How to best acclimate a mature macaw into your home?

Question

recently recieved a mature macaw into our home and there is a strong chance that he was either abused by his previous owner(s) or was neglected. he is very territorial and lunges at both my wife and i. we want to help him and besides patience what else can we do!

Answer 1

You could really have your hands full.  We do bird rescue and trying to rehab an adult macaw, especially if it has been mistreated, is very hard and next to impossible with some.  Keep him in the cage for at least a week until he gets aclimated in his new surroundings.  Feed him a good pelleted diet, and try to hand feed him some treats of fruits and veggies.  Once you let him out of his cage, it may be hard to get him back in, if you can not touch him, and by all means, never let him out when you are sleeping or not home. They can be extremely distructive.  Make sure he gets proper sleep every night...9 hours of undisturbed sleep in a darken room with his cage covered.  You can roll his cage into a spare room that does not have a tv.  Sleep deprivation can cause a lot of behavior problems.  It is going to take a long time to gain his trust.  Remember that the bite of a macaw can be extremely painful and have more than 1800 psi of pressure.  The larger the macaw, the more psi.  Love him and take your time with him.  Make sure he has toys to play with and take his frustrations out on.  Talk to him and try to make him part of the family.  Make sure he has a very large cage, and don't let him out until you know you can get him back in without causing him....and you...a stressful situation.  Please read my profile.

Answer 2

You could really have your hands full. We do have birds that bite and trying to rehab an adult macaw, especially if it has been mistreated, is very hard and next to impossible with some. Keep him in the cage for at least a week until he gets aclimated in his new surroundings. Feed him a good pelleted diet, and try to hand feed him some treats of fruits and veggies. Once you let him out of his cage, it may be hard to get him back in, if you can not touch him, and by all means, never let him out when you are sleeping or not home. They can be extremely distructive. Make sure he gets proper sleep every night...9 hours of undisturbed sleep in a darken room with his cage covered. You can roll his cage into a spare room that does not have a tv. Sleep deprivation can cause a lot of behavior problems. It is going to take a long time to gain his trust. Remember that the bite of a macaw can be extremely painful and have more than 1800 psi of pressure. The larger the macaw, the more psi. Love him and take your time with him. Make sure he has toys to play with and take his frustrations out on. Talk to him and try to make him part of the family. Make sure he has a very large cage, and don't let him out until you know you can get him back in without causing him....and you...a stressful situation.