Hello from Colorado

[Anonskier]

Greetings all, I have very recently acquired my very first large bird, a four year old Blue and Gold Macaw named Giggles. I thought it might be a good idea to join a forum, as I believe forums can be very vast, useful pools of information that will help me get off to a good start.

A little about myself: I'm an incoming senior in high school with a passion for animals, but birds specifically. The only experience I've had is with Zebra Finches, so this new companion is obviously going to be quite far off.

At this point, it's only been a few days and here are some observations I've made. He will take food from my hand, occasionally step up, sometimes (softly) nibble my hand/clothing, and allows petting. When I first met him, he stepped up and allowed me to softly touch him, he also seemed to be very friendly. He's on a diet of Zupreem with nuts and fruits mostly as treats. His wings are clipped but I'm not sure he even knows how to fly; I also don't know if the wings were even properly trimmed or not.

My concerns are he may have had a plucking problem in the past (and still has some abnormal feathers and a small patch of bald skin underneath his wings) that might prove to be an issue now; however, it might just be the shock from moving into a new environment. He does scream sometimes, and as far as I know has not yet been potty trained. One other thing is he doesn't seem to know how to play with toys, he will almost never give a toy his full attention and when he does, it's very brief. Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks for reading

[Wolf]

You have definitely made a huge transition from finches to a B&G Macaw. I know very little about Macaws. I can't tell you enough about their diet at this time to be of any help. The only thing that I actually know is that they are normally very gentle birds, but like all parrots you run a risk of getting bitten. Even a playful nip from a large macaw can be quite serious as some of them can bite through chain link fencing, so keep a good first aid kit handy with lots of bandaging on hand.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum. Their natural diet consists of lots of fruits, buds and some nuts. Now, I don't know what kind of Zupreem pellets you are feeding but all of them go from really bad to mediocre so, if you really have your heart set on feeding pellets (I don't ever recommend them as my research has shown that they are not the best dietary option for any parrot), please switch him to Tops which are the best ones. But you still need to provide a breakfast lower in protein and with lots of produce.

B&Gs are sweet birds, not as sweet as GWs but easy going when they are well cared for and happy - problem is, their happiness means been with their human all the time because they are very needy birds which imprint VERY deeply to their chosen one and the fact that you are so young and haven't even started your life yet makes me worry for his future (I've taken in several birds from young people who, when they went to college or got a job, decided to rehome their bird). Please be very careful and, if you can, volunteer at a rescue where they have macaws and you can get pointers because having finches in the past does not give you any insight or experience for keeping a macaw.

[Lori]

Wow, I have been spending quite a bit of time reading allll the information on this forum,and wow. I have mentioned before that I have had my 'Too' for 30 years and I am realizing that her diet is not really very good. So I was delighted to read Paj recommendations of TOPS I never heard of them before, but I just went and checked out there ingredients and yep I'm going to change her diet over to these and try and work in more fresh stuff. Thanks. I didn't realize Zupreem wasn't a good pellet

[Pajarita]

I also have a LSC2 and he is one of the best eaters I've had even though I've only had him for a couple of years and had never eaten anything but apple before so, yes, please, give him lots of produce (they adore leafy greens! my Freddie goes crazy with the crunchier heart of the romaine lettuce but he eats all kinds).

[Anonskier]

Sooo I need help for sure. I've started changing his diet by introducing more produce, but it'll take longer for the new TOPS pellets to arrive. He really doesn't like greens much, so far I've offered kale and spinach, both of which hardly arouse any interest.

One thing of concern: he lost an large tail feather when I wasn't home one day. So far the only non down feather he's dropped. It's possible that it's because he hasn't had a bath cuz he seems kinda uncomfortable at times, but he abhors spray bottles (even when used gently) and I haven't had a chance to expose him to more water.

Should I start doing target training? He's very very stingy about allowing touch or stepping up, and often lunges or bites, but he never bites hard. It's always a moderate squawk and some pinching. Because of this, it's hard to interact so I think I might have to start from step one.

Concerning his future, I'm fairly confident that I will not have to rehome him. I pretty much know where I am going to attend college and in addition, The Gabriel Foundation is relatively close to home so I could always board him there if the need arises. At worst he would spend a year at home or at the sanctuary.

Thanks! Any advice is appreciated.

[Lori]

I also have a LSC2 and he is one of the best eaters I've had even though I've only had him for a couple of years and had never eaten anything but apple before so, yes, please, give him lots of produce (they adore leafy greens! my Freddie goes crazy with the crunchier heart of the romaine lettuce but he eats all kinds).

