| Cuddly Macaw - CLICK HERE for the Pet Manual Forum Home Page |
| Andrea Bostrom |
I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his back.
He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this change
when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one month
old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
amusing.
Andrea
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| Alex Clayton |
"Andrea Bostrom" <lexlaw007@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030924071253.02944.00000098@mb-m26.aol.com...
> I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
> Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his
back.
> He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this
change
> when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one
month
> old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
> amusing.
>
>
> Andrea
>
It's hard to say 100%, but from what I have seen over the years too much is
made of this "hormonal" thing. The most common time for larger birds to be
sold is at about two years of age. They get quite active, and if not raised
right can become screamers. Many times people do not know what they are
doing, and or how to handle the bird, so up for sale they go. Now the way I
understand it they reach sexual maturity at about 6 years, and I do not see
a bunch of 5-7 year old Macaws for sale.
--
"Things get better with age. I'm approaching magnificent!"
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| Louis Boyd |
Alex Clayton wrote:
> "Andrea Bostrom" <lexlaw007@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20030924071253.02944.00000098@mb-m26.aol.com...
>
>> I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
>>Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his
>
> back.
>
>>He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this
>
> change
>
>>when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one
>
> month
>
>>old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
>>amusing.
>>
>
>
> It's hard to say 100%, but from what I have seen over the years too much is
> made of this "hormonal" thing. The most common time for larger birds to be
> sold is at about two years of age. They get quite active, and if not raised
> right can become screamers. Many times people do not know what they are
> doing, and or how to handle the bird, so up for sale they go. Now the way I
> understand it they reach sexual maturity at about 6 years, and I do not see
> a bunch of 5-7 year old Macaws for sale.
I'd say the "terrible two's" phenomina is less the behavior of the bird
and more the mentality of many people who buy large birds just because
they're "impressive. It takes about two years for the novelty to wear
off and reality to set in. I have three macaws and I really haven't
seen their personalities or activity level change much with age. My
scarlet has become more gentle but I think thats because I've learned
how to get get along with her more than her changing. She was a pet
store bird. My two B&G's have always been "cuddly" as I hand raised
them. THe scarlet is nearly 10 years old now and the B&G's are 5 and 6.
--
Lou Boyd
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| Alex Clayton |
"Louis Boyd" <boyd@apt0.sao.arizona.edu> wrote in message
news:bksg0r$82o$1@oasis.ccit.arizona.edu...
> Alex Clayton wrote:
> I'd say the "terrible two's" phenomina is less the behavior of the bird
> and more the mentality of many people who buy large birds just because
> they're "impressive. It takes about two years for the novelty to wear
> off and reality to set in. I have three macaws and I really haven't
> seen their personalities or activity level change much with age. My
> scarlet has become more gentle but I think thats because I've learned
> how to get get along with her more than her changing. She was a pet
> store bird. My two B&G's have always been "cuddly" as I hand raised
> them. THe scarlet is nearly 10 years old now and the B&G's are 5 and 6.
>
> --
> Lou Boyd
>
Your right about the "novelty", a lot of people buy many different pets
because on a whim it seems "fun". The problem with birds, especially the
larger ones is unlike many pets, if you get tired of them and start to
ignore them you soon have big trouble.I see a lot of "two year old" birds
for sale here.
As to them getting older, did your Macaws "rough house" like puppies when
they were young? Did they out grow it? Both of ours did the rough playing
thing, don't know if the current one will out grow it. At times I kind of
hope he will when he wears me down, but then I know if he does I will
certainly miss it. I know over the years the older Macaws I have been around
did not do this, but I was not there when they were younger. I always kind
of assumed this would be something that would slow down later like so many
other animals???
--
"Things get better with age. I'm approaching magnificent!"
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| Byron Kindig |
I don't have much experience, but my Green Wing is very cuddly. He lays down
in my arms like a baby and scratches his head with one of his feet at the
same time. I only have the one bird, and he is a year and a half. I got him
at 8 weeks and hand fed him until he was 10.5 months old. He likes to play
with my fingers, and if he bites too hard and I flinch, he says, "I'm
sorry." I am amazed at how much he talks.
Enjoy your baby!
Byron
"Andrea Bostrom" <lexlaw007@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030924071253.02944.00000098@mb-m26.aol.com...
> I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
> Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his
back.
> He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this
change
> when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one
month
> old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
> amusing.
>
>
> Andrea
>
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| Robert Schuh |
Andrea Bostrom wrote:
> I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
> Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his back.
> He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this change
> when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one month
> old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
> amusing.
