by Pajarita » Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:55 am
Well, there is the root of your problem, my dear. The 12L/12D [twelve hours of light and twelve hours of dark] doesn't work in terms of keeping their endocrine system in tune with the seasons so they produce sexual hormones all year round which makes them not only terribly frustrated but also physically uncomfortable and even in chronic pain. And the free-feeding protein food is the icing on the cake of aggression... Plus, you've had her only a few days so of course she is not going to trust you! It takes months to achieve trust in a rehomed bird.
Macaws need a fresh food diet with lots and lots of fruits so you cannot free-feed her pellets because, if you do, she will not eat enough produce. I don't feed pellets because after over 20 years of researching their natural diets, I have long ago reached the conclusion that pellets were not and never will be the best dietary option for them [they are too dry, too processed, made with inferior ingredients, most of them contain soy, and all of them are 'dead' food -no phytonutrients- that was 'built up' with man-made vitamins and minerals -which we now know are not absorbed and utilized by the body the same as natural, food-derived ones]. I feed gloop with raw produce for breakfast and a measured, small portion of seeds/nuts for dinner. But, if you have your heart set on feeding pellets, I recommend you use only Tops and then only for dinner with plenty of water [not in a bottle] available.
You got bit because you were asking for a familiarity that you did not deserve. She did not know you from Adam and asking her to trust you enough to perch on you was too much, too soon. Parrots are not like dogs, they don't like all people, are not people-oriented and have not been bred for thousands of generations for the pet trade. They are undomesticated animals just a few generations removed from the wild and still genetically identical [if hugely inferior] to their wild counterparts so you need to win them over, on their terms, and not take anything for granted. So don't ask her to step up and, most of all, do NOT insist! Even parrots that have been with us for years and years and love us to pieces will not take kindly to our insisting they obey us. Parrots do not understand the concept of obedience of subservience because nature evolved them to live in social groups made out of individuals that are all equal - no leader, no alpha role, no boss. Put her at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk and feed her something like gloop, chop or mash for breakfast and the pellets [if you decide to continue feeding them] for dinner. Let her out of her cage for, at least, four hours a day, always at the same time [strict daily schedule of routines are essential to keep them happy], spend as much time with her as you can talking, singing, whistling to her and, every now and then, offer her a treat but don't expect her to 'perform' for it, just give it to her as a token of friendship to show her that you want to be closer to her - and, if she doesn't take it from your fingers, simply leave it near her and walk away. As the days pass, she will feel more and more comfortable with you and will start showing you, with her actions, that she wants a closer relationship and, when that happens, grab the opportunity and act on it but don't go any farther than she wants and always allow her to set the pace.
The honeymoon period [the first few months of a new parrot coming to live with us] is the most critical in our relationship with our parrots because it's the foundation of what is going to be for the duration so you need to be very careful not to push or to ask for anything that the bird doesn't want to give. Show the parrot respect for its feelings and the parrot will trust you for the rest of its life -and there is no love without trust.