I need some advice ...

[Shelby]

Shelby, money by far is not an issue. Neither is being a life long companion. I currently own 2 dogs, & 2 Chinchillas. Chinchillas living 15-20 years. Fresh food & water everyday is not an issue either and neither is time with the bird. I'm currently a house wife, so I have all the time in the day to be with the bird.

I'm going to continue doing research before making my final decisions. Thanks for the help Shelby.

I am so glad to hear that you have time, experience with other animals, and are willing to do some research. Too many people see a pretty bird and buy it right away without knowing anything about it or how to care for it. In these situations, the people quickly become disenchanted and the bird suffers and often gets rehomed or placed in a shelter. Since I knew nothing about your living situation, I thought it would be best for me to encourage you to think about the responsibility.

I wish you all the best in your progress with getting a bird! Please keep us updated!

[liz]

bfs... I think the little cockatoo could see the kind of person you are. I believe you will bond fast.

I'm the one wearing rose colored glasses - and I like it that way.

[brfussne]

Shelby, money by far is not an issue. Neither is being a life long companion. I currently own 2 dogs, & 2 Chinchillas. Chinchillas living 15-20 years. Fresh food & water everyday is not an issue either and neither is time with the bird. I'm currently a house wife, so I have all the time in the day to be with the bird.

I'm going to continue doing research before making my final decisions. Thanks for the help Shelby.

I am so glad to hear that you have time, experience with other animals, and are willing to do some research. Too many people see a pretty bird and buy it right away without knowing anything about it or how to care for it. In these situations, the people quickly become disenchanted and the bird suffers and often gets rehomed or placed in a shelter. Since I knew nothing about your living situation, I thought it would be best for me to encourage you to think about the responsibility.

I wish you all the best in your progress with getting a bird! Please keep us updated!

Shelby, I perfectly understand. In one of my last posts I tried to clear that up. I know there's probably a ton of people out there who see a video on Youtube of a cute bird doing a trick or talking and instantly they HAVE to have the bird or else. That's not me at all. I owned 2 parakeets 5 years ago when I was 16 and I more recently took care of a friends Son Conure when they were out of town or weren't home for long periods. I've had my taste of what it's like to own a bird. Living in the city, I also owned a Indiana Runner Duck haha Growing up i've owned literally every animal possible besides a Sugar Glider & a Scorpion. At one point we even had a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. I was never fond of it. :/ (we had dogs, cats, bird, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, chinchillas, tarantulas, lizards, snakes, frogs, turtles, a hedgehog, ducks, we had it all haha) I definately have the experience with animals and understand the FULL responsibilities that come with them. More so than anything, I wanted to adopt a bird to give it a second chance at life and a home than buy from a breeder. I feel like this Macaw is perfect. Things could change once I visit it on the regular though. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated & post my final decision. Thanks for all the help.

[brfussne]

bfs... I think the little cockatoo could see the kind of person you are. I believe you will bond fast.

I'm the one wearing rose colored glasses - and I like it that way.

Thank you Liz I hope that if I do adopt the Miniature Macaw that it will trust me one day so we can have an unbreakable bond.

[paper_lantern]

I think its a great idea to "rescue" a bird like this instead of purchasing a baby. Obviously you know it is going to be a bigger job to rescue an adult bird that may have behavioral problems as opposed to raising your own baby, but if you are aware of the responsibilities you will be fine. I don't believe in "beginner" birds anyway, any bird is a lot of work and commitment whether it be a cockatiel or a mini-macaw. As long as the owner is aware of the time it will need.

Just make sure you have an avian vet ready, get the bird checked when you buy him...to rule out any physical illness as a cause of the plucking. My guess is its probably behavioral, and he will need a lot of love and work to stop plucking.

In any case, you have a good support system here, and although mini-macaws are challenging (more challenging than say a GCC), they are great birds.

[brfussne]

I think its a great idea to "rescue" a bird like this instead of purchasing a baby. Obviously you know it is going to be a bigger job to rescue an adult bird that may have behavioral problems as opposed to raising your own baby, but if you are aware of the responsibilities you will be fine. I don't believe in "beginner" birds anyway, any bird is a lot of work and commitment whether it be a cockatiel or a mini-macaw. As long as the owner is aware of the time it will need.

Just make sure you have an avian vet ready, get the bird checked when you buy him...to rule out any physical illness as a cause of the plucking. My guess is its probably behavioral, and he will need a lot of love and work to stop plucking.

In any case, you have a good support system here, and although mini-macaws are challenging (more challenging than say a GCC), they are great birds.

