Reptile & Amphibian Forums

2nd attempt...laptop touch pad got me....

Please note that I don't really know much about birds, and my roommate is fairly new at this too....thanks.

Ok, so here is the situation. My roomie has a young (about 1 year old) Scarlet Macaw, and of course they are going to make some noise. This occasional scream (or should I say scare) is no problem...he startles the bejesus out of us, and we all get over it. When he would belt out a few screams we would vacate the room that he is in and wait 5-10 minutes before going back in. NO ONE has come running to him when he is screaming, we always wait until he's been quiet for a little bit. He's always fed and watered properly, he's got a ton of toys in his cage that he literally shreds.

But for the last 2 days he has been screaming LOUDLY at 3 minute intervals, and quite frankly, its pushing us QUICKLY to our wits end.

It seems the only time he really quiets down is when you are holding him.

What's going on here? What can we do to fix it, as this is REALLY getting annoying now.

Thank you in advance for your input.
John

Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth;

1. Macaws are loud. No real getting around that. (You know they live for freakin' ever too right?).

2. Macaws require a great deal of stimulation. If they were a dog I would put them in the class of Border Collies. They need input from you, toys and puzzles and generally things to do. He might be bored and trying to entertain himself.

These are not easy birds, and they are definitely not easy first birds.

JMO YMMV
Paula

Changes in screaming behavior can mean many things. As stated above macaws are definitely loud and they will scream. They also need a great deal of attention and stimulation or they do get bored very easily.

Next a change in screaming is usually not from lack of stimulation unless they have started being ignored. Changes in screaming can be sickness or health issues and if this bird has not been vet checked it does need to be. Even if it is not sick or showing other signs of illness a checkup would be needed if it has not had one recently.

After the checkup if they find nothing wrong you can try adding more new foods to the diet. Adding food foraging toys which can help with new foods and also boredom. Changing out the toys in the cage may help or making or buying a playgym so the macaw can play supervised outside of the cage without always being held.

Good luck!

hey john!
i'm going to go look at a blue and gold sometime this week, so i'm going to be new to macaws [hopefully] too. but NOT new to smart, active and demanding birds. i have a very demanding little green quaker [he thinks he's a person...shhhhh!], and a black headed caique girl, that is more aptly described as a mix of a rodeo clown and a border collie. and both would have ADHD. i figure i'm ready for anything at this point.
my thinking would be that the bird is bored. i wonder if it thinks it's entertaining to watch you guys leave the room on it's command? =]
at our house we rotate toys in the bird's cages, about once a week, or at the worst every other week. something new alllll the time. new food , too. time out of the cage, time out of the house,---clip those wings and take the baby for rides, and walks.
we also leave a tv on a PBS channel during the day which is mostly kid's programming. i'm waiting for one of them to ask me if i would 'be their neighbor'.
birds are so crazy smart, and so much more like dogs than i think most people new to birds would realize, and we need to treat them more like that than just some pretty [and loud] thing in a cage.
maybe handle it more like a puppy and see if the extra interaction works.
but don't discount the medical attention advice either. birds can and will go downhill OVERNIGHT. maybe do a quick vet check just to be on the safe side?
good luck! now go snuggle that bird!!! =]