Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Several outbursts of territorial aggression have already been broke out from Kili against Truman. So I know that this problem exists and will need to be dealt with. Until Truman arrived, I had Kili trained pretty well not to ever land on that cage but since his arrival she has landed on there at least several times and tried to attack through the bars. Whenever I walk by Kili's cage with Truman on my arm, she jumps onto the cage bars and gets really big. She fluffs up her feathers and starts showing her beak, eyes pinning. I have never seen such demonstrations of aggression against any other person from her before but the new bird seems to provoke her more than anything. Finally, there was one instant where I had both birds out at once. It was Kili's time to be out but I just wanted to gauge Truman's weight. Kili was at the far end of the room minding her own business but as soon as I got Truman out of the cage she flew over. She then flew at Truman and I had to deflect her attack by putting my arm in the way and knocking her off her flight path.
Needless to say, quarantine has been violated multiple times already. Truman has landed on Kili's stuff and Kili has landed on Truman's stuff. Living in a single room with flighted parrots makes a successful quarantine nearly impossible. I have been weighing the birds regularly and both seem to be doing just fine. Kili has been healthy for two years and Truman got a full array of blood tests by the breeder's vet. I am not having a strict quarantine anymore but I am keeping the cages apart and only taking one parrot out at a time until this aggression issue is dealt with better.
Luckily Kili really likes training and food. These two things can keep her focused enough often times to ignore other things that are distracting her. So by having her do tricks near Truman's cage and eating treats, it teaches her to "look but don't touch." She is thus developing a habit of not landing on Truman's cage and not attacking Truman. This in effect is an application of differential reinforcement and teaches her what not to do by making an alternative even more rewarding.
I brought over one of Kili's training stands and put up high (about 5ft) to put her at the same height as Truman and just one foot away from him outside his cage. I had her do some tricks and then munch away at her carrot dinner while looking at him. This should also serve as a learning experience for Truman because he refuses to eat carrots. Hopefully watching Kili eat them will make him more likely to eat carrots now as well.
I don't know how to help with the aggression issues. I've been very lucky. My birds don't like each other but the respect each others space and don't go looking to cause trouble. Thank god!! I think the desensitization will help. Kili's been used to being the only bird. It'll take a while... hopefully you'll start seeing results soon!
On the quarantine issues you say "Needless to say, quarantine has been violated multiple times already. Truman has landed on Kili's stuff and Kili has landed on Truman's stuff. Living in a single room with flighted parrots makes a successful quarantine nearly impossible. I have been weighing the birds regularly and both seem to be doing just fine. Kili has been healthy for two years and Truman got a full array of blood tests by the breeder's vet. I am not having a strict quarantine anymore but I am keeping the cages apart and only taking one parrot out at a time until this aggression issue is dealt with better."
A true quarantine is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do. A lot of illnesses are airborne so to do a true quarantine the bird needs to be in a room where they don't share an air space. In modern homes with a central air conditioning/heating.. it's very hard to shut off a specific bird off in another room.
Here are some resources for that:
http://www.parrothouse.com/quarantine.html[/url:2mbv5lx3]
http://www.parrotparrot.com/library/quarantine.htm[/url:2mbv5lx3]
I make sure to take every bird that comes through my door to the vet. I don't take my birds to pet stores. But a true quarantine is SO very hard to do- normally, I separate the new bird in another room. And make sure to leave my "socks" at the door when I leave. I always wash my hands in between touching the new bird. That being said I'm totally contradicting everything I just said to say that I'm not doing a QT with Capri. The double macaw cage does NOT fit through the doorway. My breeder only breeds Capes and the Bronze Wing Pionus. She's had her breeding pairs for years. I know several people who have gotten birds from her. I know I'm still taking a risk still but I have confidence in her.
Anyway- I'm rambling... I hope Kili stops attacking Truman!
aww hopefully they'll like each other soon! just to throw in my two cents i have read that if you do something enjoyable together like if they like taking showers you put one on one shower perch and the other on a second perch then let them have fun taking a shower together do you see what i mean? let them ascosiate each other with having fun ( just like harness training well sorta )
A true quarantine requires a separate building, a change of clothes and a shower in between visiting birds...
A pseudo in-home quarantine, arguabley better than nothing, would mainly involve how you handle washing dishes, cleaning cages etc. Always look after the established parrot first. Then look after the new parrot. Then wash yourself the best you can.
@skeetersunconure - They both hate showers so that's not gonna happen. Truman, I don't even know what he likes. He just likes to play. Kili likes to eat. That's basically what I did. I let Kili eat and watch. When she's busy, that keeps her mind off of attacking.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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