Thank you Paper Lantern. I plan on getting it vet check right away!! I'm not sure the age though. 11 is ringing a bell in my head but I can't quite put my finger on it... The place is called "Our Feathered Friends." It's apparently "San Diego's largest bird store..." I didn't think it was that big. They had a nursery that was off limits to everyone except employees which is great, they had several cages, toys, and foods, just not that many birds. I would say that had about 50 birds including the babies in the nursery. This Macaw was the only one plucked that I saw, but then again I didn't get to see them all. They had kids, adults and teens all running around the bird room like crazy. Sheesh. Those poor birds probably never get any peace. I noticed that they didn't require anyone to sanitize their hands before handle the birds. They is horrible & unsafe for the birds. Who knows where all those people have been????? Not to mention, I ABSOLUTELY HATE when parents bring their kids into a pet store. Animals are NOT play things for little kids. I could go & go about how that really grinds my gears. Definitely one of my pet peeves. When I tried to probe the worker for info on the Macaw she seemed like she wasn't very knowledgable. She acted like she didn't know he/she got that way. Even if he/she hadn't plucked itself in their store, they had to have known when they bought it from someone else how it got that way??? It seems sketchy to me. All I know is the sooner I get that poor baby out of there the better it will be. (if I do adopt it) Thank you guys for all the wonderful support. I really do appreciate it!!

[brfussne]

I visited the Macaw today. It is NOT a Hahn's Macaw, but in fact a Yellow Collared Macaw. Today, he/she was very nippy and did not want to "step up" for anyone. It bit me several times, drawing blood on one finger, and it bit 4 workers several times. I know you're not suppose to show fear when they bite but my golly, it's has a strong nip! No matter though, it did not discourage me one bit, especially after what I saw today. When it bit one worker, a guy, the guy then went and tried to swat at the Macaw. A different worker, another male, told me the correct way to stop nipping was to blow air in the Macaw's nostrils and if that does not work, when the Macaw goes to bite, you grab it's beak?????!!! Now I KNOW why the Macaw is not friendly. I was sold on the Macaw. I know I've only visited it twice but after seeing it on Sunday I fell in love with it. And after seeing the way it was treated, it desperately needs a good home fast. To get as far away from those people as possible. As a matter of fact, I wish I could buy all the birds there. That place is evil. I put a deposit on it, and on December 1st I get to take it home. I'm so excited for this little fellow/miss. I know for fact it's going to be hard to train it after what it's been through there. But i'm more than willing to work with it. I'm going back this weekend to visit it again and hopefully take some pictures to post. Thank you guys for all your help.

Some quick info .. The Macaw is 10 years old and indeed has been there it's entire life from what I get. It was in a cage with a friend and when they seperated them, it then began to pluck itself. I'm hoping to give it lots of vitamins to help promote feather grow and sunlight for Vitamin D.

[liz]

That poor thing has been mistreated for 10 years by people who don't know anything.

I hope you told them that since you have a deposit on it that you want it put above where people can reach it including them.

[GlassOnion]

As for reacting to bites, the whole 'ignore the bite' doesn't work for a lot of people, and it doesn't work for me either. Birds in the wild peck at each other to show disapproval, a bird doesn't just let his flock mate attack him. There is no reason we should just quietly let a bird chew our finger off, if he bites, you need to let him know that it's too hard and unacceptable.

When my birds bite repeatedly, I either quickly grab their upper beak and hold it tight for a few seconds even when they try to squirm out while I say 'noooo' in a firm voice. They don't like to have their beak 'trapped' in my finger, so the nipping stops. For my tiel, when he starts nipping hard, I quickly grab his head (like how you would pet a bird, but with fingers wrapped around the head) and hold him still for a few seconds before release. This is always a shock factor to him and he stops right away.

[brfussne]

That poor thing has been mistreated for 10 years by people who don't know anything.

I hope you told them that since you have a deposit on it that you want it put above where people can reach it including them.

Apparently it's part of their policy that once you put a deposit on the bird they can no longer take it out of it's cage and no one but the owner is allowed to play with it. THANKFULLY. I don't want any more mental damage done to the poor thing. This also makes me wonder how many stupid people come there, put a deposit on a bird and then come back a month later to get it without visiting it once in the month time period??? I CANNOT imagine a poor bird being stuck in a cage for a month straight. How horrible.

As for reacting to bites, the whole 'ignore the bite' doesn't work for a lot of people, and it doesn't work for me either. Birds in the wild peck at each other to show disapproval, a bird doesn't just let his flock mate attack him. There is no reason we should just quietly let a bird chew our finger off, if he bites, you need to let him know that it's too hard and unacceptable.

When my birds bite repeatedly, I either quickly grab their upper beak and hold it tight for a few seconds even when they try to squirm out while I say 'noooo' in a firm voice. They don't like to have their beak 'trapped' in my finger, so the nipping stops. For my tiel, when he starts nipping hard, I quickly grab his head (like how you would pet a bird, but with fingers wrapped around the head) and hold him still for a few seconds before release. This is always a shock factor to him and he stops right away.

Glass Onion, I tried my best to ignore it but after the 4th bite in the same place I had to take my finger away. It hurt ... But I don't blame the poor thing, after seeing how it was treated for 10 years. I plan on taking it slow with the little fellow/miss. I think i'm going to start clicker/touch training right away. I think that seems to be a good place to start. Hopefully earning it's trust along the way. I always thought grabbing a bird's beak was mean, idk? What if you tried to grab the beak and missed?? You may end up with quite a nasty nip if you miss and land your finger in the bird's beak. A girl also said that birds tend to bite when they're excited or upset. I figured the upset part but I didn't know they "clamped down" when excited?? Is that true?? I know they do the playful exploring nips where they gently nip you but I didn't think they bit hard when they were excited ...