>
>
> Andrea
>
My 17 year old Miligold Hybrid is very loving. Each individual is a
different as you and I are. Military's in general are a bit more nippy
than some other Macaws, but as you can see, yours is a sweety. The
hybrids tend to be larger, talk more and more colorful than their
parents. My Albert is larger than any Blue and Gold I have seen and
Military's are smaller in general.
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| Robert Schuh |
Alex Clayton wrote:
> "Andrea Bostrom" <lexlaw007@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20030924071253.02944.00000098@mb-m26.aol.com...
>
>> I was under the impression that Macaws weren't cuddly but my
>>Military "Kalik" loves to be cuddled and scratched and to be held on his
>
> back.
>
>>He is completely hilarious and loves to be held upside down. Will this
>
> change
>
>>when he become "hormonal" ? He is my first Macaw and is one year and one
>
> month
>
>>old today. He already calls my husband and myself by our names, which is
>>amusing.
>>
>>
>>Andrea
>>
>
>
> It's hard to say 100%, but from what I have seen over the years too much is
> made of this "hormonal" thing. The most common time for larger birds to be
> sold is at about two years of age.
This is not true at all. Most people who buy Macaws want babies and buy
babies.
They get quite active, and if not raised
> right can become screamers. Many times people do not know what they are
> doing, and or how to handle the bird, so up for sale they go.
This is true, but it is not really age related.
Now the way I
> understand it they reach sexual maturity at about 6 years, and I do not see
> a bunch of 5-7 year old Macaws for sale.
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| Alex Clayton |
..
"Robert Schuh" <rob@robschuh.com> wrote in message
news:4svfb.5302$hp5.5282@fed1read04...
> Alex Clayton wrote:
>
> > It's hard to say 100%, but from what I have seen over the years too much
is
> > made of this "hormonal" thing. The most common time for larger birds to
be
> > sold is at about two years of age.
> This is not true at all. Most people who buy Macaws want babies and buy
> babies.
I guess you misunderstood what I'm saying. When I watch the adds here I see
a LOT of "two year old............. Parrot.........." It's very common. I
have heard from many people that this is not only in the PNW this happens.
People who don't know / understand what they are in for buy a young bird,
normally at a pet store where they can put it on "plastic", then after a
while the bird looses it's "new", and if not raised right a Macaw can soon
become a real problem. Then of course "most" are not willing to take a loss
so they run adds trying to sell the two year old for what they paid for it
and the cage. That is where you are right the "Most people who buy Macaws
want babies and buy babies", yes they do and unfortunatly a hell of a lot of
them have no idea what they are in for then it's too late.
>
> They get quite active, and if not raised
> > right can become screamers. Many times people do not know what they are
> > doing, and or how to handle the bird, so up for sale they go.
>
> This is true, but it is not really age related.
>
I did not say anything about age here. I said they get quite active and if
people do not know how to handle it right, they often "encourage" this
behavior, often without understanding what they are doing. This is why I
have always cautioned "new bird" people to be extremely careful about buying
a bird from a previous owner. If you are new to birds, and how they act, the
LAST thing you need is one that has already been made into a problem. This I
have witnessed from people I knew many times over the years. Then you can
have a bird that gets bounced from one home to another. Often very sad.
--
"Things get better with age. I'm approaching magnificent!"
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| Andrea Bostrom |
>"Most people who buy Macaws
>want babies and buy babies", yes they do and unfortunatly a hell of a lot of
>them have no idea what they are in for then it's too late.
I agree. They're not a creature to be purchased for novelty or home decor ---
they're a lifetime commitment. We make sure our Military is out of his cage
(on top of it) most of the day and at night when we watch television we take
him in the TV room for "family time". They're intelligent and sensitive and
need lots of attention and stimulation.
Andrea
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| Alex Clayton |
"Andrea Bostrom" <lexlaw007@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031004210514.16270.00000290@mb-m19.aol.com...
> >"Most people who buy Macaws
> >want babies and buy babies", yes they do and unfortunatly a hell of a lot
of
> >them have no idea what they are in for then it's too late.
>
> I agree. They're not a creature to be purchased for novelty or home
decor ---
> they're a lifetime commitment. We make sure our Military is out of his
cage
> (on top of it) most of the day and at night when we watch television we
take
> him in the TV room for "family time". They're intelligent and sensitive
and
> need lots of attention and stimulation.
> Andrea
>
That sounds familiar <G> We have a HUGE Kings for our Macaw, but almost
always if we are home he is left out. When we got him he had been trained to
use a water bottle. We had to give up on them because after a couple days he
would climb around to the side of the cage where is was, remove it and toss
it on the floor. LOL.
One of his favorite toys is a large box on top of his cage he can go into.
I keep a bunch of toys in it, he takes them out and throws them on the
ground for us to pick up. A lot of times he will pay "catch" with you.
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