CAG

She's 10 weeks and 3 days today. Things are going well. She's been exploring her cage, or at least the bottom of it! After lining it with towels I've put the perches, food/water bowls, toys and stuff only a few inches from the bottom so she doesn't fall; she's still a bit clumsy but she's learning. Also have a small cardboard box in there for her to have a little "house" to feel safe and sleep in. I'll be abundance weaning her and I suspect she'll start telling me, "Less formula Dad!" in the coming weeks. I've got some Harrison's pellets and Kaytee Fiesta food, she's been digging through those and figuring out there's a lot more to life than formula! Apparently she loves broccoli, carrots, bananas, and celery. The pineapple/banana juice I was drinking made her stop for a second, "Wait. This is definitely not water." She knows she has wings and boy does she use them! They don't do much good for her yet, though. Around 9pm she’ll start with the “wing ticks”, grumble a bit, and then a short time later…these ridiculous positions… I’ll get some pictures of her doing stuff besides sleeping next time.

Couple pics of her sleeping on the back of the couch after dinner last night. Figure I might as well get a few good ones before she gets old. After just a couple days she is eating like a horse; when she sees that food bowl and thermometer on the counter she makes those baby bird noises like crazy and it's...mouth OPEN! It's shocking how quickly she can devour food.

Home safe, she's doing great! Seems to be adjusting very well. She's eating pretty well right off the bat, I was expecting about ~40mL 3 times a day but she's been telling me she's done after about 20mL, so I've been feeding until she quits and then again after about 6-7 hours, 3 times a day. Crop has been fairly full after feeding, completely empty in the morning. Couple questions... Do they get enough water with the Kaytee Hand Feeding formula alone? I've given her warm water, she's not quite sure how to drink it from a bowl yet but she's taken some gulps and seems to be figuring it out. Just wasn't sure how much water they usually drink by themselves at 8 weeks. Around what age do you start introducing other foods? She fell asleep in my arms last night after she preened for a while, so I'd say she's adjusting nicely.

I'm going to pick him/her up this Sunday, just a wee 8 weeks old. Got a bunch of toys and some Kaytee Exact High Fat Hand Feeding food; not sure if I'll use it until I talk to the breeder about what they've been feeding [no name yet]. Picked up this large cage (black, though): And this gym from http://www.exoticwooddreams.com/: (click to enlarge image) And last but definitely not least...out with all my non-stick cookware and in with stainless steel stuff. SS is strange to cook with at first, not that I know what I'm doing behind a stove, but when I actually attempt "cooking" and get side-tracked with life at least I won't prematurely end my birds' life! Obviously I'll update this thread with pictures when [no name yet] is home. Sooo...here goes nothing!

I ended up ordering the "Ribbonwood Deluxe Rotating Flyer" from Exotic Wood Dreams. Great people to deal with. I had one of their large floor standing models for my Macaw and it was great. I'll post a high-res pic of the actual gym when it arrives. Still on the hunt for a cage, the "AE Large Corner Cage" might fit the bill.

Thank you for the opinion on the cage, you make a very good point. Although I will be with the bird most of the time and I never liked the thought of keeping a bird confined to a cage, safety is obviously a primary concern. I think I will buy a cage and use it for the occasions when it's absolutely necessary. Thanks! I know the birds are smart, and probably smarter and more complex than I realize yet. After the advice here I think I will get a cage, though it may see very little use it'll be there when I need it. Thanks for the links! I'll keep you updated.

I was stumped for a user name...tried something generic...and was surprised it wasn't taken! Thanks for the link. I really like the idea of a hanging gym, specifically for the floor space savings and ease of cleanup under it. Then again, some of the floor standing models seem to have a bit more real estate for the bird to climb around on. I have a couple months to prep for its arrival so I'll keep researching...

Hey everyone, new guy here. I owned a B&G macaw for 14 years (raised from just 9 weeks old!) and loved it, amazing bird. Unfortunately I had to sell him several years ago, but he went to a great husband and wife who owned other parrots and animals on a large farm, so that was good for him. Anyway, I've wanted another parrot for a long time, it was between another macaw or a grey. Due to a variety of reasons I decided on a CAG. I just put down a deposit on one, been looking for a long time. It'll be around 8 weeks old when I bring it home. Pretty young but I hand-fed and weened my macaw with no issues so I'm confident this will go just as well. I'm on the hunt for a really nice gym, don't want a cage, never had one for my macaw and he was amazing, basically lived on me or his gigantic play gym. Any suggestions for manufacturers/builders of great gyms? Space is not an issue, the bigger and more elaborate the better I suppose.