Getting ready for the newest member of the family.

similost

similost

Rockin and Rollin....
My wife and I are pretty excited. We're getting ready to add a new member to our family this coming Friday.

We went yesterday to meet Cato (or Kato?) Need to find out how it's spelled.

Thanks to an unnamed member here, (unless he wants to out himself) we will be welcoming a beautiful Blue and Gold Macaw into our home and family.

This person does animal rescue, and has had Cato for a number of years, and he's now ready for a new family. Thankfully that will be us. He really seemed to take a shinig to my wife, but seems a little unsure of me, and even left a few marks in a finger to let me know he rules his roost. That's OK though, he'll have a fantastic new roosting place where he can see us and interact with us daily.

At first my wife was pretty unsure, even though we have talked about, and went to look at macaws over the years, but we weren't quite sure our busy lifestyle was ready for a large bird. Over the last few years we've gotten to be pretty much home bodies, so a macaw would fit in well with our time now. We've pretty much gotten our fast years behind us, so now we're ready to settle down with a fine feathered friend.

After our visit yesterday with Cato, my wife is pretty excited. We needed to do some errands today, and my wife said first place we need to go is the pet store. She wanted to pick out a new toy to welcome him into the home with. :)

We also stopped in home depot to get some dowling and wood to make him a new play perch so he won't have to spend his time in the cage while we're home. I will start getting it built tomorrow so it's ready to go for Friday when we get him home. It will take me a few hours to get his cage all ready to go, so he needs somewhere to hang out until then.

SO, as soon as we get him home, I'll get some pictures of our new "kid" to share with you. We're so excited... I've had quite a few birds over the years. Mostly Conures, and a few Cockateils, but I'm sure living with a bird this large will present new challanges I've never had with birds. It will be a super big learning experiance for my wife, but she already bought a magazine today filled with a lot of great tips for bringing home and living with a large parrot. I'm sure she's going to really enjoy a new friend.

:thmbsp:
 
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Ok... just figured there might be a few other people with birds in their families around here.. I only know of one other..
 
Congratulations!


I assume Cato is a male bird? They always seem to bond with the opposite sex member in the house. I know our bird Gris Gris is closer to me than Laura. Gris Gris will let me pick her up, pet her do tricks...etc. where as she is a lot more skittish around Laura.

Looking forward to the photos.
 
It's thought he's a male, but not for positive.. but hasn't ever laid eggs.. .

He seems to be such a good bird.. Was playful, was dancing while we were there, even though he wouldn't come out of his cage since we were there. He also talks some, not sure how much though.. He also really likes showers a lot.

I'm pretty excited... All the birds I've had in the past were so much fun to spend time with, and they keep you more entertained than you can seem to keep them. I know Marcia will enjoy him a lot. With as much as she likes watching the cat play, I'm sure the bird will really grab her attention. I can see her trying to teach it new tricks. I don't think she knows how much fun they can be, but I could tell she liked him, especially since the first thing she wanted to do was go pick out a toy for him.

I'm just hoping with how loud they can be that doesn't turn her off to him. She did hear him squak kinda loud one time, but I don't think she understands that was only about half what they can do sound level wise..
 
We are lucky with our Grey. She can make noise but it is never that bad....It can be annoying while you are on the phone though. She starts having a conversation in the background and people really wonder what the heck is going on.

You guys are in for some fun. :D We are trying to teach Gris Gris "Jingle Bells" for Christmas. We just started this weekend so we will see how quickly she can pick it up.
 
I figure it's going to take a while to get Cato adjusted to a new home. He'll be in a new place, with new people, a new cage, and not near the other Macaw he was next to. I imagine if we can keep him close to us so he can watch us, and give him treats until he trusts us, then we'll have a really great bird. He seems to really like interaction with people he knows, but seems skittish of new people, although inquistive about them, so hopefully it won't be too long of a process for him to accept and trust us.

