Joolesgreyuk

It's a long story but I am now the proud owner of a 3 year old hahns macaw. Previously named Harvey (which my son has decided to change to Argyle lol) and suspected male. Having arrived about 24 hrs ago I have allowed him this long to get used to his surroundings before inviting him out of his cage. He has come out but has remained sat on the cage door and is still there now about 90 mins later lol! I have been told by the previous owner that he is very tame, loves kisses, cuddles, head scratches etc. but so far shows no interest in being friendly towards me and has lunged at me a few times so I decided to not push it and wait 'till he's ready to be friends. He is a great little talker and has already been saying "hello" and something "boy" amongst other things I can't quite make out atm. Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated. Oh btw, some more pics of Beau - who appears quite nervous of his new friend lol! ...with hubby and... ...doing what he does best, destroying my cushions ;-)

"he'll have wonderful hours playing about with my credit card bills!! At least someone will get some joy from it!!" {Feel-good-0002006E} Priceless...

Pat, I can see he looks bigger than in his first pictures already. You are doing so well with him. He is a beautiful bird. My advice (not that you need it) would be to carry on with what you are doing with him because it sure works.

LOL! Beau was like that with my helium-fulled birthday baloons, luckily for him they have gone down now. I can relate to the "leaning to the side" bit lol!

Hi DMarieI agree with everyone else, one is enough to begin with but be warned parrots are addictive and it won't be long before you are seriously thinking of adding to your flock

Jill, your pictures are amazing, you must either have a really good camera or you're a bit of a pro at this photography game :silly: and Harvey is such a darling. Love it!

I love the updates on Darius Pat, keep them coming!

Oh Jen, I'm also looking to complete my flock in April next year - with a little Hahn's Macaw - I can hardly wait so I know you must be excited. I wish my house was big enough to accomodate a large Macaw, they are amazing birds. As for the Hyacinth, wow don't start me on those, they are magnificent!

Having just logged on here this morning I have to say I'm amazed that this topic is still going but having said that wing-clipping is one of those subjects that seems to really hit a nerve with grey owners. I think Jill in particular feels very stongly about this subject but if you are going to post about this subject for all to see then you have to be prepared for people's opinions. In hindsight maybe you ought to have pmd each other regarding this matter. Moobu, why are you quoting me again this morning when I thought we'd made our peace yesterday - I've already said "maybe I shouldn't have used the word butcher". Leia, It seems you have thought this through very carefully, that was all I was concerned about. You seem like an excellent parrent and you shouldn't reproach yourself as you are clearly doing the best for your grey as you see it. I think this thread has run it's course and I don't think Jill is gonna change her mind any time soon so maybe we should all agree to disagree lol!

Be patient Spock, it will come and then your slaves will wish you to shut up. Energise...

Moobu, I believe it is lactose free ice cream some members feed their birds. Some of the stuff some members do on here leaves me puzzled too and I wouldn't try it myself - such as bathing their birds in iced water brrrrr. As for the ice cream I'd be worried about giving them something that cold but hey ho if it works and the bird likes it...

It wasn't my intention to judge you Leia but I thought an option wasn't being put to you. It is a personal decision whether or not to clip your bird, I simply ask that you think about it before doing so.

I'm angry now!!!!!!!!:evil: :evil: :evil:

Moobu wrote: I leave most of my kiddos unclipped. You also have to look at the flip side of the coin. Not clipping a bird's wings that is inexperienced in flight leaves all sorts of doors open for disaster. It is uncommon but not unheard of to have birds fly into windows with enough force to break their necks. Unclipped birds have to worry about ceiling fans. Clipped birds will never fly away in some freak accident where an open window is some how made available. I believe that a small amount of training is in order to help eliminate some of the hazards confined houses have to offer to fully flighted birds. 450 grams moving at 25 mph is going to severely damage pretty much anything it hits in your house including itself. The problems you indicate can all be overcome. Switch ceiling fans off before letting your bird out of his cage - simple! Use beaded curtains or large stickers on large glass windows and doors or put blinds up. Your bird will soon get to know the hazards in the house and he will become a more competant flyer and avoid them - mine has! Don't adapt your bird to fit in with your house, adapt your house to your birds needs. If you are not prepared to do this, get another pet! Cutting a birds wings does not prevent a bird from escaping or catching a gust of wind and getting away (as members on here will testify) and should this happen he will be less likely to survive in the wild than a flighted bird. All I'm saying is think very carefully before clipping, it isn't the easy option some people think it is!

Sheila & Caroline, I'm glad you both chipped in with what I was going to say...I'd also like to add why would you want to butcher your baby? Think long and hard before doing this and the potential psycological, as well as pysical problems following this procedure. You could be opening a can-of-worms - so to speak.

Hi Marshal and welcome to the forum. Your baby sure is cute. It seems you have a good diet going for babybeaky (love the beaky name ;-)) already but keep it as varied as possible. Please don't allow her to put her beak into your mouth as they can pick up all types of bacteria from a human's mouth. Give her as much out-of-cage time as your lifestyle allows. You will find all the information you need right here on this forum. I think you will like it on here as the natives are friendly :laugh: Keep us updated on beaky won't you?

Great pictures, when they are tiny their little wings look like arms lol!

I'm not aware of there being any problems with powder coated cages, I just think the stainless steel ones are the desired ones for longevity. Can someone correct me if I'm wrong?

Oh wow, you must be sooo excited! Sephora sounds a great name. Be sure to keep us informed on what name you decide on and keep us posted on your progress with her.

Some excellent replies on here regarding this problem. Beau is never allowed upstairs (as it would be if we had a dog) and there is no need for him to do so, downstairs is open-plan and a reasonably-sized area and has everything he could want or need to hand. Also by restricting the area means that Beau knows the layout well and flying mishaps are kept to a minimum also (important) there are less windows to worry about keeping closed or to fly into. I would imagine a bird allowed to fly all over the house can het himself into all sorts of dangerous situation whilst you are out of sight. We also place Beau in his cage if he bites hard although not for little nips which aren't really agressive.

Congrats on your new baby, regards Ecko, it's funny how they become wary as they get older. Beau has become more suspicious of new toys and anything new as he has become older. I also notice Ecko has a mark on his beak similar to Beau's. Is this damage through play or is it just a normal occurance? Great photos!

Karma is a great idea and gives us peasants a little bit of power normally reserved only for the mods (just kidding guys ) I always give positive karma to those who answer a post of my own with what I consider to be very good/helpful advice or if someone goes out of their way to be friendly, I also give it to good posts in general. I have never given negative Karma and I think I would only do so in extreme cases.

Oh Pat, he was seriously neglected wasn't he. Poor thing and poor you, another 30 days but boy will it be worth it in the end.

WHEN HE'S TOLD TO LOL! No seriously, Beau is a quiet bird at the best of times and mornings are no different, I never hear him until I uncover his cage which is around 7.10 weekdays and around 8(ish) weekends, he then has a little twitter to himself/me until he is fed shortly after.

WHEN HE'S TOLD TO LOL! No seriously, Beau is a quiet bird at the best of times and mornings are no different, I never hear him until I uncover his cage which is around 7.10 weekdays and around 8(ish) weekends, he then has a little twitter to himself/me until he is fed shortly after.