by Pajarita » Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:23 am
Macaws become sexually mature at 2 to 3 years of age but they only start mating in the wild when they are 4 or 5 years old so, if what you see is, indeed, regurgitation and not vomiting (regurgitation is when they bob their head up and down and carefully deposit their 'offering' somewhere - vomiting is an obviously involuntary action which leaves them with a mess all over their face and/or chest), it's because he is overly hormonal. Screaming is another symptom of this and, taking into consideration that he was obviously neglected, that he has been on his lonesome for years and that he was, most likely, kept at a human light schedule with no exposure to twilight (kind of impossible in a basement) - and I think we can safely add on a bad diet, the result is a sexually frustrated bird that is desperate for relief and company so, please, don't hold it against him because the poor thing is suffering and he has no other way of letting you know.
Now, first thing to do is put him on a fresh food diet and reduce the protein (which should be fed only for dinner) and to put him on a solar schedule (this is the perfect time of the year for this as the days are now getting shorter). Then establish firm routines and that means everything exactly the same, at the same time - meaning EVERY SINGLE DAY. Aside from that, love, love, love and attention, attention, attention, hours out of cage and a couple of one-on-one. He needs to realize this is not a temporary thing and that the terrible life he had before is over for good and, for that, he needs consistent routines and schedules. I would also start target training in another three or four weeks. 15 minute sessions, three times a day will do it.
But mind you, he is still on the honeymoon stage and things will get worse before they get better- and it might take months and months for him to stop screaming