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Questions that is keeping me awake at night ;/

Discuss the methods and techniques of clicker training, target training and bonding. These are usually the first steps in training a young parrot.

Questions that is keeping me awake at night ;/

Postby JYraya » Sun May 06, 2012 11:51 pm

I have some questions that is keeping me awake at night. The problem I am having seems to differ from other on the forum, so I decided to make a new post. My little “Anastácia” a yellow collored macaw (mini-macaw :macaw: ), is 4 moths, and arrived 2 weeks ago. She came by airplane, so she got here very stressed because of the amount of hours she spent traveling by airplane/car. She has been hand-fed by the petshop, and I’m getting here out of the cage 4x per day.

She is learning to eat solid food, and usually breaks the pallets with the beak and drop it out. So I’m afraid of 2 things.

The first, is the fact that, unlike other posts on the forum, she doesn’t nip me or fly away when I’m near. But, she, instead, grumble all the time that I’m looking at her or when I approach her with my hand. She looks very uncomfortable when I’m near, making these noises almost as if she is complaining. When I hand feed her, she only makes this sound while I’m cleaning her beak; and while she’s waiting for food, she looks very excited and doesn’t seem to care about my hand. And when I try to get closer, she sometimes lowers her head like she wants to be petter but she still makes this sound, like she wants to be petted but is still complaining about something. Is it normal?

The second is about leaving the cage. She wants to leave after I handfeed her and always tries to fly and ends up hitting the wall. Is it because she is learning how to fly? The fact that she is doing it, leaving by herself, will it make it difficult to target train or do step up training?

My last question is about the solid food. Anyone who has a mini-macaw knows how much time is needed to stop with formula and start to eat pallets and seeds?

Thanks alot for your attention :)
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JYraya
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Types of Birds Owned: Yellow Collared Macaw
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Re: Questions that is keeping me awake at night ;/

Postby marie83 » Mon May 07, 2012 5:37 am

I don't know for sure as I know next to nothing about mini macaws but at four months old I would have thought she would already be weaned?
Offer fruits and veg along side her pellets. I would contact a couple of breeders and find out what to do. Hand feeding won't do any harm to top up what solid food she is eating so carry on with that until you have some proper advice. She may be eating more solid food than you think, parrots are very messy eaters and frequently drop things all over. If I put too many pellets in my birds cage they will just sit there grinding what they don't eat into a powder. I now ration them rather than free feeding to prevent waste but please don't do that with a baby.
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marie83
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Re: Questions that is keeping me awake at night ;/

Postby Michael » Mon May 07, 2012 8:36 am

Are the wings clipped? That would obviously cause a problem. If not, it's still learning to fly. I'm not sure of the exact ages of development in macaws but that sounds old enough to be weened and flighted. The growling may be the babys only way of voicing discomfort. It may just be too young to bite, fly, or protest in any other way. Don't worry, you'll get plenty of that when it gets older.
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Michael
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Re: Questions that is keeping me awake at night ;/

Postby JYraya » Mon May 07, 2012 1:35 pm

Well, the seller said that she was weaned, but to keep with one formula per day. I think she wasn't because she is yelling to eat 2 times a day... So I ll keep with the formula until she decides to stop...

About she is doing it, leaving the cage by herself, will it make it difficult to target train or do step up training? I'm just waiting she eats anything solid to start the training...

Thanks alot for your answers!
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JYraya
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 7
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Yellow Collared Macaw
Flight: Yes


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