I had a Conure that evidently had been abused, or hit or something, but it took a around year to get him to be friendly and trusting of me, and new people he would shy away from, but after a couple years, just about anyone could handle him. They are creatures of their own mind and sometimes would rather train you then you train them.
 
similost said:
I figure it's going to take a while to get Cato adjusted to a new home. He'll be in a new place, with new people, a new cage, and not near the other Macaw he was next to. I imagine if we can keep him close to us so he can watch us, and give him treats until he trusts us, then we'll have a really great bird. He seems to really like interaction with people he knows, but seems skittish of new people, although inquistive about them, so hopefully it won't be too long of a process for him to accept and trust us.
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They all are afraid of people they do not know. Make him comfortable and safe and he will open up for sure.
 
similost said:
Ok... just figured there might be a few other people with birds in their families around here.. I only know of one other..
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We have one. A nice 26 pounder in the 'fridge that will be the center of attention Christmas day about 1:00 PM.:thmbsp:
 
LOL.. funny... We got ham for this year...

I'm sure Cato will be the center of attention too Saturday since we'll be trying to get him acclimated over the weekend before we leave him alone for the first day on Monday...

Just kinda surprised. With all the other cat, dog and other pet lovers we have around here, I would have figured there'd be some parrot owners too. I knew Spartan has a super cool bird, but never heard of anyone else mention having one..

BTW David.. Marcia still laughts about "Are you OK Red?" :D
 
Got any pictures of him?

I had a little blue parakeet about a dozen years ago, Oscar. It was pretty funny to watch that little bird fly around the house. I'm sure his bite wouldn't leave the kind of mark that Cato could. :D
 
No. Didn't think to take a camera with me. We juet went to get aquainted, and see how he liked us too..

I'll get some pictures after we get him home and good and comfy...

Yeah, they leave a hell of a mark when they bite.
 
Congratulations!

If fed properly that bird will probably outlive both of you......I used to have an African grey Parrot, my ex kept it after we divorced.......I did my homework regarding parrots and the way they behave....I will suggest you get yourself a good book about parrot behaviour like "My Parrot My Friend" so that you can learn how to handle them; and there is alot to learn.....you are not dealing with a dog here...Parrots are VERY intelligent and they do not see you as their masters, like dogs do....

Parrots are divided in two groups; bonding and non-bonding; this is very important......Aras or Macaus belong to the bonding group and that means they find a mate for life, like some humans do......So seems like he or she is bonding to your wife....That means it will see you as his conpetition and it might show agression towards you.....It is important that you find out the sex, sometimes it is so hard to tell with some breeds that only a DNA test will do.......In some species the female can be very agressive during mating season, and in others the male can be agressive....

The most important thing.....Never ever try to kiss him; you my end up with a nasty scar in your face if you are lucky.......This is an adult bird, so you do not know what you might get.

There is a lot that I learned and I still feel I do not know enough......It has been more than ten years since I saw my african grey and I still miss that bird so much......He could say my name using seven different voices......It was just amazing...They also make the best alarms in case of a break in or fire.....

One more important thing.......Keep him away from your bedroom......He will learn all the sounds and later repeat them in front of guests.

Ok I hope you get the idea of what you are getting into........
 
Congrats James. Look forward to meeting your new bird. Funny comment about the bedroom thing. Guess I never thought of that. Heh heh.
 
A burglar breaks into a house while the occupants are gone. As he is feeling his way around the living room, he hears a voice say, "Jesus is watching you." He stops, listens, then continues. "Jesus is watching YOU", says the voice again. He fumbles for his flashlight, turns it on, and spots a parrot in it's cage in the corner. "Jesus is watching you, and He's coming!" the bird says. "Oh, really?" asks the burglar. "And just who the hell are you?" "Moses", answers the parrot. The burglar laughs, then asks, "And who the hell would name a parrot Moses?"

The parrot replies, "The same folks that would name their rottweiler 'Jesus' ".
 
LOL.. that's funny.

As far as having a parrot, granted, it is the largest bird I've ever had, but I have had a a lot of friends with parrots, and known people that raised parrots. I do know what I'm getting into, and still question my sanity about it. Not something I'm taking lightly, and have talked with my wife over the last 7 years about off and on. She's the one that doesn't know what she's really getting into, but she knows I wouldn't get her into soemthing we couldn't both handle.

