Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Quick story (I hope), we adopted a 11 month old Blue and Gold macaw with an identity crisis... he thinks he is a umbrella too or some other overly needy species. With my wife and my three (12 and up) kids he is great, they can handle him/pet him and he is fine playing on his stand or in his cage while they are in the room, me on the other hand if I am in the room he screams or whines or acts like a little fledgling until I pick him up and after that he is glued to me with his head on shoulder body to my chest and wont step off me without a fit and a half. Dont' get me wrong I am flattered to be loved but if I am in the living room for 12 hours its a little annoying. He has only been home a few weeks and we had him on layaway for a month before that and we had visited him everyday (me more so than the rest of the family). So whats the best way to set boundries with this guy without pushing him away as I don't want him to feel neglected or not want me in the long run. Don't take me wrong I like/plan on spending a couple hours with him snuggling or playing but I just would like to be able to put him down for a bit and be in the same room without all the drama. Ps. is not my first bird, I grew up with two green wings and a bunch of conures and the wife and I had a U2 of our own for 10 years before I had to get rid of her due to severe allergies to the too dust.
Here is a quick pic of us.

The main thing will be showing your macaw it can be fun to be by himself. Reward him and praise him greatly when you do get him "pried off". Work with small time steps at first. Immediately when you take him off of you onto his stand, etc praise him, for the first couple times only leave him down for a few seconds then pick him up and praise him. Gradually getting a bit longer each time. Once he is sure you will always come back he will begin to accept longer periods of time away from you. Try not to award screaming (I know can be really hard) but do reward him stepping onto his stand or cage. Find small toys that will give him immediate reward such as a vine ball with a nut inside or a whiffle ball stuffed with paper. Something that will get his immediate interest and can be destroyed in a short time, possibly something with a treat included like a nut or a couple pumpkin or sunflower seeds etc. This way he can have basically immediate gratification for not being attached to you. He will see he gets something new and ready to destroy (or a treat if that works better for him) when he is off of you and then can always come back for more attention. Be patient. He is of course still very young and will need to test his boundaries and see what he can get by with and what he is allowed to do. Helping him do this in a patient way with lots of rewards will show the most results. Since he is so young it may take a while to figure out whether just praise, praise and treat or praise and toy works best on him but just keep trying. Work in small steps and you will see the results.

Let me know how it goes!

Pretty much been doing all that so will just keep it up. Like I said plan on spending alot of time with him just don't want to have to hold him every second I am around if you get what I mean. We should of expected this with one of us as we were told by the bird store owner that he was clingy and needy with the one employee that he loved (we never saw it for ourselves) and everyone else he was your normal well rounded blue and gold. Glad he decided I was the replacement to the one he loved but it's not as easy or as great as you would think especially when you can't accomplish anything else lol.

Moise does that too sometimes.he just cuddle and even falls asleep in my arms and would attack anyone coming close.