I WISH my LSC2 was a good eater she is not I have struggled with this forever. She will not touch greens and not big on fruit, sometimes I can get her to eat grapes, mostly she just sticks her tongue on it and that's it. She will eat peas carrot's some broccoli, pototos, beans, other things I just cant think of right now, she likes the Crazy corn cooked foods but is this normal she only eats like a teaspoon or 2 of anything. She has pellets 24/7. I just made a new gloop recipe that I read about here that Liz mentioned. 7 grains and I added peas carrots and white beans too. AM I right is reading that I leave it in her bowl all day? then in the evening she can have a small amount of seed? She is or never has been a big eater, I always worry about it.
On another note we just went to the vets today, we only go ever 5 years or so. He said she looked fine no stress marks on her feathers, for some reason he was sup prized to see her feathers look so good?? I don't know why? Now her belly and legs she chews/picks? something I have been dealing with for years, we make progress and fall back. He looked in her mouth, or the roof of her mouth and all the 'silla" I may be saying that wrong look perfect...If any one can tell me more about this I would be interesting in knowing
He showed me the new collars that they put on birds now it was really interesting its a clear hard plastic ball, I had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Scooter is in no way near having to use something like this, but like I said it was very interesting. He thinks Scooter is just bored....I go out of my way to keep her in toys and she has different cages or stands in every room in our home, she is part of my family so she is NOT ignored. But we will be traveling in our RV soon and she loves that so we may just break the habit after all.
If any one has any hints on encouraging new food for her please let me hear it, I will put all advice into practice

[liz]

I put the gloop and veggies in at 10 am and take them out at 6 pm to give them seed. Remove the left over seed when they go to sleep.

Anon, you loose a little trust when you bring them home. They have to adjust not only to the new home but leaving the old home that they knew.

Give him as much good food, freedom and respect that you can.

[Wolf]

Anonskier;

If you think that you might have to board your new bird for up to a year, whether it is at your folks home or at a sanctuary you have jumped the gun on getting him. This is not a good thing to do to a bird and especially one that shows signs of plucking as it is extremely stressful for them. When you leave them for much longer they go into mourning and depression because they think that you are dead, some of these birds do not recover from this type of shock. This is something that you want to be very careful about doing and is to be avoided if it is at all possible.
The primary reason that any parrot does not eat a food is because they do not recognize it as food. Unless the bird is just being weaned it shows a downfall of the person who is responsible for the bird to teach the bird all it needs to know about food, like its parents would have done. Very often if this person is the birds new owner then this occurs because no one ever took the time to explain to that owner what their role in the young birds life would be along with the responsibilities that come with it. A sad state of affairs, to be sure, but also a very common one.
The best time to introduce a new food to a parrot is first thing in the morning just before it gets its breakfast as this is the time that the bird is at its hungriest point. and the best way to get them to eat the food is to prepare some for yourself and some for them and sit down with the bird and start munching on the new food making sure to emphasize how good the food tastes until the bird is not only interested in the food but is trying to steal some of it and then give them a piece to try. For many of us this is a long ongoing process that may last for years as there are a lot of different foods for you and your bird to sample and enjoy together.

Lori;

I do not wish to sound rude but it appears to me that it is time to begin your own topic if this conversation is to go further so as to avoid any confusion in answering two of you with similar issues. We went through this once before and it got really confusing to answer so many similar questions to different bird and similar issues. Thank you for your cooperation.

[Pajarita]

Sooo I need help for sure. I've started changing his diet by introducing more produce, but it'll take longer for the new TOPS pellets to arrive. He really doesn't like greens much, so far I've offered kale and spinach, both of which hardly arouse any interest.

One thing of concern: he lost an large tail feather when I wasn't home one day. So far the only non down feather he's dropped. It's possible that it's because he hasn't had a bath cuz he seems kinda uncomfortable at times, but he abhors spray bottles (even when used gently) and I haven't had a chance to expose him to more water.

Should I start doing target training? He's very very stingy about allowing touch or stepping up, and often lunges or bites, but he never bites hard. It's always a moderate squawk and some pinching. Because of this, it's hard to interact so I think I might have to start from step one.

Concerning his future, I'm fairly confident that I will not have to rehome him. I pretty much know where I am going to attend college and in addition, The Gabriel Foundation is relatively close to home so I could always board him there if the need arises. At worst he would spend a year at home or at the sanctuary.

Thanks! Any advice is appreciated.

My dear, please don't take this the wrong way because I am a grandmother and I talk to everybody as if they were my grandchildren but you simply cannot think of boarding him for a year as a solution. It would be terribly cruel to the poor bird! It takes the large species months and months and months to get over the loss of a loved one and, by the time he is beginning to feel better, you would be wrenching him from what he is now used to just to be stressed out all over again! Besides, what if he bonds with another bird? What would you do then? I really don't think you thought this through very carefully...

As to diet, you need to experiment with produce in terms of how to present it (diced, julienned, chopped, chunked, stuck between the bars, hanging from the top of the cage, in a bowl, on a paper plate at the bottom of the cage, etc). You also need to serve it when they are hungry (you would take away the high protein food after he goes to sleep in the evening) and macaws are late risers so plan on serving it about 1.5 hours after sunrise (which would be around 7:30 am this time of the year) and eating it with him (parrots learn what to eat from their parents so now this is your role). I always say that raw green beans are definitely NOT my cup of tea for breakfast but fruits, carrots, grape/cherry tomatoes, celery, etc are not that bad so start with something you like and take if from there.

Don't worry about the baths. Plenty of time to experiment with different approaches when he is comfortable in his new home and has bonded with you.