I will be the person that will be doing most of the handling at least at first. I'll also be the one that will be taking care of the cage, and food and feeding and such.

I've had several Conures over the years, and while the are not a large parrot, they are still very similar in the ways they interact and react with people. All my birds over the years ended up being very people friendly, and got most of my attention when I was home.

I was very used to working with birds and getting them to trust people, and teaching them tricks, or at least behaviors that were approved of. Granted, it's been quite a few years though, but I'm sure I'll still be learning daily with this bird. Thankfully too I'll have the person I am adopting it from to talk with when ever I need info or help.

I've been doing all kinds of reading about Macaws, their dispositions, their habits, likes and dislikes, and anything else I can find. I'm sure we'll be OK with Cato and I'm pretty sure if he gives us a little bit of time he'll be more than a happy bird living with us..
 
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Ha, my sister has an African Grey, and he's a trip. When I first met him, she told me not to approach him, or try petting him, or anything like that, but just give him time to get used to my being there. So I was "ignoring" him, and after about 15 minutes, he must have decided that either I was safe, or looked like a big nut, because he flew over & landed on my shoulder, then started "grooming" me. By grooming, I mean he started looking through my hair for bugs, LOL. :D At least that's what my sister said he was doing, & she's pretty good with animals, so I believed her. :scratch2: She said most people have to vist a few times before he even starts to accept them, & I should feel honored.
 
The amazing thing about the big parrots is that they act so much like people sometimes.......
My african grey would only allow me to pet him; my ex could handle him but not touch him and he would take his anger on her and bite her every now and then; then again we adopted him and he was already a young adult.....
I spend many years learning about their behaviour, by observing mine and others, talking to breeders and people who had parrots, specially african greys.
It has been about ten years and my ex recently told me that my bird still says my name.....I wonder how that sits with the new man......
Simi get yourself a perch for the shower......They love to take showers with you! If yours has never taken one you should introduce him to it. Mine would throw a tantum if I took a shower without him. They just love to sit there and get wet. I mean not directly under the shower but behind you so that they get the water bouncing off you.

Some day I want to have one again, but only when I can give it the right environment....................
One more caution.......Children......A big parrot can bite a child's finger off with one bite. Parrots also see children as part of the family but below in the pecking order, so warn any kids accordingly.

Big macaus have been also known to bite a paw off cats that tried to get into their cages by putting their paws pass the bars.
 
LOL.. yeah, sounds like maybe your bird would rather be with you than you ex... Sorry to hear how much you miss it... I had a Cockateil that died that I still miss at times. That was by far the coolest bird I ever had. He was a really big talker too, and went everywhere with me... Out side he would fly around, and always come back as soon as he got tired or got his fill... People couldn't believe it. I couldn't either, but he sure loved me.

No kids to worry about, but we do have a cat, but I don' think she will be a problem at all.. She's a little older and fatter so she's pretty mellow, and doesn't really get herself into positions she is unsure of. I plan to slowly introduce the cat and bird and let them take it at their pace. She does good with strange dogs and cats that come to the door to visit. so I don't think I'll have any problems.

Cato does like showers I'm told, so I do plan to pick up one of those concrete perches to mount on this shower pole I have to hold the shampoo and all.. It's a big shower, so he'll have plenty of room to flap around and enjoy a good tropical rain.....

Getting closer.. 3 more wakeups... :banana:
 
I do think there are a few members with Parrots. When you get Cato you should start a new thread with "Parrot" in the title. You will get a lot more folks to weigh in.

We also have a perch in the shower at the opposite the shower head and yes our bird really enjoys getting wet. I usually take her under the water directly for a few seconds so she can get really soaked. It is amazing the amount of dust birds can create and the shower helps keep this down.

BTW I don't know if you have looked into what you are going to feed your new bird but we have Gris Gris on a diet of Roudybush http://www.roudybush.com/ which is supposed to be very good for them. That and fresh fruits and veggies. If you want your bird to live a long life it is important to feed them well. :thmbsp:
 
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