have, and periodically on his cage to battle fungus, or mold that may grow in the cage posing a health hazard to the bird.

THINK BIG when you buy stuff, just buy lots because everything goes fast. I buy walnuts 20-30 lbs ata time, cleaner by the gallon, and food by the 10lb bag.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Some more GREAT tips, thanks! I was actually looking at your DIY stand thread only just the other day. Is there anywhere to get those hard 5" plastic balls anymore? I checked bonkabirdtoys or whatever, and they seemed to be out.




He came with half a big bag of medium size roudybush pellets, which he doesn't seem to be super thrilled about. We will probably switch his pellets to something else, any suggestions?



Last night he had cherry tomatos and a strawberry with his pellet dinner, and this AM we had a banana together. Bananas seem to be his favorite of the things offered, but he didn't even try the strawberry lol

 

[ACFERRET]

They have an etsy.com listing for them here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/578377...MIrci2hqag4gIVCRgMCh3l_gR7EAkYASABEgIhwPD_BwE

Amazon says sold out, maybe reach out to them first before you buy it.

I had a good experience with this bird toy, it lasted several months then evenentually he broke it apart. It does have a nice chain assembly inside that would be god to re-make some new toy with.

 

[WakaWaka]

Last night he had cherry tomatos and a strawberry with his pellet dinner, and this AM we had a banana together. Bananas seem to be his favorite of the things offered, but he didn't even try the strawberry lol

Try the Zupreem pellets. Arika likes them.

Be careful with the tomatoes, there is mixed information about feeding them to birds. The fruit is generally safe but the plants are very toxic as they are members of the "nightshade" family.
Also too much acid from the tomatoes can cause digestive issues. Another website suggests the dried tomatoes are less acidic.

Do some research and let us know what you find. There is also a compilation of safe foods here on Parrot Forums.
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...afe-fresh-foods-toxic-food-lists-sprouts.html

Good luck !!

 

[bug_n_flock]

Yeah I know about the controversy, and am highly in favor of feeding them in rotation. Both of my amazons loved their tomatoes and never had an issue from eating them. You hear that same warning about tomatoes being in the nightshade family and also being highly acidic in relation to any animal, even humans. I just don't feed a super huge amount or super often, because they also are very low calorie. Mostly just a tasty little dose of vitamin c every so often. They are also very high moisture so are good for hydration.



As for the pellets, I have mixed feelings on zupreem. Most birds like them, but they are loaded with sugar and dyes (or just sugar). Alex did well on them for several years, but within the last few years not so much. Switched him to harrison's and you would think he was a much younger bird. Plan is to feed as much balanced fresh and cooked food as we can, a healthy amount of nuts, seeds in small amounts mostly as a treat, and a small amount of pellets each day. We should have a little while to figure out if we want to keep him on roudybush or maybe switch to harrisons or some other diet, or maybe even forgo pellets all together and do a birdy bread meal or something. We have a lot still to think about.

 

[Squeekmouse]

Wow, Charlie is gorgeous!! Any thoughts on if he will soon be known by another name?

Keep posting pics! I'm living vicariously through you... I'd love to have a macaw in my family some day... but I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with two fids.

 

[bug_n_flock]

So! We are thinking to call him.... (drumroll please)


Freedom!



He is settling in very well and is starting to calm down and learn the routine. He is so very smart and quite a talker. *huge* fan of sweet potatoes... he is an awesome dude.


So far it is obvious that I am his favorite, but he doesn't seem to hate Mr. Bug. Yesterday I had Mr. Bug spend an hour alone with Freedom, and I think we will start to do that moving forward, so Freedom learns to enjoy time with Daddy too and not just with me.


He likes head scratchies when he is in the cage, but so far have not tried out of cage scratchies, since he seems a little less confident when out of the cage. He steps up politely on to a stick(trained to do this a few homes back), but so far I have not asked him to step on to my arm. I was told he lunges over this, so we are just taking it slow and going at the pace he seems comfortable with. He is *such* a good boy all things considered.



My other thread, http://www.parrotforums.com/incredi...m-flock-follow-along-all-birds-our-flock.html is probably a better one to check for day-to-day goings on not just with Freedom, but with all of our birds.